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Bianca Doherty OTD ’17

What brought you to occupational therapy?
The movie “The Holiday”. I really liked the way Kate Winslet’s character worked with the older gentleman that lived next door and how she helped him regain his strength and confidence to go to the Hollywood awards ceremony at the end. I thought to myself, I’d love to work at a job like that, where you can help get people back to their previous levels of functioning so they can do things that are important to them. And then I started Googling and found OT!

Where are you located for your residency and what services are provided there?
I completed my residency at the USC UCEDD, a paediatric mental health site. I provided both individual and group occupational therapy services, and was also involved in interdisciplinary services/programs such as the Incredible Years group program, feeding therapy, Floortime, Early Childhood Assessment Clinic, and the School Aged Clinic for medication management.

What did you hope to learn from this past year?
I wanted to develop a skillset in the specialised area of practice paediatric mental health, improve my knowledge and skills in the area of Sensory Integration, and develop my leadership skills in order to be an effective advocate for clients and families.

If your childhood had a smell, what would it be?
Freshcut grass, or rain. The two extremes of Ireland. 😊

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USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
1540 Alcazar Street, CHP 133, Los Angeles, CA 90089-9003

ACOTE accreditation | NBCOT certification

The USC entry-level master’s degree program (cost of attendance) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education® (ACOTE®) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). The USC entry-level doctorate in occupational therapy (OTD) degree program (cost of attendance) is accredited by ACOTE®. View our program’s ACOTE® standards public data. ACOTE® c/o the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.®, 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 652-AOTA, www.acoteonline.org.

Professional program graduates are eligible to apply for the national certification examination administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT®), nbcot.org. All states require licensure to practice; a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT® OTR certification examination or attain state licensure. Program results from the NBCOT® can be found online at www.nbcot.org/Educators-Folder/SchoolPerformance.