Vivian Chang OTD ’18

Leadership concentration: Advanced Clinical Practice

What brought you to occupational therapy?
I was involved in a few research labs as an undergraduate student at UCSD and I quickly realized that my favorite part of the entire research process was interacting with research subjects. Through that, I knew I wanted to find a career where I would get to work closely with other people. Since I’ve always valued both physical and emotional health and hated chemistry . . . OT was the perfect fit for me. I actually found out about OT from a Yahoo article that was titled, “10 most promising jobs of 2020.” 😊

Where are you located for your residency and what services are provided there?
I am currently completing my residency at City of Hope National Medical Center, where I provide a diverse range of OT services to my oncology patients. The services can range from ADL/IADL retraining to fatigue/symptom management to caregiver training. Additionally, I will be developing a program that will improve the discharge readiness of patients undergoing stem cell transplantation.

What do you hope to learn from this year?
I hope to be exposed to a wide variety of patients and growing the number of interventions in my arsenal. I also hope to feel more confident as an entry-level practitioner.

If you could give any words of advice for incoming Master’s students, what would it be?
Take this time for yourself — don’t overstress about acing all your classes or stretch yourself too thin by getting involved in everything. I feel like the best part the MA program is being surrounded by instructors and peers that are so supportive and greatly value your mental health. Also, view yourself as a sponge — waiting to absorb as much knowledge as you can, but don’t feel like you absolutely need to know everything.

If your childhood had a smell, what would it be?
Pineapple pepperoni pizza.

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ACOTE accreditation | NBCOT certification

The USC entry-level master’s degree program (cost of attendance) is fully 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) has applied for accreditation and has been granted Preaccreditation Status 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. The program must complete an on-site evaluation and be granted Accreditation Status before its graduates will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT®).

Professional program graduates are eligible to apply for certification by National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT®), nbcot.org. Program results from the NBCOT® can be found online at www.nbcot.org/Educators-Folder/SchoolPerformance.