Student Blog

The A-Z’s of USC OT: Part II ⟩
March 22, 2021, by Bethany

Admissions Classes Living in LA What are OS/OT?

In a previous post, I began The A-Z’s of USC OT: Part I. So continuing right where we left off . . .

Occupation — Occupation is, of course, the focus of our profession and one of the focuses of our schooling. We do not compare ourselves to other professions, but rather learn how to advocate for the inherent value of our distinct perspective as OTs.

Program interconnectivity — As a BS-MA student, we get to meet a lot of OS minors through classes and the Pre-OT club. We join up with Entry-Level students for the graduate level curriculum. We get to learn alongside Post-Professional Master’s students and OTD students in our electives, and have PhD students as our TAs. From my experience, students get to interact with OTs in all programs.

Questions and answers — Questions about fieldwork? Scheduling? Applying to the OTD after finishing the Master’s? Clinical experience? Our faculty and staff (and student ambassadors!) are responsive to all of our queries. We are also paired with faculty mentors, who are matched based on our interests.

Rehab lab — In the Center for Health Professions, we have a lab for Adult Physical Rehabilitation that includes a hospital setting, a bedroom, bathroom, and fully-functional. We can practice creating and implementing interventions in a real space. You can check out the room on our virtual tour!

Shuttle — There is free transportation between campuses! The shuttle is accessible to everyone, not just students. And shuttle time is great for conversations, naps, or watching shows on your phone. One of the previous ambassadors, Noelle, recorded her shuttle trip.

Trojan Family — Whether it be cheering our team on to victory, ending up at a fieldwork site with USC alumni, or of course networking through the Trojan Network site, the Trojan Family is inclusive, extensive, and supportive.

Undergraduate Study — USC is one of the few schools to offer an undergraduate degree in Occupational Therapy, which helped me claim my identity as an occupational therapy student and learn to advocate better for the field. We also offer a minor in Occupational Science.

Vibrant student life — Around campus, you will find a bustle of students, whether they be grabbing food at the farmers market or Trader Joe’s or going to football games amidst a sea of cardinal and gold.

Well-established — USC’s OT program lives up to its name. We were the first Master’s degree in OT and the first PhD in OS. We developed Lifestyle Redesign, and we continue to be a top-ranked OT school.

X-amine yourself — Within our classes, we are given opportunities for introspection about how our own beliefs, communication styles, and backgrounds can affect how we come into a client-therapist relationship. For example, we complete a values checklist and share our results with our classmates, leading to (1) introspection, (2) learning to understand and listen to other perspectives, and (3) understanding the position of vulnerability we ask of our clients.

You’re not alone — Whenever I needed help, I had support from faculty. They worked with me to make sure I could participate in band for my senior year while taking classes. They looked at which fieldwork placements best suited my preferences and transportation needs. I’m happy to have resources to go to for anything I need in the program.

Zeal — One thing I have always admired about USC students is their passion. And now, I get to pursue my passion in occupational therapy alongside others who share that zeal to find ways to creatively help others do what they love.

Whew! 26 letters. Felt like a long list, but even so. It cannot sum up the passion for OT and the community that I found these past years. Regardless, I hope that I was able to give you a good glimpse into the program. 😊

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What Made You Decide To Study Abroad? ⟩
March 19, 2021, by Yna

Diversity International

Years ago, when I was still trying to decide whether to stay in my home country or go abroad to pursue a Master’s degree, I employed the usual technique of listing down the pros and cons of each option that I had. It did help a little bit, but what ultimately led me to arrive at a decision was after I asked myself: “What is my goal? What do I want to get out of this?” That’s when I realized that what I was really looking for was something more—an experience that will further strengthen my knowledge and expertise in my chosen field. This is not to say that my education in the Philippines was lacking in any way; I had so much to learn from my university’s rigorous undergraduate program and all its brilliant professors which provided me with the necessary foundations and honed me to be the person that I am. But it is also for this very reason that I found myself with a desire to learn more about how I can apply this knowledge into practice in a manner that will really produce a significant impact to my clients’ lives and even to the larger community.

I was a newly licensed occupational therapist then, barely even worked a year, when I was presented with the opportunity to go to the US. I welcomed the news with both excitement and apprehension, as I was already starting out my career and had all my future plans set out—or so I thought. Making a decision definitely wasn’t an easy feat, with the thought of being separated from my loved ones holding me back the most. Nevertheless, all of my family members and friends were (and still are) very supportive of whatever decision I make—something that I truly appreciate and am very thankful for to this date. As you can tell, I ended up deciding to leave behind the comfortable life that I had for something that’s entirely out of my comfort zone—studying abroad. After performing extensive research about USC Chan and its Post-Professional Master’s program, reading student blogs, consulting various people, I determined that pursuing this road would bring me towards my goal of gaining life experiences that are worthwhile and would add value to my future practice. I felt terrified but at the same time thrilled by the many opportunities that I had imagined this decision would open up for me.

True enough, throughout the time that I have been in the program, I have found myself being the recipient of unique opportunities that I never would have earned in any other place: studying in the #1 ranked OT program in the US, learning from exceptional professors who worked closely with the very people who pioneered OT practice areas such as Sensory Integration and Lifestyle Redesign®, witnessing various breakthroughs in research by many renowned faculty, being part of a supportive community who puts great value in rich perspectives that its diverse students bring to the table, and working as a student ambassador which allowed me to further expand my professional network and enhance a lot of my skills. I put great value in these experiences which is why I feel very satisfied with the choice that I had made back then.

To anyone who is trying to come to a decision on whether to study abroad or not, I unfortunately do not have the answer, but I do have a question for you: What is your goal? I invite you to ask yourself that question that only you could answer, by finding out what you think is worthwhile and in line with what you want to achieve in life.

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Restorative Occupation on R(OT)ation ⟩
March 15, 2021, by Calvin

Classes What are OS/OT?

Last week was the Week of Restorative Occupations! This eventful week encouraged all students, faculty and staff to engage in restorative occupations. There were daily division-hosted events not limited to baking sessions, cardboard loom-weaving, salsa dance breaks, and joke writing! There’s also a compiled list of General Resources that includes restorative occupations outside of USC that we can all continue participating in. Shoutout to our amazing Webmaster, Paul Bailey, because I’m sure he put in a lot of time and effort to put all of that together 😊! You rock, Paul!

Although the event itself is over, that doesn’t mean we should stop engaging in restorative occupations! This past week was a time to highlight and celebrate the importance of participating in those occupations, and I’m definitely going to keep mine going. One of my favorite occupations is listening to music, so I decided to create a Spotify playlist that really reflects what “restorative” means to me: good energy, happiness, and relaxation. I love to share what I listen to, so I’ll include a preview to my playlist below!

I was actually introduced to a few of these songs in my OT 578: Therapeutic Communication: Facilitating Change in Clients course because Dr. Jesús Díaz would invite students to play music during breaks. He even asked some faculty to send over their playlists — thanks for the new music Dr. Arameh Anvarizadeh and Dr. Sook-Lei Liew, we love good taste!

Feel free to comment down below if you discovered a new song you like or if you want to share some of your favorite songs!

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How USC helped me get through this pandemic, virtually ⟩
March 14, 2021, by Global Initiatives Team

Admissions International

By Wafaa Khairallah
Post-Professional Master’s student

Thinking back to 2020 and how it started, I never thought my educational and professional goals would work out the way I wanted, but after all it happily did!! I gladly think that being enrolled at USC as a Post-Professional Master’s (MA1) student has helped me get through those difficult times — not only by keeping me busy, but rather by socially connecting me on a high intellectual level with people with shared interests and ambitions. From a very personal experience, these are some aspects of how I felt USC has helped me to get through the pandemic.

Feeling of inclusion
I imagined that I wouldn’t be able to attend any school in the U.S. as an immigrant who wants to study here while my Green Card application was still pending. Certain universities were even unable to proceed with my admission process because of their policies and limited understanding of how to proceed with my circumstance. It was a little hard for me to navigate this, but fortunately USC was able to go through this process in a much clearer way. This definitely proves USC’s compliance in embracing inclusion for all and with little time to wait, greatly impacted my pursuit through my professional journey.

Networking
As an MA-1 student at USC and a part of the USC Chan Global Initiatives team, I have been impressed by the amount of effort the Division puts into developing collaborative, international partnerships. Specifically, I was very pleased to know that USC has partnered with my home school, Bethlehem University (Palestine), through the Summer Occupational Therapy Immersion program. Being able to connect with global occupational therapists has not only improved my knowledge in many areas related to OT, but has pushed me to also reflect more on how such connections will foster multiple opportunities for many novice, passionate occupational therapists around the globe.

Making new friends
Frankly and as expected, it was not easy for me to move from one country to establish my life in another. I still need to develop new relationships and friendships. As we know, COVID did not make it any easier with all the lockdowns and safety regulations. However, this opportunity was definitely delivered by USC. Now, I am able to say that I have new colleagues and future friends in the program. Although our communication is virtual, we are still able to connect on a personal level; hoping to meet in person in the near future!

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The First Summer ⟩
March 12, 2021, by Lamoni

Admissions Classes

After acceptance letters went out, I have received lots and lots of questions about the first summer of the entry-level Master’s program. This is the time of a major transition — it may be your first time having a graduate school workload and you are wondering how to tackle it, perhaps you want to know if you can have a job during this period, or you are curious about how to maintain a social life. Before starting the program, I had these questions too. Now that I have completed that summer, I would like to talk about what it was like and answer some of those questions. Hopefully, this will ease some nerves! *note — this blog describes the layout of my summer but the program/your schedule may shift.

“How intense is the first summer?”
The initial summer is quite busy. I think it would be helpful to first explain what that summer looks like. For the first half of the summer, you will take Foundations: Kinesiology. This course reviews joint and muscle functions and teaches students how to apply biomechanical principles to everyday activities. For the second half of the summer, you will take Foundations: Neuroscience. Here, you will learn how to analyze daily living tasks through the lens of neural function. This course also reviews pathological conditions that interfere with performance. During the entire length of the summer, you will take Foundations: Occupation and Foundations: Creativity, Craft, and Activity Analysis. The Occupation course is an introduction to occupational therapy history and practice. During the Creativity course, you will have the opportunity to engage in craft projects, explore your creativity and analyze performance.

In total, you will be taking four courses in an 8 week timespan.  Only three courses will happen at once due to Kinesiology and Neuroscience being split into first and second half. The class times are three hours long. Kinesiology and Neuroscience happens during the mornings while Occupation and Creativity takes place during the afternoons. In addition to the Kinesiology and Neuroscience lectures, there will be labs. This is where you will complete activities and worksheets as well as receive direct support from teaching assistants. This time is used to clear up any confusion you have about the material.

I explained the schedule to give a picture of what weeks will look like during the summer. As you can imagine, you will be frontloaded with a lot of information. These courses will serve as your foundation as you move through the program. Many classes will draw on the information that you learn here to introduce you to new and more in-depth concepts.

All in all, I would say that the initial summer is intense. Personally, I believe it is the busiest semester of the entire program. Not only are you learning a lot in your classes, you are navigating life as a graduate student which may come with new responsibilities, you are forming connections with professors, and you are creating new friendships. There are many things going on at once. 

“Do you recommend working during this period?”
I chose not to work during my first summer. I made this decision because I did not want to overwhelm myself. I wanted to be sure that I had enough time to study AND rest. It helped me to review the material that we learned each day. I took an hour or two off once I got home to simply de-stress and relax. Then, I would review my notes. I know that I would feel exhausted if I did not take that time to rest and I would feel unprepared for the next class if I did not have the time to review my notes at the end of each day. I also needed my weekends to re-energize. Therefore, working was not feasible for me.

However, I would not say that it is impossible to work. My one piece of advice would be to limit your hours and, if you can, work some place that is flexible and might allow you to study.

“Am I expected to join student organizations during the summer semester?”
You are NOT expected to join any student organizations at this time. I received several emails from new students that were worried about how it would look if they were not “involved.” People typically begin to join student organizations during the Fall and I would say that most of my class did not join until the Spring. I did not know of anyone that was a part of a student organization during the summer. Maybe, the most that they did was get on the email list. Do not stress about this!

“Did you have time for a social life?”
This is probably the most common question that I received as it relates to the first summer. I would answer this by saying — You will have time for a social life if you make time for a social life. We often push leisure and pleasure off to the side and start to focus only on the work that we need to get done. That will easily set yourself up for burnout.

Did I take weekend trips out of state without ever looking at my notebook? No. But, did I have movie nights, go out for dinner, participate in game nights, and meet up with friends? Yes! It is so important to do this! You are human and you are not meant to work, work, work. Do not deprive yourself of simple pleasures. Even if you cannot take an entire day off to relax, fit it in at some point. You can set aside time to meet with your study group on Sunday morning and as a reward, you all can all head to the beach afterwards. You can study chapters 16-18 then go watch an episode of something with your roommate then return to chapter 19 when you are done. Do not feel guilty about taking a break. I promise that it is beneficial. Time to rest and/or socialize is productive too!

I hope that this blog post gave you a better idea of what the summer will look like and what you can expect. Yes, it is very busy. But, it doesn’t have to take over all facets of your life. There will still be time for play as long as you make it a priority (and you absolutely should)!

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