Student Blog

Personal Statements: On My Way to the OTD ⟩
October 14, 2020, by Bethany

Admissions

I just submitted my application to the OTD program! The applications for the USC Chan OTD Residencies have also just been submitted. It feels like I can take a breath now. I may not be done with the whole OTD process, but it’s nice to have gotten started. I had forgotten what it is like to have applications sitting over my head. But a few good personal statement tips, some even from applying to college as a high schooler, came to mind:

1. Do Your Research — Know what each individual residency (or college, if that is the application stage that you are in) has to offer. Know which residencies will be the best fit for your skills, your interests, and your future goals. You want to find the sites that you can learn the most from and that you can contribute the most to.
2. Tell a Story — The best part about applications is that these are not normal essays. Yes, you are still trying to prove a point: that you belong at this residency. But unlike your usual school essay, are not limited to third-person speech or to proving your point through quoting sources. You get to tell the story of you. So go wild! Find the experiences that you have lived that show that you have what they’re looking for.
3. Ask for Help — Ask for input from friends, parents, student ambassadors offering help (Thank you, Daniel). They can be that extra spell-check, and they can also offer perspectives, ideas, and personal experiences you hadn’t thought of including.
4. But Be Okay with Saying No — In the end, as much advice as you get, these are your essays. This is your chance to show who you are. If you get a suggestion that doesn’t flow with your writing style or doesn’t paint the picture you want it to, it’s okay to say no. (Do so nicely, though!)
5. Chunk It — When you suddenly have writer’s block, it’s okay to take a break. Go get ice cream. Get away from a screen for a little bit. Have a conversation with someone; maybe some new ideas will come up. And even if they don’t, walking a way for a break can open up new perspectives when you decide to write again.

Once you’re done with the personal statements, celebrate! Bake some chocolate chip cookies and pet the dog. Then you can start thinking about the remainder of the application process, such as interviews and things. Daniel has additional advice about the application process. The process may have just begun, but give yourself a pat on the back. Step one is done!

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Savi’s Electives Experiences ⟩
October 7, 2020, by Savi

Classes

Over the past two semesters, I have had the opportunity to choose between a variety of elective courses to take in order to dive deeper into the subject matter I am interested in and begin my journey from an OT generalist to specialist. As a second year in the Master’s program, students are given the chance to take 12-14 units of elective coursework so that they can begin to focus in an area of interest.

When I began this Master’s program I was extremely interested in taking the OT 561: Occupational Therapy in Acute Care elective, as I have always been interested in pursuing a career in acute care. Unfortunately, this elective was no longer offered this semester as they wanted to keep all students, faculty, and patients healthy and at a safe distance. Although this was sad news for me, this decision also allowed me to explore electives I wouldn’t have otherwise! Now looking back on my decisions and experiences I could not have imagined it any other way! I love all of my electives and have learned such valuable information that will help guide me in whatever practice setting I choose in the future. Here is a glimpse into my electives and why I chose them!

OT 574: Enhancing Motor Control for Occupation
This semester I was fortunate enough to have been randomly selected to take the Motor Control elective at the California Rehabilitation Institute. This course has opened my eyes to so many unique and fun things OTs can do in an inpatient rehabilitation setting. Before beginning this course I knew that I wanted to hopefully work as an OT in an inpatient rehabilitation or acute setting after graduation, but was worried I wouldn’t have experience working with patients in either of these settings. This course provided me with four hours of weekly clinical experience with patients guided by an assigned clinical instructor, as well as lecture material focused on providing tangible methods for remediation of motor control problems following upper motor neuron lesions. In lectures, we spent half the time learning the theories and concepts of motor control and motor learning, and then the other half applying our knowledge and skills in practice. Through this class, I learned how to complete scapular and trunk assessment, facilitation, and mobilization, shoulder subluxation positioning and taping, inhibitory casting, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, edema management, and much more!  Check out the pictures at the bottom to see what these look like. I had a lot of fun working with patients and applying my knowledge in real-time with the assistance of experienced OTs. 

OT 575: Dysphasia Across the Lifespan
As a food lover myself, I have always listed eating as my #1 favorite occupation. After working in a few pediatric settings and seeing how impactful OTs can be in the feeding process, I wanted to learn more about our impact across the lifespan. This course has provided me with an immense amount of knowledge regarding the various assessment and treatment strategies used for patients and caregivers. I have also gained a greater understanding of the oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal anatomical structures involved in swallowing and how they relate to normal and abnormal swallowing. On the last day of class we all received a large box of delicious snacks to eat and test out. This helped us gauge the sensory qualities, understand the effects chewing has on consistency and texture, and brainstorm fun activities with each snack option to engage our future clients. 

OT 566: Healthcare Communication with Spanish-Speaking Clients
¡Hola! Mi nombre es Savi y yo soy su terapeuta ocupacional. I am extremely passionate about developing a comfortable and safe environment for all my clients. During my time completing observation hours in San Diego and fieldwork in Los Angeles, I have noticed that a large quantity of the patients and clients I have worked with are primarily Spanish speaking. Because of the language barrier, I felt as though I am not able to make them feel as comfortable as I could. I, therefore, wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to learn how to communicate in Spanish at an elementary level in a therapeutic context. By doing so I have learned how to say common OT phrases and terms in Spanish, to facilitate better connections and relationships with my future clients. Dr. Delgado has brought in OTs from a variety of settings to help us learn context-specific and cultural terms and phrases. Gracias, Profesor Delgado!

OT 564 Sensory Integration Theory
I decided to take sensory integration (SI) theory because I wanted to get a better understanding of the neuroscience backing and foundation for sensory integration. After completing the pediatrics immersion, I didn’t feel confident about the level of understanding I had regarding SI in comparison to other students I had spoken to in my cohort. This made me extremely nervous since SI is so important and prevalent in OT practice across all settings. I, therefore, wanted to get a better grasp on the neurobehavioral principles of Sensory Integration Theory before entering into my Level II fieldwork and eventually sitting for the NBCOT exam. This class did just that!

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Finding Faculty Mentorship ⟩
October 5, 2020, by Calvin

Life Hacks

Having come from a large public university for my undergrad, I didn’t feel like it was as accessible to connect with professors and find that kind of professional mentorship. So once I got into this program, I was surprised to discover how available and how approachable the faculty truly are. There is an exceptional range of faculty and, although they may have a ton of things on their plate, I’ve found that something they all have in common is that their doors are always open to students.

However, while I am grateful to be able to call some of the faculty my mentors, I definitely remember how nerve-wracking it was to step outside of my comfort zone to reach out to them. Towards the beginning, I had these thoughts of, “should I only be talking to the professors that teach my classes?”, “what do I even say to them . . . .”, and “will it look like I’m kissing up?” I know that it feels like there’s a lot of pressure to fully use the resources available at USC Chan, so I want to share some information on how I established mentorship and some overall tips and advice for all of you trying to move forward in this process!

Trust in the process:

• I know that, even after hearing how friendly the faculty may be, they still might seem a little out of reach and maybe even scary to get in touch with, especially with those that don’t teach your courses. I felt the same way, and I would always think that I would be wasting their time if I asked to talk to them about their experiences, interests, life, etc. But speaking from experience of going through this process, just know that they’re here for you, they feel for you, and they really are open to being reached out to if you ever need anything.

They’ve been in your shoes before:

• Before, it had never occurred to me to think about how the faculty here were students too. Well, they were! Some of them are actually alumni of USC Chan, and so they know a thing or two about the classes we’ve taken, the practice areas we might be interested in, and the challenges we’ve gone through to get here. The faculty are people too, and they know what we’ve gone through and will go through, so don’t be afraid to get in contact with them because they might be able to relate and give you some pointers along the way.

Do your research:

• Go onto the Faculty Directory page and do some exploring! There’s also a dropdown menu that can guide you to a specific group of faculty. We have faculty that have a range of various experiences and expertise, so take some time looking over their biographies, research interests, and interests in general. You never know what you might be able to find! If someone doesn’t teach any of your classes, don’t let that stop you from reaching out to them. Maybe someone conducts research that you find fascinating or maybe someone is an alum from your previous school! Have fun with this experience because it’s like a little sneak-peek into each of the faculty here!

Just hit the send button:

• I remember when I was way too nervous to even send an email to them. I really just wanted to introduce myself, share why I’m interested in their work, and learn more about how they got to where they are. However, I was afraid of the chance that they might not respond or that they might be annoyed that I’m bothering them. But I realized that there is nothing to lose! If they don’t respond, then follow-up with them. Faculty get a mass amount of emails every day, so sometimes things get lost in the flood. If you think they’re not interested, then maybe it’s not a good fit or maybe you can ask to talk with them over a Zoom call/in-person (once we can do that again). Sometimes it’s hard to analyze someone’s attitude over an email and the faculty are busy people too. It might be that they don’t have time to respond or to write out a thorough email, so give them some time and check-in as needed.

Know what you want:

• What qualities are you looking for in a mentor? Do you want someone to help with your professional development? Do you want someone to just have chill conversations with? What about both? It’s okay if the first faculty that you interact with doesn’t automatically feel like a mentor for you. The process takes time! As much as you want to find the right fit, the faculty also want to see if you’re the right fit for them. So, before you reach out to someone, you should at least have some idea of who they are and what they do, as well as what you want out of the mentorship experience. This is so that you and the faculty can picture what the potential mentorship could look like. Also, with all that being said, you aren’t limited to just one faculty mentor; you are free to build these relationships with as many faculty as you want! Just continue to remind yourself why you’re searching for mentorship and be realistic with your expectations.

Benefits of mentorship:

• I’ve found that my faculty mentors have provided me with different, but strong benefits. Some provide me with affirmations to my skills, some are just nice to have casual conversations with, and some are really good at being real with me and keeping me in check! Having faculty mentors can serve as a resource in terms of networking opportunities and letters of recommendation. Mentorship can also come in all kinds of capacities ranging from consistent weekly/monthly check-ins or even just a few times a semester. As a mentee, I want to be able to provide mutual benefit by supporting my mentor and being there for them as well. I also want to pay this mentorship forward by continuing to support prospective students and current students. I’m super lucky to have been able to build this kind of relationship with some of the faculty here and it’s comforting to know that I can always reach out to these people, even after graduating from this program.

It kind of just happens:

• You’re probably wondering: “What’s the step-by-step process to establishing a mentor?”, and what I’ll say is that it’s pretty fluid. The program does set up an actual faculty advisor program by splitting up students into groups and placing them with one faculty advisor per group. The idea is that your faculty advisor may help you to identify and connect with faculty mentors throughout your relationship with them and they can direct you to other resources, as needed. In terms of seeking out a faculty mentor on your own, it’s not really like a “can you be my faculty mentor?” situation. It’s more so just getting in touch with faculty, gradually getting to know each other, sharing experiences, even working together on projects, and so on. I like to think of it as more of a friendship because it kind of just happens as you get to know and interact with them more and more!

Being in graduate school has really made me appreciate the tight-knit community and intimate interactions with faculty. I hope that this gives you some insight into how to get started in establishing faculty mentor relationships. I also hope that this makes the experience seem a little less scary! I tried to be as real as possible so that I could give you all the information that I wish I had when I was in this process. Feel free to reach out to me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you need anything and good luck!

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My first time on campus ⟩
October 2, 2020, by Yna

Classes Videos

From the time I enrolled in my Master’s program at USC, one thing I had really been looking forward to was getting to visit the beautiful campus that I have only been seeing in pictures. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic and in efforts to socially distance, I have not been able to do this since most of our classes had to be held remotely. One of the courses I was enrolled in, however, entailed an on-campus lab class which gave me the opportunity to finally visit the campus for the first time!

If you’d like to see my experiences during my first time on campus and are curious about the safety protocols in place to keep the Trojan community safe and healthy, check out my video below!

[Credits to Elmo Nicolas for some of the video clips]

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Put Tracking Apps to the Test ⟩
September 30, 2020, by Bethany

Classes Life Hacks

In OT 563: Occupational Therapy in Primary Healthcare Environments, Dr. Valasek gave us an assignment. In primary care (and other OT environments), we may assign our clients a log to learn more about their lives and what affects their occupations, so we as students have to complete a log for ourselves. We get to better understand our practice, not just by practicing, but by experiencing what we may ask our clients to do. Dr. V let us know that we had to track for a week, but she was giving us two weeks to complete the assignment, helping us to understand that some weeks are just not good weeks to have to be responsible for tracking. She was also very helpful in permitting a variety of things that we could track (from mood to food) and in suggesting a variety of methods in which to complete this log. Beyond paper tracking methods, there are a surprising number of phone apps to track things and give reminders for goals, too! Daylio can be used for mood and habit tracking. Anxiety Tracker tracks . . . well . . . anxiety, if you hadn’t guessed. Habit Bull keeps you on track for habits. Lose It! can be used to track food and calories. And there are many more! I decided to check out Lose It! Let’s see how this goes . . .

Monday, Day 1
Today was spent familiarizing myself with the app. When you type in a food to Lose It!, there are so many options, it’s overwhelming. At the same time, I’m glad that they give options for things. I feel like I’d be even more stressed if I chose to do my own paper trackers and hand to configure ingredients and calorie count by myself. Or I’d get lazy and go back to fill in previous days’ meals without remembering exactly what I ate. I’m curious to see if I like the apps enough to keep going after this week.

Tuesday, Day 2
I didn’t eat lunch. I felt lazy about wanting to log food, got distracted by a letter my cousin sent me, and just ended up doing other things during my break. It makes me wonder if food logging accurately portrays what I eat in a week, but at the same time, part of logging is to bring the user’s awareness to their own situation and behaviors, so maybe I’m learning that I eat too much . . . hmmm. The funniest part of today was trying to recognize some of the Chinese food names in English. I had fun estimating dinner portion sizes with my mom, guessing if the amount of rice I ate was one cup or two thirds of a cup. My mom is a physician, so it was fun to hear that Lose It! is one of the apps that she recommends to her patients! She gets to learn a little bit more about it this week, too.

Wednesday, Day 3
I found what I like best about Lose It! You can scan barcodes on foods and it automatically inputs the food, the calories, everything! I tried it on my cereal in the morning, and it was almost more tempting to eat things out of the box, instead of homemade meals. Then, that evening, I discovered the recipe option! You can input all of the ingredients in a dish, put how many portions it makes, and it calculates everything for you. You can also save the recipe, so if it is a dish you make often, it is easy to go back and select. I asked my dad what went into his delicious eggplant dish, got an accurate calorie count for my meal and the recipe for a dish I love. I guess it takes longer than I thought to become accustomed to all of the characteristics of an app, and there are more helpful features than I imagined.

Thursday, Day 4
Today was easier. I got more into the habit of logging food right before I ate it. I also realized that previous meals pop up to make selection of eating leftovers easier. I noticed that the app also has water tracking, which I would love to use, but I don’t think I want to pay for the upgrade. The one downside of today is that Lose It! has me on a schedule with a calorie limit, and I really want brick toast. (If you look up “Oh My Pan!” you can find a very good visual example of my food craving for the day.)

Friday, Day 5
This was the first day I went over my calorie limit. Wow. That little red mark telling me I did something wrong was quite disheartening. I needed a reminder from someone close to me that food tracking is not always perfectly accurate, and that it is okay to have a cheat day. You have to take in the weekly budget numbers, too, and there is a lot more to account for in life that affects what you eat. In the end, I decided to let the app help me be aware of what I was eating, but not kill the vibe. And what can I say: The In-n-Out was worth it.

Saturday, Day 6
Tracking three meals a day has almost become habit. I also liked that I can input the exercise I completed for the day, and it goes into the net calorie count. It’s difficult to estimate calories burned from exercise, but it’s kind of nice to know that you can input that information. No crazy new discoveries on the app today. I’m looking forward to seeing how the week fills out.

Sunday, Day 7
Today my mom asked me, “Are you done tracking yet?” She wanted me to eat cookies with her for dessert. I can definitely see how this may be a downside to using a tracking app. It can affect even social aspects of life! But in the end, I think it’s kind of fun to be able to have more of an awareness of what I’m taking in. And I think I’ll continue to use the app, even if I track less regularly or even if I’m a little inaccurate, the most important thing is that it helps me become more aware of my own health.

I truly enjoy learning about the need for and the implementation of occupational therapy in primary care, and this class has definitely brought some unique learning experiences. I’m excited to keep learning about this area of OT and to keep building skills that I can use in the future.

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