Student Blog

What is fieldwork? ⟩
August 30, 2016, by Jessica

Fieldwork

A lot of prospective students have questions about fieldwork, so I thought I’d address that in this post!

A great thing about being an OT student is not just learning new concepts and interventions in class, but actually putting the knowledge into practice. That’s where fieldwork comes into play! As an OT student, you will be participating in two types of fieldwork: Level I and Level II. Level I fieldwork provides exposure into specific practice area, where depending on the setting, you may mostly observe OT practice in that area, or you may get to be more hands on with clients. At USC specifically, you get three Level I experiences, one in each of our major practice areas: adult rehab, mental health, and pediatrics. You’ll have each Level I fieldwork experience coincide with the practice area you are studying for that semester. So for example, since I’m currently in the Pediatrics practice area immersion, I will doing my Level I fieldwork in pediatrics this semester. Each Level I fieldwork experience occurs 1 day per week for 10 weeks, with one week of full-time fieldwork in the middle of the semester.

Level II fieldwork, on the other hand, much more hands-on, as the end goal is to become a competent entry-level therapist. At USC, you’ll have two Level II fieldwork experiences — one in the summer between your first and second year, and one the summer after your second year of coursework. Each Level II experience runs for 12 weeks, under a full-time therapist’s schedule. Throughout the summer, you will be supervised by a clinical instructor at your site, who will be supervising you and helping you develop your skills as an OT practitioner. Sounds a little scary right? Don’t worry — your clinical instructor will be there to give you feedback and help you develop your clinical reasoning skills. At my Level II fieldwork site this past summer, my clinical instructor graded my responsibilities — mostly observation and orientation my first week, then gradually adding on an additional patient to my caseload each week until I had a full caseload.

Overall, all of your fieldwork experiences are going to help you develop your skills as a therapist. Try to remember to keep an open mind. You may be placed a site you don’t think is “ideal” (FYI — no site is perfect), but there’s always things to take away from those experiences. Whether it’s gaining exposure to a practice area you may have never considered before, or working on building interpersonal skills with clients, there is so much value in being able to spend time out in the field, learning by doing.

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My Path to OT! ⟩
August 24, 2016, by Alyssa

What are OS/OT?

Dear Readers,

I am thrilled to be sharing my very first blog as a student ambassador! Ever since my undergraduate days, I have had big dreams to pursue a career in occupational therapy, especially at USC. I am thankful to have supportive family and friends who inspired me to strive and achieve these dreams, no matter how big or unreachable they may have seemed in the moment. Now that I am on the right path to pursue these dreams, there is not a day that goes by without reflecting on the reasons why I choose and love OT.

These words are simple, yet so powerful. I choose occupational therapy because I realized that what I was doing and feeling during one moment was something I wanted for a lifetime.

During my undergraduate days, I focused my senior research thesis on aquatic therapy intervention, which took place at an outpatient pediatrics clinic. It was here where I received my first hands-on experience with working with children with special needs to teach them water safety skills. Prior to this opportunity, I had little knowledge about how prevalent drowning really was, especially in the pediatric population. I still remember the moment where I met one of the kiddos during one of my first weeks. He was terrified to jump in the water, or even swim across the pool without a float noodle. After working with him for several weeks and providing him with fun activities to learn water safety skills, he faced his fear. I saw him take a huge leap of faith, with him trusting me to take a jump in the pool. He landed in my arms, with a huge smile and endless laughter of the huge splash he had made.

It was through this opportunity where I learned the role of an occupational therapist and how he or she facilitates experiences that are meaningful and fun, while also teaching and instilling the skills they need to live life! After this experience, I knew that I had no choice but to choose occupational therapy because I loved the feeling of making a difference by facilitating learning and growth in these children.

Occupational therapy is a health profession that continues to evolve and focuses on the meaningful occupations or activities that take place in our everyday lives. With this field, I find excitement in the idea that there are endless, unique opportunities and places to practice occupational therapy and help others participate in doing the things they love, especially helping them love what they do. Above all, I truly feel that USC’s occupational therapy program is preparing me to become the occupational therapist I want to be and to value the power of occupation in a patient’s development and in healing. Welcome to my blog! I look forward to sharing this upcoming year with you! Fight on!

P.S. Here our some fun pictures of my first year in the program!

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A Positive Move ⟩
August 24, 2016, by Jessica

Admissions What are OS/OT?

For my first blog post, I wanted to share my story of how I found OT. I always find it so interesting to hear other people’s stories of how they discovered OT, and I hope that some of you can relate to my experience.

During my junior year at UCLA, I felt a little uncertain about what I would do after graduation with a degree in International Development Studies. Sure, I loved learning about other countries and cultures, but I wasn’t sure about how I could translate that passion into a career. However, I had a lot of experience working with children and adolescents throughout high school and college, and knew that was something I was good at. So with the advice of some close friends, I decided to apply for an Americorps program called Teach for America, where they recruit recent college grads to teach in underserved, low-income communities around the US. Fueled by my passions of working with children and social justice, I felt like this was the best career move for me. So within a week of my undergrad graduation, I packed up my whole life and moved across the country to Brooklyn, NY to be a 3rd grade Special Education teacher. Sidenote: This also happens to be where I met my fiancé/future husband.

My first two years of teaching were the most challenging years of my life, compounded by feelings of homesickness and constant questioning of whether teaching was the right career for me. Then one day, I vividly remember seeing a woman (who I had never seen before) with a stockpile of hula hoops and giant stability balls working with a student in the hallway. This student, who was previously crying and throwing tantrums every day in class, now had the biggest smile on his face and was appropriately communicating with the woman. I was intrigued, and asked my co-teacher who she was. She aptly replied, “Oh her? She’s an occupational therapist.”

That night I went home and Google searched everything I could find on occupational therapy. I couldn’t believe that this was my first time hearing about OT — everything I was reading felt like it was a perfect fit for me, combining my passion for helping people and opportunities to be creative. I kept this research in the back of my mind for the next year, before ultimately deciding to move back to San Francisco to continue teaching closer to home. Despite the change of setting, I still had the feeling that a change of career was what I needed. As a special education teacher, often working closely with occupational therapists, I was able to see the transformative power of OT in my students’ lives. One student had severe difficulties with emotional regulation, and after his OT sessions, he would come back with the biggest smile on his face. Over time, he was better able to articulate his feelings using the “Zones of Regulation,” and use healthy coping strategies (i.e., drawing, using lotion) to replace unhealthy coping strategies (i.e., tantrums). Witnessing these positive changes, I realized that I was much more passionate about helping kids with their socio-emotional skills than their math skills. After volunteering at an outpatient pediatric clinic, and many conversations with occupational therapists, friends and family, I decided to fully commit to applying to OT school. I only had a year to complete all my prerequisites, but I knew the struggle would be worth it to start a new career I was truly passionate about.

And now this brings me here to USC. After a year in the program, I can honestly say this is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.  I feel so grateful to have found a profession that allows me to make close connections with people and provide them with the skills and tools to empower themselves to create positive change in their own lives.

Thanks for visiting my blog, and I’m excited to share the rest of my experiences with you all this year!

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Discovering Occupational Therapy ⟩
August 24, 2016, by Erwin

What are OS/OT?

For my first blog post, I wanted to share with you how I discovered occupational therapy! Believe it or not, I made the decision to become an occupational therapist back when I was in high school. Throughout my high school career, I volunteered at a local community hospital to explore various health professions. I knew I wanted to enter a field where I could help others, but like many high schoolers, I wasn’t exactly sure of what I wanted to do. As I volunteered, I saw the value in all the health professions, yet it was occupational therapy that really piqued my interest. I saw the difficulty some other health professions had in engaging clients in healing, yet with the occupational therapists, it seemed so effortless. It was amazing to see how they were able to engage clients in therapy through the use of meaningful activity — something that seemed so obvious in healing, yet not always practiced within other health professions. After my introduction to occupation therapy through my volunteer experience, I began to learn more about the profession through my cousin, who is an occupational therapist, and volunteering at clinics. As I learned more about the profession, I began to admire how occupational therapy embodies a holistic approach. How occupational therapists see the whole person, and not just his or her illness, deeply resonated with me and inspired me to pursue this profession at an early age.

After receiving my bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University, it was time to apply for my master’s in occupational therapy. USC had always been a dream school of mine since my family are die-hard Trojans. USC has one of the top occupational therapy programs in the country, so when I was deciding where to complete my master’s degree, USC was a no-brainer. My first year has been nothing short of amazing and I can’t wait to share my journey of becoming an occupational therapist with you through my blog.

Fight on!

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Welcome, Friends! ⟩
August 24, 2016, by JRoe

What are OS/OT?

For this first blog post, we all wanted to share our stories about how we discovered and decided to pursue occupational therapy. Here it goes!

I’ve always had a passion for children. When I was in eighth grade, I decided I wanted to teach preschool because I knew I wanted to work with young children and I did not want a desk job. As such, in high school I began volunteering to work with children in various capacities. What I looked forward to most was being a counselor at a summer camp for children with special needs where I got the opportunity to be paired one-on-one with a camper. I became passionate about working with children with disabilities and that’s when my mother suggested I look into occupational therapy. At the naïve and stubborn age of 16, I said no — I was set on becoming a preschool teacher.

Fast forward a few years to my last semester at USC where I took OT 250, Introduction to Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, with Dr. Kate Crowley. It was in this class that I learned more about the holistic and broad nature of the profession and began to think that maybe my mom’s initial suggestion wasn’t so terrible. However, I was still fixated on becoming a preschool teacher. The more time I spent teaching in a typical preschool classroom, the more I missed working with children who have disabilities and the one-on-one nature of the camp I was a part of. I slowly began to think that my mom had the right idea after all.

I began volunteering at a pediatric clinic and in a school district where I had the opportunity to observe the amazing work they were doing each day in an intimate setting. I was excited by the idea to foster relationships with my clients that could span years and help them achieve their individual goals. I knew I had found my calling when I saw the impact that these OTs had and how excited both the children and the therapists were to come in every day. I was hooked.

Since becoming an occupational therapy student, I’ve enjoyed furthering my knowledge about pediatric OT, but I have also had the pleasure of learning more about the other practice areas. My eyes have been opened to a new world and I am excited to see where my career takes me!

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