Student Blog

Pause . . . and Rewind ⟩
May 2, 2014, by Samar

Classes Community

I can’t believe I had my final MA class! It feels like it was only yesterday when I moved to California and started the master’s program at USC. I remember orientation as if it happened yesterday. I vividly remember the feeling I had during that day; a good mix of nervousness, excitement and hopefulness of the all possibilities yet to come. This year has been amazing on so many levels. I’ve started the year in a room full of strangers as my classmates. Now, we are graduating and celebrating our success together as a family. Moreover, I’ve had the fortune to meet the top leaders in the occupational therapy profession and have embraced my inner geek by taking pictures with each and every one of them: Dr. Florence Clark, Dr. Jane Case-Smith, Dr. Patricia Nagaishi (OTAC president), and Dr. Virginia Stoffel (AOTA president). In 14 days, I plan to add to my picture collection one of me and Dr. Elizabeth Yerxa at the Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy Satellite Commencement Ceremony. That day is going to be so surreal! I guess I should stop thinking about graduation and think of the comprehensive exam I am taking on Monday . . . Wish me luck!

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OMG: It’s The Comps!!! ⟩
April 30, 2014, by Kate

Classes

As master’s students, we are all going to be taking a test this coming Monday called the comprehensive exam, or the “comps.” The test covers 6 courses that we have taken during our 2 years here:

• Neuroscience of Behavior
• Qualitative Research
• Quantitative Research
• Health and Wellness
• Advanced Seminar in Occupational Science
• Leadership Capstone

We have 25 questions on each subject, adding up to an exam that is 150 multiple choice questions. It is a beast of a test, no doubt, and I am in the midst of battling it. Our comps are on Monday, May 5th at 9 am!!!

Our class has worked together to create study guides that cover each semester. There is information on dopamine pathways, qualitative research theory, sections of Medicare, statistics, and occupational science history. The study guides average 80 pages per class, and it is difficult to take in so much information, especially if it was in the fall of 2012. But, I know this is my final push before graduation and I will get out what I put in!

Every night, I’ve been studying a bit more, just trying to get through the study guides and impart the important points in each subject. Please wish me and my classmates luck as I continue on my study journey — and on our big test next Monday!

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Elderly Drivers and Community Mobility ⟩
April 23, 2014, by Jen

Classes Diversity What are OS/OT?

In my leadership capstone course, we had an interesting discussion on elderly drivers and community mobility. I found it interesting that although senior drivers are safest compared to other drivers on the road, they are more likely to be injured or killed in an accident. I am not sure of the exact reason for this, but I believe it could be because their health may already be compromised due to their old age. I also think a reason they may be more likely to be injured or killed when involved in an accident (even if they are not the reason for the accident) is that their reflexes may be slower so they are not able to protect themselves as quickly. There are a number of barriers that elderly drivers face. One of them mentioned in the forum was how unmet transportation needs are linked to reduced well-being. This reminded me of a client I had who used a ride share program to get to their therapy appointments. Although they valued therapy sometimes their ride would be very early or very late in picking them up and dropping them off. This became quite a problem because it greatly interfered with how they spent their time. Instead of coming to therapy for an hour session, they frequently would get dropped off up to 45 minutes before therapy and not get picked up until an hour after therapy ended. This caused the time they dedicated to therapy each week to become almost 3 hours (with most of the time being waiting for their ride) instead of spending their time doing things they would like to do. I hope in the near future these types of issues will become less common for older adults.

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Aging ⟩
April 18, 2014, by Jen

What are OS/OT?

With my birthday rapidly approaching, I have been thinking a lot more about the concept of aging. Aging is something we have discussed a lot in the OT program at USC. My class recently discussed older adults and the transition they make to retirement. I think this is such an interesting topic because with people living longer lives, they now need to retire at an older age in order to have sufficient funds for the remainder of their lives. I know people who retired in their early to mid-fifties, but have since returned to work. They have faced not only transitioning to retirement but also transitioning back into the workforce. My class also discused the concept of aging in place. Aging in place is where a person continues to live in their household as they get older as opposed to an assisted living center or nursing home. I was somewhat surprised only 1/6 of adults can do this. I had a client recently who lived in his own home until he passed away. As he got older he started to need assistance for a couple hours a day to help with cooking and cleaning. After a couple years of minimal assistance he began to need more and more assistance until he eventually had 24 hour caregivers at his house. Although it was quite a large expense, it was very important and comforting for him to be able to stay in his home up until he passed away. Another topic we discussed was older adults with dementia or cognitive limitations. I hope there is further research conducted on this topic as the number of people affected by dementia is growing. Occupational therapy can have a tremendously positive impact on the lives of people with cognitive limitations and can help reduce the barriers they face on a daily basis.

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Adventures in Ireland ⟩
April 18, 2014, by Rob

Externships International

One of the unique experiences of our program is the Leadership Externship that all second-year students complete in their final semester as part of the Leadership Capstone course. The externship is a two-week experience that students have the responsibility for finding and coordinating. The diversity in places people go is astounding — from Ghana to Vietnam and from adult day health centers to medical mission trips.

I did my externship in Cork, Ireland at the University College Cork’s occupational therapy program. One of my interests is education and I wanted to see how occupational therapy was taught in other countries. I was challenged more than I expected — visiting an unfamiliar country alone without knowing anyone living there was tough. It helped me realize how much of a home I have built here in Los Angeles in the two years since I moved here from Chicago.

Despite the challenges I faced, I found even more amazing opportunities. While looking at a brochure, I came across a community art group that was building floats for the St. Patrick’s Day parade and they invited me to not only help with construction, but to be in the parade too. How many chances do you have to be in a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Ireland? I couldn’t say no.

The community art group also attracted other young adults from the surrounding countries like Italy, France, and England who came to volunteer their time, sometimes for up to eight months. My last day, a few of my Italian friends cooked me a mouth-wateringly authentic Italian dinner.

Because the externship happens right before Spring Break, there is an opportunity to spend additional time traveling. Those days were the best. I stayed at a bed and breakfast owned by an older gentleman and on my first night he invited me to hang out and have tea while watching a recap of the day’s sports results. He had some amazing stories of growing up in Ireland and living in Australia — I could have listened to his stories all night.

I also went on several day trips, where I took the picture below. I visited Ballycotton, a small, seaside fishing village, and took a long walk along the cliffs. It had been raining lightly, but I wanted to get a picture that captured the green of the land and the blue of the sea and the island with a lighthouse in the distance. In one small moment of sunshine, I set my camera up with a 10-second timer and started running down the hill. You can see how far I made it. It was the perfect moment: birds taking flight as sunshine streamed through the clouds and me running wild down the road. The rain started again as I walked back up the hill, out of breath but content.

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