Student Blog
Externship Week 1 ⟩
March 7, 2013, by Amber
This week was the first of two that my class is spending away on externship. As part of our Leadership Capstone course, we were given the freedom to create an experience of our choosing to enhance our leadership skills. My classmates are currently all over the world in Ghana, Germany, Costa Rica, Thailand, and all over the United States having once-in-a-lifetime learning experiences.
I have chosen to complete my externship closer to home at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey. I am shadowing Dr. Shawn Phipps, an occupational therapist who has excelled as a leader in clinical practice, hospital administration, and professional organizations. He was an occupational therapy supervisor for a decade at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, and now serves as Chief Quality Officer and Associate Hospital Administrator. He recently held the position of President of the Occupational Therapy Association of California, and is on the Board of Councilors in the Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy here at USC.
In this one short week, I have learned an incredible amount about what it takes to be a leader and hospital administrator. Dr. Phipps’ focus is on spearheading quality improvement initiatives throughout the hospital. Every moment of this week has been an incredible learning experience, but the highlight was being involved in the final stages of planning the Quality Improvement Workshop which Dr. Phipps presented today to a group of individuals from 30 departments within the hospital. My knowledge on this topic grew so much this week that I was able to help hospital managers develop their quality improvement plans at the workshop today. I am eager to see what the next week will bring!
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USC Represents ⟩
March 1, 2013, by Kendra
A HUGE congratulations to the 2 newest members of AOTA Assembly of Student Delegates!!
From a National Election, 2 USC Students have been elected:
Chairperson: Susan Linglebach
Communications & Advocacy Chairperson: Sean Sullivan
Go Trojans & Go USC OT!
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Deep Thoughts About the Interwebs ⟩
February 28, 2013, by Ricky
Thursday, last week: I get out of class at 8:40pm, as I usually do on Thursdays (my long day). I hurry home, do a quick 30min workout, shower, and eat. Next, I fire up my laptop and prepare for my weekly quiz, due before Friday’s 9am class. No, I am not procrastinating — this is really the only chance I have to complete it and I know that I will have plenty of time to do it . . . unless the internet doesn’t cooperate. So it’s a little past 11pm, and I am having internet connection problems. I troubleshoot for a few minutes (to no avail) until I notice my landlady is in the kitchen downstairs. I coincidentally decide I could use a glass of water. In the kitchen, I greet my host and casually add the “by-the-way, have you noticed anything about the internet?” She looks a little embarrassed as she searches for a way to explain that the internet goes out from time to time. Before she’s finished apologizing, my creative OT abilities kick-in and I’m thinking of ways to do the assignment that needs to be completed like-right-now. I quickly remember that I had seen a coffee shop on yelp that was open pretty late.
We didn’t have internet for a few days. It was bittersweet. Some of my productivity was lost, but at the same time, I benefitted from having less distractions. The whole experience got me thinking about how much we rely on the internet. I’ve always wondered why municipalities didn’t make an effort to offer internet for free. I mean, we all use the internet so much, it should be public access, right? I was chatting with my barber the other day, and he was complaining about how the last few times he needed to apply for any of his permits, he was sent away and told to do it online. I guess the answer is the same as all others these days: money. But I think it’s still fun to ponder, even without sequestrations and such, if money was not an issue, would free internet help or hinder? Will more of us waste our productive time glued to computer screens streaming Gangnam Style, moreso than spending time contributing to our society? Hmm, good questions. I don’t know the answer, but I do know there is always a place nearby that offers free wifi. 😊 If you’re in Boyle Heights try Primera Taza, oh and get a Taza de Mocha (Mexican chocolate latte . . . mmm).
If you’re near Little Tokyo, try Tom n Toms, they’re open tilll 2 am and have plenty of study space.
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Goodbye, February! ⟩
February 26, 2013, by Paula
Externships Fieldwork School/Life Balance
So here we are, Week 7 of the semester! The Division has been buzzing with visits from AOTA Leadership visits, the AOTA Assembly of Student Delegate elections, and many exciting things coming up. This week is the week-long fieldwork experience for the first years. For the next two weeks, the second years will be out on their externship assignments. After that, we have spring break and then we are nearly to April (Occupational Therapy month) which is jam-packed with events, assignments, presentations and finally, the 2013 AOTA Conference! There are just so many things to look forward to and we all know that the time is going to fly by.
For the externship, many of the second years will be going out of the area, some are returning to the home-state while others are travelling to entirely new places. There is a group of students travelling to Ghana, another group to Costa Rica, and other students will be travelling to China, Thailand, Scotland and Canada. I will be staying in the Los Angeles area and learning more about how occupational therapy services can be better integrated into the palliative care services within an acute pediatric hematology-oncology population. I am very excited to take this opportunity to widen my scope of experience within this population and to find more ways of helping the families involved in such life-changing experiences.
Although it is a challenge, it is so important to not get ahead of yourself (balance, right??). I always take a moment to be sure to be present and appreciative of what is happening today. This has always been something that I need to work on since I tend to be a ‘planner.’ So instead of becoming stressed about “will everything in my externship turn out just as I hope it will?”, or “what will my schedule be during the two weeks away from class?”, I think back on the semester and on the year, and I just slow myself down. This year has been a year of growth for all of my peers. It is awesome to see how everyone interacts in class and in clinical scenarios now that we have gone through the practice immersions and are investigating the elective courses. It has also been amazing to see how viewpoints and career goals change. The different things which I see inspire passion within my classmates is so refreshing. Imagine if we were each interested in the exact same thing. Our practice would never grow and flourish as OT has had the opportunity to do.
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire — W. B. Yeats
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Sleepy head ⟩
February 20, 2013, by Alisa
Life Hacks School/Life Balance
I haven’t been getting good sleep, and partly because I get woken up in the middle of the night. I’m holding the duty phone as a resident advisor, and I’m worried that the phone will ring in the middle of the night. It affects me in that I don’t want to wake up in the morning. The hardest part of waking up is getting up. Today, my alarm clock went off at 7:45, but I didn’t actually get up into 8:16. I set a new record, where I got ready in 6 minutes just in time to catch the tram. It helped that I had my clothes all laid out the night before. I usually catch up on sleep on the weekend, but sleep is something that I’ll be more conscious now. On average my body needs at least 7 hours to be able to fully function. In my undergraduate career I have pulled one all-nighter, and in grad school about once a semester. It’s just me having poor time management skills since I often get distracted by all the wonderful opportunities at USC. Sometimes there just not time in the day to accomplish everything that I wanted to. Yesterday, Kal Penn was speaking on-campus. Today, I’m attending an event at USC where Landon Donovan will be speaking! I’m looking forward to that.
I can’t believe I’m leaving for Thailand in a week! It seems that there is so much more to do between now and when I leave, but I tell myself I’ll get through it. I set smaller goals for myself and tackle them one at a time. Of course, I reward myself for accomplishing those tasks. For my externship in Thailand, I’ll be shadowing my aunt who owns a health spa and is involved in many charitable organizations. I’ll be learning about corporate social responsibility and leadership in the health and wellness industry. I’ll also get to spend more time with my beloved grandmother as well.
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