Student Blog
New Digs — clarification ⟩
February 14, 2013, by Ricky
I would like to make a clarification about my comments in last week’s post, entitled “New Digs.” While I didn’t really bad-mouth my new neighborhood, I am feeling bad about calling it “not-the-nicest” area of Los Angeles. I don’t think that was a fair representation. So, I am staying on the eastside of LA, about a mile and a half south of the Health Sciences Campus. Again, not a recommendation for everyone — but I love it. I live just near the heart of a pivotal region in the rich history of my people, the Chicano people. If you’re open to it, you may find it is a great place too. Not only is it culturally rich, but the location is prime and it lends itself to easy travel in and around LA. LA rocks!
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Inspired ⟩
February 12, 2013, by Paula
So this entry may seem to mirror Amber’s last post a bit but I have been feeling the same excitement at the progress I know that we all have made over the past years. I feel like we are finally pushing away those clouds of self-doubt that come with being a novice, wide-eyed student and are looking forward to exploring what our future careers will be with anticipation. The energy is definitely different mid-way through this final semester and it’s as though there was a transformation sometime within the winter break which really ignited the class. This is a great thing!!
Within the Motor Control elective, I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing people. My clinical observation placement is located in the Jacquelin Perry Institute (JPI) at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, where I primarily follow an OTR/L who works with patients in the Stroke Rehabilitation program. I know that you have heard each of us mention Rancho by now. This rehabilitation center is certainly deserving of the highly esteemed reputation it has developed over nearly a century of providing services. The aspect of Rancho which I value most as a student is the enthusiasm for learning and the obvious effort that each member of the rehabilitation team makes to encourage students while also maintaining such a high quality of care for the people they treat each day. For every student who has started out in the clinical setting, there are those moments of, “Oh no, I cannot remember what they said about this in class,” interspersed with moments of “But, what if I do something wrong?!” It is normal; it is called ‘learning’; and it happens to us all along the way. When a location makes an obvious effort to support the learning experience and clearly has confidence in the ability of the student, as they do at Rancho, it resonates with the students.
Today during lab, a fellow student and I were told that we would be leading a co-treat with a gentleman we have observed in therapy before. We were able to evaluate, compete an occupational profile for the individual (including his prior function, changes he has experienced and what he would like to get back to doing), assess his scapular and thoracic alignment and perform scapular mobilizations to facilitate a more appropriate posture necessary to support activity in therapy. It has been so gratifying to work with people through the many different settings in fieldwork and to learn so much from each of them along the way . . . I feel like I am always saying this, but I am so looking forward to actually being an OT (soon)!
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Feeling Like A “Real” OT! ⟩
February 11, 2013, by Amber
This semester I am taking several elective courses, all of which are very exciting because I have chosen to take them based on my interests. They are all very hands-on and full of practical knowledge that I will use every day in practice. The most hands-on of these elective courses is Enhancing Motor Control for Occupation. In this course we are learning how to facilitate the recovery of motor control after an individual has sustained an upper motor neuron lesion, as may happen during a stroke or traumatic brain injury. We learn different theories and techniques, such as Neuro-Developmental Treatment (NDT) and apply them to occupational therapy treatment. Best of all, the instructor is a working practitioner at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center and the class takes place onsite in the inpatient unit.
A requirement of this course is that I observe occupational therapists using motor control during real treatment sessions for two hours per week. One of the first patients I observed was an elderly gentleman with a goofy sense of humor. He had a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease and had recently suffered from a stroke. The occupational therapist completed a visual assessment with the gentleman to confirm that he displayed left-sided inattention. This means that he consistently ignored information on the left side of his visual field. For example, when reading an eye chart he only read the right half of each line. The therapist mentioned that in subsequent sessions he would be working with the man to help him pay attention to his left side.
During the session I spoke with the man’s wife and asked her what sort of things he liked to do before he was limited by his conditions. She mentioned that he was someone who could “fix anything” and that he was an avid golfer. At the end of the session, I related these facts to the occupational therapist and suggested he may use these activities to facilitate attention to the left. He was not previously aware of the man’s interest in golf and thanked me for my input. I saw the gentleman again at his next session. The occupational therapist had found a golf ball and fashioned a club out of a cane turned upside down (a testimony to the creativity of OTs!). The therapist situated a target to the left side of the man, and like a pro he overcame his left inattention to hit the target every time! It was wonderful to feel that I had contributed to a small breakthrough for this man who is struggling to regain the function he had lost. During that session I felt like a “real” OT and it was fantastic! I’m looking forward many more moments like this in the future as I gain confidence in my abilities.
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Color Run ⟩
February 10, 2013, by Paula
This past weekend, The Color Run came to Dodger Stadium! There was a large group of OT color runners and a group of my friends from college also came down for the event so it was a great mix of people. I was a bit skeptical at first of how much I would enjoy running a 5k with people intermittently dousing me with colored cornstarch, but it was a lot of fun!
Being raised up as a little water baby and playing competitive water sports for 15 years of my life, I am normally the last person to suggest signing up for any sort of set length of running. Many people have told me that they hear swimmers have a certain incoordination when it comes to moving their body through space in “normal” popular sports such as soccer, basketball, etc. There is a certain amount of truth to that — I happen to be a prime example. If you ever see me on a skateboard or trying to master a hurdle (which you will never see), then you will understand.
Regardless, the run was a lot of fun and constant entertainment with all of the people being doused with colored powder throughout. It made me really excited to pursue more runs in the future. I am thinking of doing a Tough Mudder or a Warrior Dash next. Always important to try new things, right??
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Happy OTs ⟩
February 8, 2013, by Kendra
I have had the awesome opportunity to interview at a couple of incredible fieldwork sites this past week. And while these opportunities are definitely amazing and a dream, what makes me even more excited is the confidence I will have that where ever I choose to go, happy OTs will greet me when I’m there.
Did you know that OTs are some of the happiest professionals in the work place? Did you know that OT is one of the top ten degrees that pays you to play?
I love those statistics. And they are so true. When you walk into an OT clinic or OT rehab unit, you’re greeted with smiles. You see people working together with other therapists and actually ENJOYING what they do.
People this is RARE!
OT offers many, many things: job security, the feeling that you’ve helped change a life. But enjoyment? Fun? The pressure to get a good job is so high these days, you don’t often think to expect happiness throughout your career as well.
So as you make your decision about what career path you may take or whether or not choosing OT was the right choice, look at the mood of the OTs in that clinic, and when you see them laugh, smile, and share their joy, I think you’ll have the same feeling I did.
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