Benefits of Cohorts

November 28, 2017
by Ali

This is our last week of classes with our cohorts, and it has me reflecting on what a special experience it is to study at USC in the Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. As some of the other blogs have talked about, our entire class of Entry-Level Professional Master of Arts degree students is divided into three cohorts. So our 130-140 person class is broken up into 40-45 person sections. Across the span of three semesters, each cohort takes one of the three immersions focused on Adult Rehabilitation, Mental Health, or Pediatrics. The cohorts will rotate through each of these immersion courses over the three semesters.

Although the immersion coursework is with your cohort, the other thread courses such as Therapeutic Use of Self and Clinical Reasoning are with these same individuals in your cohort. The nature of these courses lends cohorts to be very close knit. We explore different practice areas together as well as develop our own sense of self as therapists. We develop our understanding of occupational therapy and build our clinical reasoning together. These semesters are formative in building our professional identities, so each semester we become more and more bonded as classmates and future therapists.

Reflecting on this last week of a rigorous semester, our last lab in Adult Rehabilitation focused on creating a meal together as a class utilizing adaptive equipment in the functional kitchen where our lab class takes place. There was no better way to end three semesters of coursework with my classmates than creating a meal together. As someone who is shy to speak up in a group of 130 people, with my cohort of 45 students who I got to know on a personal level I always felt comfortable asking questions or seeking out help from whomever I happen to sit next to that day. As Bryan references in his post a week ago, our cohort is constantly lifting each other up and checking in with one another.

Here are some pictures of Cohort B in Adult Rehabilitation during our last lab!

Taco Tuesday