Why OT?

August 22, 2018
by Evan

What are OS/OT?

Timothy Leary said, “if you don’t like what you’re doing, you can always pick up your needle and move to a new groove,” and when I was 29 years old I took this message to heart. My first career was fulfilling in a lot of ways, but lacked a component of service that I had come to realize was important to my own emotional health. So there I was, passionate about helping people and interested in research, but unsure how exactly I fit into the greater landscape of healthcare. I began to actively volunteer in a variety of settings and was finally introduced to OT. I’ll never forget it, because it felt like at last there was a word for what I wanted to do!

OT’s primary concern is quality of life, and I fell in love with the holistic and patient-centered approach of our discipline. I find that OTs are uniquely qualified to address both mental and physical health in a broad variety of settings with patients/clients across the lifespan, and I love being part of it. I am honored to study in the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and am filled with eagerness to apply that knowledge during real world patient encounters both in fieldwork and beyond.

Today is our first day back at school after 3 months summer fieldwork. It feels so good to catch up with my student colleagues but I find myself thinking about my patients and clinical instructors I had gotten to know so well this summer. What are they up to?? How are they doing?? No way for me to know right now sitting in class . . . but I do know this: I think the fact I’m thinking about them is evidence that I’ve found the right groove for me.

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