Student Blog
Makayla

My Experience Shadowing at School-Based and Pediatric Outpatient Clinics ⟩
November 11, 2025, by Makayla

Externships Fieldwork Getting Involved

In continuation of my previous blog, My Guide for Finding Volunteering and Shadowing Opportunities, I wanted to share some of my experiences this past summer, where I volunteered at two different pediatric outpatient clinics and shadowed with a school-based Occupational Therapist. As an aspiring Occupational Therapist in the future, these experiences align with my innate desire to understand pediatric patients’ experiences and their application to broader implications on healthcare outcomes and treatment approaches in the field of Occupational Therapy.

Pediatric Outpatient Clinics

This summer, I volunteered at playSense and Kids in Motion Pediatric Therapy, where I gained invaluable exposure in considering a career working in pediatric outpatient clinics. I found these clinics via USC Chan’s OS/OT Volunteer Opportunities page , and I simply reached out to them through email. Since I am a planner, I reached out during the spring in order to start right away when summer started. I recommend planning ahead because programs and clinics can become bombarded with volunteering and shadowing requests. It is important to reach out and initiate getting involved early!

Here are some important takeaways that I learned!

1. Using play and intrinsic motivation to inform the patient’s session treatment and goals

In the pediatric outpatient clinics that I volunteered at, I found that Occupational Therapists would let patients play and pick out their games or activities right off the bat at the start of their session. Then, Occupational Therapists would use these influences to adapt and inform their sessions to empower patients to participate in meaningful occupations with greater independence, ease, and confidence. In doing so, occupations are used as both a means and an end goal to maintain independent skills or to find solutions to challenges that may make participation in daily living difficult. Whether it be through toys, board games, swings, or obstacle courses, kids are intrinsically motivated to engage in activities that they are personally drawn to or interested in. For example, to aid in the development of proper pencil grasp, an Occupational Therapist would have patients use tweezers to pick up small figurines hidden in a container full of rice. Using a spoon to scoop up kinetic sand or puff balls into a toy ice cream cone can also help patients work on their pencil grasp while also working on foundational bilateral skills as well. As a result, the interventions by the Occupational Therapists are made easier for patients in completing treatment goals and applying these skills for everyday use!

2. Therapy exhaustion is real

Oftentimes, I would see that the schedule of the Occupational Therapist was jam-packed, with back-to-back patients with only lunch as their break. It is not easy having to run from one session to another while having to debrief parents at the end of a session and then jump to introduce another patient at the start of their time. Additionally, patients may cancel or run late, or even sessions can go over time or run short if any difficulties arise. In order to alleviate some of these stressors, I line up the specific toys, materials, or adaptive tools ahead of time for the Occupational Therapist so that we are ready to go when each session starts. In addition, I have a new appreciation for the stillness and calm in between sessions, where Occupational Therapists are able to rest and recharge in whatever time they have left. I can only imagine the exhaustion after the end of a day’s work, so this serves as an important reminder to me to prioritize restorative occupations as well!

School-Based OT - Extended School Year (ESY)

This summer, I shadowed an Occupational Therapist during an Extended School Year (ESY) program. An Extended School Year (ESY) program provides special education services to students with intellectual disabilities extending beyond the regular school year. Many times, ESY programs have smaller class sizes and may be at no cost to parents as well.

I got connected with this opportunity through my involvement with the Asian Pacific Alumni Association’s (APAA) Scholar Program. Alongside receiving a scholarship from the program and participating in year-long service hour requirements, we are put into families with board members. Fortunately for me, my board member is an Occupational Therapist who also graduated from USC. I had simply reached out to talk with her, and she quickly connected me to an Occupational Therapist whom I could shadow in the school district that she worked in. Easy peasy; the connections in the Trojan Family are real! She has a breadth of knowledge and has since worked in schools as an Occupational Therapist, School Principal, and Director of Special Education. Now, she works at the County Office of Los Angeles, formulating plans to make inclusive college graduation requirements and integrate greater services for individuals with intellectual disabilities across the University of California System and USC. This is all good news!

Here are some important takeaways that I learned!

1. Sitting in on Individualized Education Program (IEP) Evaluation session

While sitting in on an IEP meeting, I learned how comprehensive this process can be in order to determine if special education eligibility is required to fit the educational needs and curriculum of a student. One student’s file contains multiple documented evaluations over time, and different parties are involved in the meeting to consider the intervention plans for a student. This includes Occupational Therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists, parents, case workers, teachers, school administrators, and even lawyers/attorneys. I watched how emotionally laborious these meetings can be, especially for the parents when there is a legal presence and school administration in the room discussing their child. Nonetheless, it is nice to know that these teams of professionals are comprehensive and thorough when formulating educational plans for each student.

2. Career change is normal and encouraged!

The Occupational Therapist that I shadowed had started working in the biology field out of college, working in a genetics lab. However, she sought out a job that had a greater work-life balance when starting a family and decided to change her career to Occupational Therapy when she was 27 years old. If it weren’t for her biology background or her life’s circumstances, she would not have these experiences to inform her direction into the field of Occupational Therapy. Now, as an Occupational Therapist, she has greater meaning and purpose in her career, as well as in the current occupations she participates in.

3. Picking a field in occupational therapy: Personal experiences shape preferences

The Occupational Therapist that I shadowed shared that she had a greater inclination and cause toward working in younger populations because they are sponges for knowledge and have so much life ahead of them. She wasn’t attracted to older populations as much because they reminded her of her father, who dealt with Parkinson’s Disease, and this deeply affected her. She had been around hospice care and hospitals for a good while, and she knew that this field was not for her. On the other hand, her colleague, who is also an Occupational Therapist, enjoys working with older populations within geriatric care. The motivation for this person was working with people who were able to live out their whole lives and have extensive knowledge from their lived experiences. As a result, personal experiences can shape personal preferences, leading to greater motivations to serve specific populations.

4. Teacher, Occupational Therapist, and Speech-Language Pathologist - Same team, different roles

I found that balancing the needs of the teacher, Occupational Therapist, and Speech-Language Pathologist can be challenging when disrupting the student’s educational flow; however, maintaining a careful balance and encouraging intersectional collaboration between them all is crucial for worthwhile results. Sometimes the same student may need the services of both the Occupational Therapist and the Speech-Language Pathologist, so careful planning of classroom activities and schedules can help maximize the student’s time in these services. Additionally, The Occupational Therapist that I worked with utilized the push-in method, where they provide support directly with the student in the classroom. This intervention supplements the classroom instruction, instead of pulling the student out of the classroom for separate instruction.

Check out Student Ambassador Cara’s blog about the differences between Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists

5. Sensory Integration in a school setting can be hard, but worthwhile

Sensory integration is a therapeutic framework aimed at aiding individuals in organizing and responding to sensory information from their bodies in relation to their environment. While volunteering at the pediatric outpatient clinics, sensory integration was everywhere; however, in a school, these interventions can be hard to do within the confines of the school’s resources, funding for equipment, and school schedules. However, if sensory integration can be supported in school-based occupational therapy practice, it can have a wide range of benefits in supporting student participation, inclusion, and regulation in schools. Learn more about Ayres Sensory Integration (ASI) here:

Check out more about Ayres Sensory Integration (developed here at USC Chan!)

6. Caseload vs. Workload

Caseload is the total number of students that the Occupational Therapist is responsible for supporting; however, the workload encompasses the amount of time and effort to support a student directly, and indirectly, through additional tasks and responsibilities that go into advocating for a student’s support towards their goals. Yet, in many school districts, only their caseload is recognized, which can invisibilize the extensive labor in additional responsibilities and can lead to burnout. School-Based Occupational Therapists are responsible for more than just treatment of students; Ongoing evaluations, IEP meetings, consultations with school administrators, and traveling between schools are just a short list of items that a School-Based Occupational Therapist covers.

Additionally, based on the school district, there could be one Occupational Therapist servicing multiple schools, leading to extensive travel time and careful planning to mitigate conflicts in scheduling. The work that School-Based Occupational Therapists do is invaluable to student success; however, it is difficult sometimes to quantify the depth and impact that they make in students’ lives. As a result, it is important to recognize setting healthy boundaries with the responsibilities that one manages, as well as advocate for greater school resources to supplement and support one’s role as an Occupational Therapist.

7. Occupational Therapy advocacy in the state legislature

The Occupational Therapist that I shadowed expressed challenges in explaining Occupational Therapy services and advocacy, especially in schools and state legislatures. She expressed that there are so many nuances and subtleties that come with the job that she did not know before entering the profession. Fortunately, since shadowing her, there have been great leaps in Occupational Therapy advocacy in the state legislature. California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has since passed the California Bill AB 1009 law as of October 11, 2025, which modifies the current law to increase professional equity for Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists to earn school-based administrative services credentials. In doing so, this is a huge stepping stone in giving state-licensed and highly educated professionals a pathway to pursue administrative leadership, opening doors for greater Occupational Therapy impacts on schools for generations to come.

When volunteering or shadowing, I’ll leave you with some parting advice:

• Take the pressure off
  Remember that this is your experience, so you get to ultimately decide what you want to get out of volunteering or shadowing experiences. Keep an open mind and flexible when entering a practice because you never know what you may encounter or find interesting.
• Be real with your commitment
  Although certain programs may have a specific schedule, be sure to block specific times to attend to this commitment. Changes in your schedule may happen, however be conscious of your time and their time as well. Sometimes you may be more available during the summer than during the school year. It is all up to you, however, keeping a consistent routine in your schedule is beneficial in establishing these relationships long-term.
• Ask questions
  No question is too dumb to answer. It is your experience at the end of the day, so the squeaky wheel gets the grease! A great question to ask is “In what ways do your professional and personal endeavors empower you to support the growth and development of the clients and students you work with?”
• Have a notebook in hand
  For me, I keep a small notepad to jot down notes during volunteering or shadowing sessions, where I write down observations or any questions I may have for an Occupational Therapist. For me, when I am shadowing a session, my main focus is observation, so as to keep the session as natural as possible and so as not to disturb the session. However, sometimes an Occupational Therapist may call upon me to participate with the patient as well, such as with a game or interactive activity. After a session, I will debrief with the Occupational Therapists on any questions I may have. Later, I add these notes to my own database of Occupational Therapy experiences!
• Adhere to their dress code
  Dress for success! Many times, volunteering or shadowing programs have a dress code, and it is for specific reasons. Having appropriate attire, especially when dealing with different populations, is crucial for stepping into a practice. For example, do not wear any dangly jewelry because it can be a safety issue in many settings that can potentially injure you. Don’t forget to wear your volunteer badge for easy identification in a clinic, if your program issues one as well!
• Remember to get any medical clearances!
  Many times, this may be proof of vaccinations or TB (Tuberculosis) tests in order to clear you to start at a practice. Try to do so early, and plan ahead so that you can get to volunteering or shadowing quicker!

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My Guide for Finding Volunteering and Shadowing Opportunities ⟩
October 5, 2025, by Makayla

Getting Involved Life Hacks

When considering a career in occupational therapy as a high school or undergraduate student, it can be daunting to figure out where to start. As students, we may have a limited scope of practice in what career fields will best suit us in the long run. Therefore, volunteering and shadowing are the best ways to experience what it’s like to be in the shoes of an occupational therapist or any other healthcare practitioner of interest.

While engaging in these experiences can validate your own personal passions or align your own career goals, they may also serve as crucial experiences to help narrow down aspects of a potential career that you dislike. It is beneficial to keep the purpose of your experience to be to explore and discover areas of healthcare that may appeal to you, even if only by observation. A set number of volunteering and observational hours is not required for USC Chan’s Entry-Level Doctorate of Occupational Therapy Program Admissions; however, they are highly recommended, as they can help you see the breadth of the field of occupational therapy and the different pathways it can take you on your academic and career journey. Especially being a college student, gaining these experiences can not only help visualize your future in this profession but also provide unique insight and personal contexts that can help inform a great personal statement for applying to occupational therapy school.

Lucky for you, I want to share a few helpful resources to find prospective volunteering and shadowing opportunities that can be a touchpoint to finding new and rewarding learning experiences!

Helpful Resources I Have Found Volunteering/Shadowing

1. USC Chan Website: OS/OT Volunteer Opportunities:

The USC Chan Website has an amazing database of opportunities that highlight opportunities for experiential learning (Volunteer, Internship, Aide, and Observation) for current and prospective students of occupational science and occupational therapy. Unique to this database are organizations and sites that span across Southern California, the East and West coasts of the United States, and even internationally! Opportunities are organized by physical area, and within each physical area by Zip/postal code. Within each of the site’s descriptions, you will find valuable information about the site, whether it be the particular practice area of occupational therapy, who to contact, volunteer expectations, and further requirements. 

Additionally, you will find that many of these sites are owned or led by USC Chan alumni, which I believe enables an added layer of relatedness and connection when reaching out to them in the first place. Above all, this truly attests to the connections within the Trojan Family and supportive networks that can give you greater confidence in the pursuit of your academic and professional career in the future. Don’t believe me? Take it from me, and read my next blog coming up! This leads me to my next piece of advice:

2. Cold-Emailing:

Cold emailing can feel really intimidating, and sending a message to a healthcare professional or alumni can take great courage and initiative. However, in the long term, this one step can open the doors to so many meaningful connections, invaluable insight, and potential mentorship! What are the most effective ways of reaching out and networking with professionals whom I have never met before? Check out this blog guide by Kimberly Rochin, a 2024-2025 Chan Student Ambassador, who clearly outlines how to build connections with occupational therapy practitioners that can help you score volunteering or observation experiences.

Once you do your proper research and find a potential coordinator or liaison for a potential site, craft a thoughtful email to them. Have a clear subject heading and use the body of your email as an introduction. Include your name, major, and specify your interests in occupational therapy. Think clearly about what ways your personal or academic endeavors empower you to support a particular site that you are interested in or the populations you would like exposure working with. By researching beforehand, you can really drive home how a site’s goals or mission align with your desire to take part in an enriching learning experience. If you are reaching out to multiple sites, it is okay to have a template that you use; however, tailor your emails with site-specific personalization while keeping professionalism at the forefront. This goes for crafting CVs, cover letters, and resumes as well! Before you click send, do not forget to proofread!

Once you (potentially) get a response, be open to opportunities a professional can provide, or, in some cases, if they are unable to help, look into their recommendations for helpful opportunities that can be provided elsewhere. An effective thank-you email can make all the difference in continuing a relationship with a site for the future. Let’s say you don’t hear back? Follow up politely, and a quick nudge doesn’t hurt. If you do not receive a response, just know that rejection is redirection; plenty of other volunteer sites would love to have you.

3. Utilizing LinkedIn and USC’s Trojan Network platform

LinkedIn and USC’s Trojan Network are platforms with the same capabilities of cold emailing, if not more. Using USC’s LinkedIn, you can keyword search for specific titles, such as “Occupational Therapist,” to find alumni to reach out to.

Similarly, USC’s Trojan Network allows you to do the same thing, in addition to advanced search features, such as filtering by location or education.

Additionally, one of the best features that USC’s Trojan Network allows for is to connect with alumni with options for crafting a message with them based on different templates, and you can schedule a meeting with them right on the platform. This can help take the stress off of initial communication with prospective professionals or occupational therapy practitioners.

Also, be sure to be clear with your ask! Are you asking for advice, a volunteer position, or mentorship? Whatever it is, say so very clearly, and do not forget to touch on why you are interested in a position, given your personal experiences or academic goals.

 

 

 

3. Trojan Health Volunteers (THV) - USC Joint Educational Project (JEP)
I am personally involved in Trojan Health Volunteers  an organization under USC’s Joint Educational Project (JEP), which pairs undergraduate students with opportunities to gain valuable volunteering experiences in diverse healthcare contexts. Through THV, I have volunteered at USC Keck Hospital’s medical/surgical orthopedic unit floor. Fun fact: Dr. Rafeedie, fellow USC Chan Director of the Entry-Level Doctorate of Occupational Therapy Program and Professor of Clinical Occupational Therapy, had worked on this floor, and I met her here! Check out Student Ambassador Cara’s recent blog about Dr. Rafeedie and her role as the president of Occupational Therapy Association of California

What makes this organization unique is that they have agreements with volunteer partner sites such as USC Keck Hospital, the Luskin Orthopaedic Institute for Children, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, amongst many others. In doing so, you essentially can bypass traditional volunteer applications associated with different clinical sites. As a THV student, you are not only required to volunteer at your site, but also required to complete service-learning requirements. This includes weekly site journals, participating in required discussions on contemporary healthcare topics, attending speaker events with established healthcare professionals, and participating in a journal club focusing on literature within healthcare.

THV comes with its perks, too! In my experience, by being a volunteer at Keck, you are allotted money to spend at the cafeteria every time you come in for a shift. Yay, free food! Also, THV has a Big/Little Program as a resource for all THV students to help one another navigate through different pre-health tracks. THV is definitely a hidden gem, and I cannot encourage participating in this organization enough!

5. USC PreHealth Office

The USC Dornsife Department of Pre-Health Advising is an office that serves students interested in pursuing a career in healthcare by providing services, programming, and support tailored to meet the needs of every student on campus. The USC PreHealth Office is located on campus at HNB 120 (Hedco Neurosciences Building, Suite 120). Their advising support not only empower students to be competitive applicants in their chosen health professional schools, but also connects students with a wealth of knowledge and resources including, but not limited to:

• Weekly newsletter
• Drop ins with Peer Advisors and Mentorship
• Wellness Initiatives: The Den (an in-office, multi-use lounge and study space)
• Pre-Health Job Board
• Dornsife/Keck Shadowing Program
• Pre-Health Leadership, Services, and Learning Involvement Opportunities
• Events, Panels, Discussions posted on their social media
• Learn more here!

6. Reach out to the USC Chan Ambassadors
Feel free to email us: (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) All of us come from diverse perspectives and experiences, so please use us as a resource to find what you are looking for! Check out our student blogs for a wealth of great information and resources that may pique your interest!

If you have read this far, congratulations! I hope these tips were helpful to you or at least can give you some direction on where to start looking to find volunteering and shadowing opportunities. The opportunities are out there and waiting for you; you just have to seek them out!

If you would like to add to USC Chan’s OS/OT Volunteer Opportunities page, please let us know by emailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), and it may help future students as well!

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Beside the Mahjong Table ⟩
September 19, 2025, by Makayla

Community Diversity

The sound of shuffling tiles intermingled with various exclamatory shouts has become synonymous with my memories of family gatherings, as the game of Chinese Mahjong has been an important pastime of mine throughout my childhood. I was often surrounded by this game during these family gatherings, where I would find myself sitting on a miniature stool beside my mother, playing amongst my relatives, fascinated by the quick plays before my eyes, and subconsciously picking up the rules and method of the game. For my family, Mahjong is more than a meaningful activity; it is a generational occupation that contributes to our overall well-being and supports resilience against cognitive decline in older generations. While I hadn’t fully understood the realization at the time, the game of Chinese Mahjong has allowed me not only to grasp my native Chinese roots but also to learn valuable lessons about the art of strategy and calculation applicable to the present, changing world, which requires both to navigate uncertainty and make thoughtful decisions.

Mahjong is an intellectual activity involving four players sitting around a square table who must draw and discard tiles to arrange them in a “perfect” set. One must complement their hand of tiles while memorizing the tiles discarded by their opponents to strategically form special sequences essential for a win. Though simple in explanation, it is complex in playing, as players must take calculated chances on possible risks or play defensively so that other players cannot win.

I often questioned why the older generations of my family were so devoted to this game and what exactly was the fixation that drew them to return to the game every waking moment of our family gatherings. The placement of a single tile can alter the course of the game and the strategies of the opposing players. You must be mindful and strategic in your intentions, since your actions have consequences not only for yourself but also for those around you, requiring full concentration on your own set while remaining aware of the tiles desired by other opponents and those being circulated in the game.

While Mahjong may seem like a leisure activity or family pastime, it is an effective intervention that occupational therapy practitioners may use when supporting healthy aging across the lifespan. The game of Mahjong is not just an activity that sustains social engagement but also serves as a means to alleviate depressive symptoms of older populations in addition to empowering individuals to regain or maintain the ability to stay cognitively engaged. Unique to Mahjong are strategies that require players to integrate working memory, attention, logic, executive function, and intrinsic motivation in ways that complement one another. In doing so, Mahjong provides protective factors against cognitive deterioration while also fostering self-efficacy that contributes to a positive outlook on aging. What began as a family tradition has become a powerful reminder that our personal and cultural identities can shape effective, health-promoting interventions using occupations as both a means and an end goal.

While I am still quite a beginner at this game, I see life as a parallel to Mahjong, as life changes with every move, sometimes as a result of others’ actions or even of your own doing.  Sometimes you must be patient for the serendipitous moment when you find the tile you need to complete a winning set. Other times when the odds are against you, it is important to be cautious in compromising, but when you can’t, you shouldn’t for the sake of protecting your own tiles to win. Mahjong is a metaphor for life; one must take what life throws at you, just like receiving a set of undesirable tiles, to adapt quickly and uncover advantages hidden within setbacks. There is no perfect round or just one strategy to win.

And perhaps that is the draw of the game — because it is so difficult to master. It takes years of experience, a good grasp of body language, and a command of the Chinese language, coupled with a dash of good luck, to be successful.

Every time I return to play Mahjong at family gatherings, I have begun to understand why this activity was more than just a game to me. Looking across the table, I have come to realize the shared bond with my family that not many people can replicate. As a non-native speaker of Chinese, the game of Mahjong has brought me closer to my culture as well as my grandparents. While we are engaged in deep concentration and contemplating strategies in Mahjong, I have recognized that this game forms its own separate language to converse through, strengthening my bonds with my grandparents and relatives while also helping to keep their minds sharp.

As an aspiring occupational therapist, I imagine one day drawing upon my own personal experiences and applying these principles to empower the growth and support the development of the future patients I work with. When I am older, I will congregate at my own mother’s house, where relatives and different walks of life will come together over the game of Mahjong. And this cycle will continue for generations beyond my time.

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