Student Blog

Annyeonghaseyo Korea! ⟩
March 22, 2016, by Rashelle

Externships International

Hello all! The past couple of weeks have been a crazy whirlwind of events for us second year master’s students. Each year for our leadership capstone, USC students participate in a 2-week externship. Heather describes in detail what that is in her previous blog.

I, along with 10 other classmates, chose to go to South Korea, to participate in one of externships provided by the USC Chan Division of Global Initiatives. We were split between three universities, Inje, Yonsei and Soonchunhyang, and were able to experience a cultural immersion within each respective occupational therapy department. We learned about occupational therapy by studying the diversity within health care and educational systems, along with culture-specific population needs of people with disabilities in Korea. As occupational therapists we realize the importance of understanding each client’s customs, routines and motivations in order to help them participate in meaningful activities. Inje University allowed us to obtain this cultural knowledge by interacting with professors and students, participating in occupational therapy treatment sessions at the HOPE clinic (Healing through Occupational Performance Enhancement) and attending classroom lectures. Dr. An, the therapist and professor we learned from in Korea, taught us specifically about how to be a compassionate, energetic and knowledgable leader in one’s field, which is a lesson that I will take with me no matter what practice area I enter. By coming to Korea we all received much more than we had expected. Aside from all of the knowledge gained about occupational therapy, we believe that we have truly grown as individuals by the relationships formed with Inje University administrators, professors and students.

Furthermore, while I learned so much from actually going to Korea, the best preparation for this trip actually came from meeting Korean students ahead of time during their visit to the United States! Six Yonsei University students actually came to USC about a month ago to experience a similar cultural immersion in America.

While they were here to learn about occupational therapy at USC, we actually learned so much from them as well!

They were able to give me a heads up on what to expect in Korea, and how to impress my friends at Inje University with popular Korean expressions and cute little hand gestures.

Now I can truly feel as though I know both sides of a cultural immersion, by serving as a host to Korean visitors, as well as a guest of honor. Neither of these experiences would have been possible though, without the planning and coordinating efforts of Dr. Daniel Park, and the rest of the USC Chan Division of Global Initiatives.

I am forever appreciative for the work that Global Initiatives has done to make these remarkable experiences possible! If you want to learn more about other Global Initiative projects you can see their Facebook at facebook.com/USCChanOSOTGlobal

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A Day in the Life of an OT Student ⟩
February 22, 2016, by Jodie

Living in LA School/Life Balance

Ever wonder what a typical day as a Trojan OT student looks like? As student ambassadors, we often get asked this question so I thought that it would be helpful to actually see what a typical day is like! I documented my Monday schedule to share with all of you. Just a reminder that I am currently in my second year of the program, halfway through Spring semester! 😊

As many of you already know, our program is located in the Center for Health Professions (CHP) on the USC Health Sciences Campus (HSC). I commute to HSC from Monterey Park, which is only about a 20 minute drive taking local streets. I park in the Biggy Parking Structure — one of the closest parking lots to the CHP building. 

On Mondays, I start my morning off working in the ambassador’s office from 8:30 AM to 1 PM. The ambassador’s office is located in our division’s main office in Room 133. Here you see my fellow student ambassador, Rashelle, already working hard in the office!

Once I’m done with my shift, it is time for my first (& only) class of the day: OT 540 Leadership Capstone. All the second year students take this course together from 1 PM to 3:20 PM in room G-37, our large auditorium located on the first floor of CHP.

After OT 540, we are done with class for the day! I like to spend the rest of my afternoon catching up with classmates and getting schoolwork done. Seen in these pictures are some of my classmates sitting out on the CHP patio, catching up after a busy morning in class.

I also enjoy going to the HSC Fitness center, located in the Soto Building less than a mile away from CHP. Since this fitness center is so close to CHP, it is convenient to squeeze in a workout whenever it best fits in my daily schedule. Every USC student has access to this gym so feel free to take advantage of this beautiful facility! (Disclaimer: that is not me doing the push up! :ohh:)

After all my activities from the day are done, I make my way back home in the evening and relax and prepare for tomorrow’s adventures! This usually consists of checking my planner for any reminders, packing my bag, and setting (multiple) alarms so that I’m all ready to go in the morning. :cheese:

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Rehabilitation with Motor Control ⟩
February 19, 2016, by Heather

Classes What are OS/OT?

Hello Springtime!

Apologies for my blogging absence these past few weeks – I have been extremely immersed in my classes. I am absolutely thrilled about my course load this semester. I am taking two required courses, Advanced Seminar in Occupational Science and Leadership Capstone. The electives that I am taking are Motor Control, Physical Agent Modalities, Hand Rehabilitation, and an Independent Study in Human Anatomy. The classes overlap very well, and I find myself learning a great deal in the areas of practice that I am most passionate about.

The Motor Control course takes place at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, or as we call it, “Rancho.” Rancho is well known for its rehabilitation program, especially its occupational therapy programs. Many of the case studies that we have learned about in class have come straight from patients at Rancho, or from our professor’s clinical experience working at Rancho. Many of USC’s OT doctorate candidates and doctors practice at Rancho, and are actively involved in the Motor Control class.

The Motor Control class is focused on stroke rehabilitation in Rancho’s inpatient unit. This is very meaningful for me because of my history of working with my grandma after she suffered from a stroke. My experience of working with her is what led me to occupational therapy in the first place. It made me realize that I liked being in the position of helping others as I witnessed her recovery. Sometimes it takes a crisis to realize what you are good at.

So far in Motor Control, I have drawn upon my knowledge of human anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, and body biomechanics. We are largely focused on getting certain muscle groups activated in our clients. (Side bar: we practice on each other for a few weeks before we are introduced to actual patients in the second half of the course). We are taught that before we can work on ADLs/IADLs with a patient, we need to ensure that they can move in certain ways for functional performance. We begin by facilitating movement at the pelvis, and then move on to the trunk and scapula. If we cannot facilitate movement easily, we mobilize these certain areas which requires a more hands-on approach. Additionally, we learn how to use orthotics and tools that have proven to be effective in stroke rehabilitation. With practice and clinical experience, we will begin to realize what treatment techniques will be most useful for our patients to regain function.

I have learned from Motor Control, and from my Grandma’s recovery, that the basic tenet of stroke rehabilitation stems from the idea that all activity should be purposeful in recovery. I look forward to working directly with the patients in the second half of the course.

This class has truly united my vocation with my avocation, and I am so thrilled to be even further along my road to becoming a licensed OT in just a few months!

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Spring is HERE! ⟩
February 16, 2016, by Ariel

Life Hacks Living in LA

It’s February! Los Angeles is looking B-E-A-utiful, with 80-degree weather on the regular and spring flowers already making an appearance. The beaches are beckoning and everyone is gearing up for spring break.

When I first moved to Los Angeles to start OT school at USC, I had no idea what I was in for — although parts of LA are quite urban, there are lots of not-so-hidden gems to explore outdoors in Southern California that help offset some of the cons (ahem-traffic-ahem). Here are a few of my favorites:

The Beaches
Okay, so this one is pretty obvious. LA is known for its beaches, which are some of my favorite features of this area, by far. They’re great for decompressing after full-time fieldwork week, bonfire-ing with fellow trojans from the health science disciplines, and surfing (for therapeutic purposes or otherwise!).

The Hiking
With beautiful weather comes opportunities to get out and explore the trails. LA is home to some great hikes!

The Gardens
A post like this would be incomplete without a nod to the many stunning gardens LA boasts.

As Rachel Carson reminds us in Silent Spring, “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. . . . There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”

To anyone considering a move to Los Angeles, I encourage you to check out some of these stunning spots, and expect to see many more!

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Hands-On Learning! ⟩
February 4, 2016, by Jodie

Classes What are OS/OT?

This semester I am taking Occupation-Based Adult Neurorehabilitation, Hand Rehabilitation and Occupational Therapy in Acute Care as my elective courses. Although we are only four weeks into this semester, I have already learned so much and am fascinated by all my classes! Each elective course provides such a comprehensive review of the course topics and allows for very hands-on learning opportunities. Throughout our program we get to see course content applied in practice through both our Level I and Level II fieldwork experiences however, this semester we get to apply course concepts on ourselves and our classmates and really hone in on our skills as practitioners before we graduate!

In my acute care class, we have the opportunity to shadow occupational therapists at Keck Hospital of USC, our world-renowned academic medical center. These clinical experiences coincide with lecture content and significantly enhance the learning experience. In my occupation-based adult neurorehabilitation class, we have both a lecture and lab portion. During lab, we get very hands-on practicing various neurorehabilitation techniques that we learn in class that day. Again, this opportunity to practice what we’re learning and clinically apply concepts from lecture has really made this semester so enjoyable and enriching. This week in neurorehab class, we practiced kinesiotaping and dynamic taping techniques on each other. Here are a few pictures from all the fun we had while learning and practicing this technique!

How did we do??

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