Student Blog

Occupational Therapy and Science Council ⟩
February 4, 2014, by Jen

Getting Involved

This time of year gets very busy with the Occupational Therapy and Science Council (OTSC), which means as Council Co-Chair I have quite a lot of responsibilities. OTSC provides students with an opportunity to network, interact, fundraise, and develop leadership skills. Some events we have planned that are coming up include the International Forum, philanthropic activities during OT Month in April, and the End of the Year Party. These events take a lot of planning and would be impossible without the effort of the entire OTSC board. Positions on the board include the co-chairs, treasurers, secretaries, GSG Senators, fundraising chairs, social chairs, professional development chairs, international relations chair, historian, philanthropy chairs, faculty liaisons, AOTA representatives, and OTAC representatives. I am so proud to be a part of such an awesome organization.

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Out with Cohorts, in with Electives! ⟩
January 30, 2014, by Clarissa

Classes What are OS/OT?

For the first 1.5 years of this program, I pretty much had my schedule set for me with required classes. The way it works is that we are split up into 3 cohorts at the beginning of our program (A, B, or C) and each cohort rotates through what we call immersion courses which are in the different practice areas of our profession — Physical Disabilities, Mental Health, and Pediatrics. We grow really close to our cohorts because we pretty much see them all day, every day. We still see classmates outside of our cohorts as well, though, because we have courses outside of our immersion.

Our final semester is different because we no longer have cohorts and now have electives! I wish I could take all the electives that existed! I ended up selecting Hands, Dysphagia, Early Intervention, and Motor Control as my elective courses. They’re all great courses and I love all the application. In dysphagia, we learn about treating patients who have difficulty swallowing. Last week, my partner and I looked at one another’s oral anatomy and tested each other’s gag reflexes (while my friend Kathy photobombed us). It was cool! Just not so cool when it was my turn:

Twice a week, I also go to Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center for my motor control course — once to learn in a large classroom setting and practice techniques on my classmates and once for lab where I share my instructor with just one other person and apply what we learned on a patient. We’re currently learning on the stroke unit and I’ve so far found this class really valuable. The instructor is so good and I’m learning so much! In this picture, I’m mobilizing my friend/patient Judy’s scapula. Later on, I cuddled up to my friend Angela (aka patient who had a stroke) so we could practice educating patients how to manage sleeping in their home with their spouse. Lastly, the picture includes my friend Megan who put together a wheelchair BLINDFOLDED! Yup, we are definitely getting the wheelchair management techniques down cold!

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Coming Soon: Graduation ⟩
January 30, 2014, by Kate

Beginnings and Endings Classes

I am just into my 3rd week of classes, and tomorrow marks the end of January. However, it feels as if graduation is just around the corner. This semester is in full swing: I’ve had quizzes, papers and projects already due. Since we will be out of school for a total of 3 weeks in March due to the leadership externship and spring break, I feel as if April will sneak up on me and it will be May as soon as I blink. The students have been told of when our comprehensive exam will take place — May 5th — and now it’s up to us to go out with a bang!

Our comprehensive exam (the “comp” for short) is a 150 multiple choice test that covers 6 classes we have taken during our two years: Quantitative Research, Qualitative Research, Advanced Neuroscience, Health Promotion & Wellness, Leadership Capstone, and Advanced Seminar in Occupational Science. Students must pass the exam in order to graduate from the program. No big deal!!! (Just kidding!!)

I’m really excited to graduate from the program. I’m sure I will have a lot more to say as the time comes closer!

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I love Kate Holford!!! ⟩
January 30, 2014, by Ryan

Community

Well, we are on our third week of classes and I feel like I have adjusted to school now. Getting into the groove with lots of reading, projects forming, etc. So I would like to take some time to talk about my love for my fellow ambassador Kate Holford. I, of course, appreciate my whole ambassador team. Everyone is so wonderfully unique which makes us a great team! But for Kate Holford, we have worked together majority of the time last semester and we were in the same cohort as well (meaning we shared a lot of our core classes together). We have been through a lot together and have become so close while adventuring into the new position of Student Ambassador as well as coming to the end of our program. We helped create an Instagram account for the division and have participated in adding photos each week, check it out if you haven’t already!!! It gives you a peek of what we do day-to-day. This all is in addition to the occasional girl talk and dancing in the office. Thank you Kate for always listening, giving me such great advice and being so supportive! I love you!

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That One Time We Went To Vegas . . . ⟩
January 29, 2014, by Kate

School/Life Balance

“OT School” (as many of us call it) does not have to be all work and no play. Many of us student ambassadors (including myself many times over) have written about our lives OUTSIDE of the OT program. We like to present to you, the reader, that there is much more to being a USC graduate student than our studies (even if that’s a close majority). Especially as an OT student, we want to depict a picture of living balanced lives, where productivity, self-care, leisure and rest are to the levels that make us the best us we can be.

Well, sometimes, leading a balanced life means that you go to Las Vegas with 30 of your friends from the OT program. Our OTSC (Occupational Therapy Student Council) Social Chairs organized and arranged for the first and second years to stay at a very reasonable hotel and get into some great nightclubs. My fellow ambassador, Clarissa, is one of the social chairs and she did an amazing job!!

I roomed with three of my good friends that I met in the program. We dressed up and went to a club on Friday night where we danced and celebrated. It was so fun to be out with them and be carefree. On Saturday, some of our friends from the first year of the program went hiking. My friends and I, however, decided to take part in a Las Vegas tradition: the all-you-can-eat buffet. It was so yummy!!!! Even though we all had stomachaches afterwards, it was so great to experience world-class food together! Saturday night we all headed out to another club where we danced and had fun; after some late night food at 12:30 am, it was time to call it a night. We were on the road back to Los Angeles the next day at 9 am. It was such a fun trip and I’m so glad I took part in it.

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