Student Blog
Classes
Another Test Conquered!! ⟩
September 24, 2013, by Kate
Classes
This morning I had my second exam in my Adult Physical Rehabilitation and Disability immersion and boy, am I glad it’s over! Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy the OT program and graduate school in general, but let’s be honest — tests are not that fun. However, I feel that I studied enough for this exam, and I think I did pretty well on the multiple choice and the practicum portions (the practicum is a short-answer/written reply that relates to what you have been covering in the class). Last night a fellow classmate who lives down the street from me came over, and we quizzed each other on the lecture and lab material. It was great to have someone to help me out!
Now, it’s off to prepare for my exam coming up next week in our Health and Wellness class! Although it may seem as if these exams are never-ending, it is awesome to learn this material and build upon it. I can see my future as an occupational therapist coming closer every day. And when I look at the bigger picture, I know the studying and hard work is worth it!
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Visiting San Luis Obispo ⟩
September 23, 2013, by Jen
Classes What are OS/OT?
This past weekend I took a short break from my life in Los Angeles to visit some friends at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. I graduated from Cal Poly in June 2012 (exactly one week prior to beginning the occupational therapy program at USC) with a BS in Kinesiology and a Minor in Psychology. My visit brought back numerous memories from my undergraduate years and reminded me how much my education at Cal Poly helped me get to where I am today.
As a kinesiology major I took courses such as Biomechanics, Motor Control and Learning, Anatomy, Physiology, Neuroanatomy, Adapted Physical Activity, Psychosocial Aspects of Physical Activity, Gerontology, and Sports Nutrition. When I took each of these courses, I never thought about how much I would be using what I was learning in the future. Let me tell you . . . I’ve been using what I learned a LOT since beginning graduate school. Majoring in kinesiology especially prepared me for the physical rehabilitation aspects of occupational therapy.
As a psychology minor I took courses such as Developmental Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Behavioral Disorders in Childhood, and Environmental Psychology. What I learned in these courses did a fantastic job of preparing me for the mental health and pediatric aspects of occupational therapy.
I’m so grateful for my undergraduate experience and know what I am learning now in graduate school will be VERY useful when I become an occupational therapist.
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Feelin crazy, but in a crazy awesome program!! ⟩
September 9, 2013, by Ryan
Classes Externships
Whoa! What a crazy two weeks! Actually, it has been a nice transition from summer because we had Monday off for the Labor Day holiday. Also, each semester we are required to fulfill a Level I Fieldwork within the immersion that we are learning (mine is Adult Physical Rehab & Disability) that is just one day a week. We don’t start our fieldwork until September 18th, so I had Wednesday off, meaning I had two days off of school last week (I know, I shouldn’t complain). Going into our third week, I already have a test in my Adult Rehab course tomorrow (we’ll see how that goes) . . . but I am interested in today’s optional lunch meeting provided for us second year students. It is a Q&A panel for our upcoming course this spring, OT 580 Leadership Externship. OT 580 is a class where we get to explore leadership, advocacy, ethical reasoning, professional behavior and public policy opportunities as they impact the practice of occupational therapy, without actually practicing. We have the chance to go to other countries, work with different companies or populations in order to learn new skills to add alongside our OT practice. In the past, students have traveled to Ghana and worked alongside staff at orphanages advocating for OT. I think this is so exciting! I am looking forward to gaining more information about it today and thinking about what I might want to do . . . ideas, anyone?
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Play for Pediatrics ⟩
September 6, 2013, by Jen
Classes Fieldwork What are OS/OT?
Babies, babies, babies! I love how “hands-on” my professors make learning. This semester, nine hours of my school week are dedicated to pediatrics classes and an entire day each week I will be spending doing fieldwork (hands-on experience) in a pediatric clinic. Six of the nine hours of class are spent in a lecture course, with the remaining three hours in lab. This week in lab, our class walked across campus to the USC childcare center to observe infants, toddlers and preschoolers. I spent the majority of my time in the toddler room and those little ones were quite the entertainers. In lecture this week we had been learning about normal vs. abnormal child development, so observing children in their natural environment in lab really helped solidify the content we had been learning. After observing the children, we walked back to class and performed assessments of the children based on our observations. We compared our results and it was exciting to see how accurate we were!
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A great way to start the year ⟩
September 5, 2013, by Rob
Classes Community What are OS/OT?
One of my favorite parts about attending the program here at USC is the tremendous diversity that can be found amongst the 100-something people in each class. From dancers and gourmet chefs to artist and musicians, each of us possess some unique background unrelated to occupational therapy that we can bring to the profession and each other.
This past weekend was a perfect example. Over the summer, I had the opportunity to be a Classroom Assistant for the incoming first-years in both Kinesiology and Neuroscience. Donna was a student in my Neuroscience lab, who I could tell had a lot of creativity and ideas floating around in her head. She invited me to a special event she was having at her house last Saturday. She wanted to build a ramp that would help one of her classmates who rides in an electric wheelchair get up the two cement steps on her front porch. That way, if they wanted to hang out or have a study group, there would be no accessibility issues.
Donna recruited over a dozen of her classmates to help and it turned into one of the highlights of my summer. With a background in art, carpentry and design, Donna was able to facilitate the whole affair, teaching everyone tool safety as well as the practical aspects of creating a ramp. People that had never used a drill or saw were cutting wood, snapping chalk lines, and laying screws along a straight edge. It was a beautiful sight.
Everyone brought food and we feasted all afternoon. Then, after successfully testing the ramp and decorating it in Trojan colors, we were all able to finally go inside for ice cream. At the end, we had a jam session with a few of the many instruments Donna has collected over her years as a musician. I left with a feeling of fullness from a job well done (or maybe it was the massive amounts of potstickers, watermelon, and brownies I ate!) and people well met that I’ve experienced more as an OT student than I have in a lifetime. These are the moments that make our program, and the people in it, so special.
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