Student Blog
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Summer in Lifestyle Redesign ⟩
July 23, 2020, by Liz

Classes

The summer semester is almost coming to an end and I thought it would be cool to share with you all about the Lifestyle Redesign elective course I’ve been taking for the past 9 weeks! As you may already know, Lifestyle Redesign was developed here at USC Chan. Pretty awesome, right? If you don’t know much about Lifestyle Redesign, it is an intervention approach that OTs can use with clients to help them manage chronic conditions by taking a closer look at their habits and routines in order to work with them towards building healthier lifestyles.

The coolest part about taking this elective is that we’ve had the chance to practice having our own client! So, one of our peers is assigned to be our client and in return we get to work on some goals ourselves by being another student’s client. We meet with our client once a week for 30 minutes (this is the target time). So far we’ve met for 6 sessions and now that summer is almost over we have two more to go! Here’s a little bit of what I’ve learned:

1. How to incorporate therapeutic techniques I’ve learned in class
We’ve gone over SO much this summer! I’ve been working on using principles of motivational interviewing, integrating coaching strategies, and using communication techniques during these sessions.

2. Paying close attention to your body language and facial expressions is so important
Our body language and facial expressions can say so much. Since we are doing this remotely, it’s been pretty cool to see myself on Zoom and pay close attention to what my client sees when they’re speaking to me. Of course, I wish I were seeing my client in person, but Zoom has been pretty helpful for getting started! We definitely want to make sure our clients feel like they are in a safe space and being mindful of the way we react to what they share is important for doing that.

3. How to pace myself
As I mentioned before, the sessions are meant to be 30 minutes long. It’s so easy to get caught up talking about one thing, and although it would be amazing to have all the time in the world to talk to our clients that isn’t the reality. So far I’ve made some progress—my last session was 33 minutes long! 

4. How to document
Documentation is so important! As Dr. Rebecca Cunningham has mentioned this summer, it is a love letter to your future self! Documentation is how OTs communicate patient progress, it supports how we are reimbursed, and shows why our clients are benefiting from our services. During the process I’ve practiced using appropriate language, writing long-term goals, and writing short-term goals for my client. We also receive feedback that we can then implement into the following week’s documentation. It’s great to be able to practice and make mistakes and learn from those mistakes in a safe space!

5. How to switch gears
Sometimes what we had in mind for our session doesn’t go as planned. So, it’s important to be able to switch gears a little bit and tailor the session to best meet the needs of our clients. It won’t always go our way and that is completely okay!

Although I am looking forward to that week off before fall semester starts, I will definitely miss this course! Our program offers a variety of elective options for students to take and I am so happy I chose to take this one this summer. I’ve learned a lot of useful tools and have developed skills that will definitely be useful when out in practice!

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Try Everything: Selecting Electives ⟩
July 8, 2020, by Bethany

Classes

Due to the pandemic and recommendations for social distancing, our summer classes have put us ahead of schedule in terms of coursework. So when I went to go check my email the other day, I found a message about picking electives for the Fall semester. I was both overwhelmed and nervous, but thankfully, the email also mentioned a Zoom information meeting to help us learn more about our options and what Fall is going to look like.

The electives have been something I have been looking forward to in this program for a long time. A lot of the Master’s coursework follows different practice immersions and thread courses throughout a specific course sequence designed to let us get a taste of OT in all of its forms. After those first semesters, we get to choose from a variety of electives for us to consider, either to specialize or to broaden our scope of knowledge further.

I had come into this program very interested in hand therapy, since it was one of my first experiences with OT. I also had the chance to volunteer under the same hand therapist later during my undergraduate career. For next semester, there were two courses related to hand therapy, OT 573: Hand Rehabilitation and OT 562: Advance Practice in Hand Therapy and Physical Agent Modalities. Hand therapy had always been a consideration, but now, after going through two of the Division’s immersions, I am considering other possibilities as well.

I was excited to be in Adult Physical Rehabilitation as my first immersion. I wanted to see more hand therapy, but then even just starting the immersion, I was able to experience the ways in which Rehab applies to so much more: transfers after hip replacements, creating memory devices, or even relearning the use of a limb after a stroke. At my fieldwork site, I was lucky to be able to experience interdisciplinary work, looking at how occupational therapists work with experts in other fields. In observing an interdisciplinary group for a wheelchair consultation, I began to understand the unique perspective that OT has to offer to complement the views of a physician, a physical therapist, and nurse.

I had been wary of the Mental Health immersion. Being a type A person, I had expected to be most drawn to the Adult Physical Rehab process of having certain activities tied to certain physical outcomes. I was at first almost scared by the seeming vastness and uncertainty of Mental Health. Instead, I found myself intrigued by the power of conversation and by the power of activity. I ran groups at my fieldwork site, engaging people not just through words but also in actions, through activities like a music group, origami, and activities engaging the senses. I fell in love with occupational therapy all over again, amazed by the power of doing, how activity does not just impact the physical, but mental aspects as well. I had expected the immersions to help me narrow down which field I wanted to be in; however, I feel like my choices are only expanding.

And now, I am very much looking forward to the Pediatrics immersion. I expect myself to come into the immersion with a more open mind. Though, I am worried that I will come away from the immersion with my mind open to even more possibilities than I am already considering.

The electives open to us for the Fall were numerous and varied, covering topics from Lifestyle Redesign to ergonomics to dysphagia and swallowing. I realized that I do not have to take courses only focusing on hand therapy if I do not want to. I’ve decided this Fall that instead of taking two hand courses, I will instead take a few others to diversify my course load. In addition to OT 573, I have requested clearance for OT 563: Occupational Therapy in Primary Healthcare Environments and OT 566: Healthcare Communication with Spanish-Speaking Clients. I’m excited to see how these different courses will prepare me to be a better clinician in the future!

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A Day in the Life (Zoom Edition) ⟩
June 26, 2020, by Calvin

Classes Videos

Calvin is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: Calvin’s Corner

Connecting . . .

Hey everyone! Today, I’ll be unmuting and starting my video to show you all a day in my life as a USC Chan Occupational Therapy Student (Zoom Edition)! In this vlog, I invite you into my typical Tuesday where you can see what courses I’ve been taking, what student organizations I’ve been participating in, and so much more. I was actually inspired by our division’s very own Student Vlogger, Caroline Kim, when she posted a day in the life video on the USC Chan YouTube Channel! You can go check out her video here!

I hope that this gives you a good glimpse into my Zoom life and what the program is like right now. Hopefully, I can continue finding the time to make more videos for the “Calvin’s Corner” series, but for now, please enjoy!

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An A+ Doesn’t Define You ⟩
June 25, 2020, by Savi

Classes

As a current student earning an Entry-Level Master’s Degree, many people find it easy to assume things about me before getting to know me. These may include that I am very smart, that I love to study, that school is easy for me, and that I am a master of maintaining an appropriate work-life balance. I understand why these are common assumptions since I decided to voluntarily enroll in at least six more years of school after graduating from high school. Although I appreciate that these assumptions are positive, I continuously feel an immense amount of pressure to live up to them every day. Whether that be by taking two extra hours to study instead of sleep, reading over an article more than once to ensure that I have not missed anything for a class discussion, or over-committing myself to various research and other academic pursuits, I make sure that I fulfill the expectations I feel society has placed on me as a graduate student. I spent all of high school and college continuously pushing myself to get the best grades possible and to take on a variety of leadership roles and extracurricular pursuits while acting as though I was never overwhelmed. I convinced myself that being perfect was the only way I could achieve my dream of getting into USC’s occupational therapy master’s program. Now I made it . . . phew! I got into my dream program, and I am pursuing a career that I am extremely passionate about.

You would think that I would allow myself to take a deep breath and relax right? Unfortunately, that was not the case. As I entered into my first summer I hit the ground running. I spent all day and night studying to make sure that I would maintain good grades. I was tired. I had graduated from college a few days before moving to LA to start at USC, and I pretended like I was not exhausted every day. Everyone around me seemed so driven, smart, accomplished, and motivated. I told myself that everyone was an “A+” student and that I had to be one too. As the summer semester ended and the official school year began, I was worried that my energy had depleted so much that I would not be able to make it through the semester. This was the first time I had to ask myself if I had made a mistake choosing to pursue this career. Was I cut out to be an OT? Was I smart enough? Would I fall behind my peers? Could I keep up with the curriculum?

These doubts overwhelmed me until I confided in a professor for advice. In this meeting, I was taught some of the most important lessons that have helped me not only get through but also enjoy my first year of OT school. Here is what I have learned:

1. You have been admitted into this program for a reason. You worked hard to get here, and you deserve to be here. A team of skilled OTs decided that you were well equipped to become an amazing OT, so remind yourself that you deserve to be here with everyone else.
2. Your skills speak volumes and your grades do not. The wonderful grades you received in your undergraduate career allowed you to be admitted to this program but now you must focus on the learning process, not the end result. You are here to learn and harness the skills to become a great OT.
3. You are going to be a graduate of the top occupational therapy educational program in the country, according to the U.S. News & World Report, and you will become a licensed OT after you pass the NBCOT exam. The deciding factor for whether you will get hired over another candidate is your ability to be personable, your experience in the field, and the skills you are equipped with. Focus on what you can learn in the field, from your peers, from your faculty, and from your mentors. These will be your colleagues for life so spend more time learning from them than focusing on getting the perfect letter grade.
4. It is OK to not get an A. It is engrained in you that grades are what measure your level of success since it is a big part of what got you to where you are today. You made it here, so now you can breathe and just focus on passing and learning all that you can.
5. Have fun because this is the first time you have the chance to immerse yourself in classes focused on your passion! You are surrounded by people that share the same enthusiasm for OT as you so appreciate this unique and special opportunity.

So friends and colleagues . . . it’s OK to not be perfect. Continue to remind yourself that you deserve to be here. Getting a perfect letter grade will not make or break your career so breathe and enjoy the ride. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. YOU made it.

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A Semester Like No Other ⟩
May 31, 2020, by Lamoni

Classes Life Hacks

As we all know, COVID-19 has changed a lot of things. That includes our program. It was quite a surprise for us all when we left for spring break and were told that we would not be returning. Everything happened so quickly. A friend from home was supposed to visit but decided to cancel their flight one day before their arrival. A few days later, I received an email that encouraged everyone to leave campus. That same night, my dad told me that I needed to come home and a flight was booked for the next day. While that was a whirlwind, I packed up all of my things with the belief that I would return next month. Most of my belongings, including my car, stayed in Los Angeles while I headed home.

Slowly, reality sunk in and USC announced that we were moving to remote learning. That meant that instead of taking the shuttle to campus, I would be taking all of my classes in my room. The joy and laughter that I once shared with my classmates would now be contained behind a computer screen. Rather quickly, within the first week of online classes, my eyes felt strained and my back started to hurt. I wasn’t prepared to take classes this way. I also began having trouble staying organized. Something about walking to another classroom helped me to sort my courses and organize my thoughts. Changing Zoom links didn’t do that for me. My research moved online too. So did the student organizations that I am a part of. Then, celebrations like birthday parties were online as well. It was a strange feeling because, though I no longer had to commute anywhere, I felt like I was just barely keeping up. On top of that, I now live in a different time zone and have to constantly remind myself that the meeting scheduled for 5PM is actually 7:00.

We’ve now started our full semester of remote learning — a complete load of five courses online for an entire 11 weeks! But I will not be taken off guard this time; I have prepped. Here are some things that are working for me: I have finally begun using Google Calendar (I have no idea how I’ve gone without it). Google Calendar allows me to use multiple time zones. For me, that means that it shows my schedule in both Pacific Time and Central Time. Additionally, it syncs with my computer’s calendar which syncs to my phone which syncs to my watch. And, just in case digital reminders aren’t enough, I also have a whiteboard calendar and a planner. In times like this, you have to cover all grounds. For seating, I have a designated small pillow for my lower back. For my eyes, I have blue light glasses. For energy, I keep a jar of trail mix on my desk. My watch also gives me reminders to stand and I use those reminders for stretch breaks. During class breaks or lunch break, I try to take a step outside to breathe in some fresh air. When classes are over for the day, instead of delving into homework or assignments right away, I give my eyes another break. Typically, I will either read for pleasure or exercise in my backyard.

This semester is different, therefore it requires a lot of adaptations and modifications. But, we’re OTs. We got this!

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