Student Blog
Fieldwork

No OT to shadow? No worries! ⟩
September 6, 2017, by Erika

Fieldwork Life Hacks

To those of you who are currently in or still need to complete the mental health immersion, this blog post is for you. Many of you have concerns about not having an OT to shadow during your level I due to the limited number of mental health facilities that have OTs available. That’s a fair concern, I had the same one! Fear not, I’m here to say that I had a great experience in my level I even without an OT to shadow. It took a bit of a perspective shift but once I was able to allow the experience to reveal itself naturally, what I ended up gaining exceeded any expectations and fears I had going in.

During my first fieldwork placement during my first year, I was placed at Verdugo Hills Hospital’s geriatric psychiatric unit called Stepping Stones. I had the opportunity to observe both inpatient and outpatient settings which was quite a privilege. As with most mental health settings, there was no OT to shadow. Therefore, I was placed under the supervision of two recreational therapists and an art therapist in the inpatient unit as well as two social workers in the outpatient unit.

Here is what made my mental health experience so valuable even without an OT to shadow:

1. I learned what professions are already well established in mental health, what they do, and how OT can provide additional value. Before this fieldwork, I didn’t know much about mental health. I just assumed that if someone had mental health issues, they’d see a psychologist. Through this fieldwork, I had the opportunity to observe interventions done by recreational therapists, an art therapist, and social workers and how they played their parts in assisting patients across the progress of their illness. I learned that in art therapy, you would choose mediums (markers vs. paints vs. colored pencils) according to the patients’ cognitive levels and abilities as well as the psychological significance of certain colors! I learned that social workers have the authority to diagnose and observed how they engaged clients in group talk therapy. Best of all, I was able to execute OT sensory and cognitive interventions and inform the other professions on what value we could bring to what they were already doing. It was a beautiful exchange of thought across professions and a shared passion of service to this population.
2. I was able to get exposed to all mental health settings through the experiences of my peers and in turn, reduce stigma that I personally associated with mental health. Since there are few OTs to shadow, mental health is the only immersion in which weekly fieldwork debriefs are set up with peers and a faculty member during class time. I think that most of my classmates would agree that this served as being one of the most helpful resources. We were placed with the same group all semester in which each member was placed in a different mental health setting so we got firsthand experiences of what each setting entailed. What a way to learn! It provided an open platform to not only share in each other’s concerns and successes but gave us a deeper lens into the mental health community. These debriefs equipped us with awareness and compassion, and in turn, helped debunk any stigmas that we initially came into the course with.
3. USC faculty support is top notch. Even with the lack of OT in my settings, there was never a time that I didn’t feel supported by USC faculty. With such breadth of experience, you are bound to find a faculty member that has practiced in the setting you’ve been placed in (inpatient, outpatient, full service partnership, wellness center, clubhouse, etc.). I was able to reach out to faculty members and pick their brains about possible interventions to try out, success stories, horror stories, etc. just to feel a bit more comfortable in understanding OTs role in my specific setting. This experience opened doors to forming relationships with faculty who I now see as mentors that I feel comfortable reaching out to for guidance throughout school and my future career.
4. Developing my therapeutic use of self. Even without an OT, this fieldwork placement was a great opportunity to observe the variance in how my supervisors, as therapists, utilized their own therapeutic uses of self. Everyone has their own gifts, ways of communicating, and backgrounds that contribute to how they practice and work with clients. It was fascinating to see how one recreational therapist Carl*, who I called the Zen master, would engage patients vs. another, Yuko*, who was bubbly and charismatic. They were so different and yet, their concern and care for every patient was expressed and equally well received. This made me really reflect on the fact that there is no one way to be a successful therapist. I began to observe my own therapeutic use of self and develop my own style of practice utilizing my own authentic experiences and gifts.

I know this post was a bit of a big boy but thank you for reading. Hopefully, I’ve been able to alleviate some fears or at least provide a change in perspective on what else you could look forward to during your level I mental health fieldwork placement. At the end of the day, with all your fears, questions, or concerns, know that there is faculty close by, peers going through the same thing, and new and interesting perspectives that lie untapped with your supervising mental health professionals that might provide more insight into your own value and practice with this population. Level I placements are meant solely as a means to observe so OPEN YOUR EYES — you may be surprised by what you end up learning.

*All names mentioned in this blogpost are pseudonyms.

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2010 NBA Champions ⟩
September 1, 2017, by Bryan

Fieldwork Living in LA

The first question Joe (pseudonym) asked me was whether or not I thought the Los Angeles Lakers would win the NBA championship this year.

“Not a chance” I replied before noticing his purple and gold 2010 NBA CHAMPIONSHIPS LOS ANGELES LAKERS shirt.
“That’s whack man,” Joe said.

He did not talk to me the rest of my first day at my very first Level 1 Fieldwork.

My first Level 1 Fieldwork placement was at Mychal’s Learning Place in Hawthorne CA. Mychal’s is a clubhouse setting that offers day programs for adults with developmental disabilities, equipping them with self-care and job skills in order to foster independence. Mychal’s has an onsite washer and dryer, fully functional industrial kitchen, as well as other opportunities to teach and practice ADLs. There was, however, no OT onsite, so my colleagues who were also placed at Mychal’s and I had to be proactive to see how OT fit into this setting and population.

After a whirlwind first day of orientations and getting to know the facilities, I volunteered to assist with an awesome opportunity at Mychal’s, their Howl at the Moon café, which functions as a mobile coffee and pastry retailer. Howl has partnerships with MATTEL headquarters nearby and sets up shop twice a week to sell and serve coffee to the employees. The coolest part of Howl was that Mychal’s participants did almost everything from taking orders, making drinks (fancy lattes, cappuccinos, everything!) and even cooking the pastries. It was incredible to see how much Mychal’s believed in its participants. While I loved my experience there, throughout the semester I was still unsure of an OT’s role in this setting.

Joe and I were both assigned to Howl a couple weeks into fieldwork. We did not get the opportunity to converse since our first meeting and I was a little nervous to break the ice again.

“So . . . do you like basketball?” I asked before noticing the same purple and gold 2010 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP LOS ANGELES LAKERS shirt (PSA: Use your clinical observation skills people).
Joe nodded while preparing a pumpkin spice latte.
“Who do you think is going to win this year?” I asked.
Joe paused midway, while pouring the steamed milk and let out a sigh. “Probably the Warriors,” he responded.

I was confused at his overtly disappointed response and had to ask what was wrong.

It is amazing how a simple question diving deeper can help us understand our clients, and each other, better. In school they teach us two valuable concepts that are foundational to our OT practice: mindfulness and therapeutic use of self. While conceding my lack of mindfulness in noticing Joe’s apparent interests from his attire, I saw these two abstract concepts produce concrete fruit as Joe shared about his background and how the Lakers were an uplifting part of his life growing up. He looked up to Kobe (the GOAT) and Pau as heroes, sad to see them disband and the team rebuild. It was so interesting that Joe and I could connect on something as so seemingly simple as shared sports interests.

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Summer In Full Swing ⟩
July 5, 2017, by Jessica P.

Admissions Classes Fieldwork International

Summer is in full swing and we have been busy keeping up with all of the exciting things happening at Chan!

Just a few weeks ago we had the pleasure of officially welcoming our class of 2019 to the Trojan family! Our new Trojan OTs are busy this summer taking courses in kinesiology, neuroscience, foundations of occupation and creativity, craft, and activity analysis.

Our continuing students have also been busy completing their Level II Fieldwork at various sites across the states.

One of our students, Ali, is completing her fieldwork at Coastside Pediatric Therapy Center. She loves learning about playing with a purpose and the science of development.

Two of our other students, Brynne and Kaitlyn, are completing their fieldwork at Assistance Dogs of Hawaii.

As a student ambassador I have been having a blast meeting all of our new and prospective students. Our Information Sessions are a great way for us to meet students and for them to learn more about our program.

This past weekend we also had the pleasure of welcoming 50 international OTs and OT students for our Summer Occupational Therapy Immersion (SOTI) Program. The participants will spend the next four weeks learning about OT in the United States, attend seminars, visit various OT sites, and of course enjoy all of the fun that Los Angeles has to offer!

With summer half way over, we are excited to fight on and enjoy the next few weeks full of sunshine and OT fun!

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Goodbye Level I Fieldwork! ⟩
November 28, 2016, by Jessica

Fieldwork

Two weeks ago was my last day of fieldwork, and it was definitely bittersweet. I truly enjoyed my experience this past semester at College View School, a specialized school for children with severe disabilities within Glendale Unified School District. Even though I was a special education teacher before coming to OT school, I had never worked with children with severe physical and cognitive disabilities, so this was an amazing learning experience for me. My clinical instructor was very knowledgeable and very supportive, which helped me grow in my own clinical reasoning skills and interpersonal skills. What impressed me most about this site is how well-resourced this school was — they had a beautiful facility with spacious classrooms, accessible playground equipment, a wheelchair accessible indoor heated pool, and a therapy gym. It was great to see that this school district really invested in making this school great for their kids with the highest needs, which is something that is not always prioritized in other school districts.

I was also impressed by how the school really wanted to give the kids the same experiences that other kids in general education campuses get. They had “student of the month” assemblies, where kids from each classroom would get recognized for their growth and progress in front of the whole school and their families. You could see the pride in their parents’ faces, beaming smiles and endlessly snapping photos of their child on stage. They also had themed dress up days, i.e. ’80s day, Hawaiian day, where the kids and teachers would get decked out and compete to win a trophy and bragging rights. Those are just a few of the awesome things that happened at College View in my short time there, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to meet and work with all of the wonderful children and staff.

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Fieldwork Fun! ⟩
October 20, 2016, by JRoe

Classes Fieldwork

This past week was what we like to call fieldwork week. With each immersion (adult rehabilitation, pediatrics, and mental health), there is an accompanying level I fieldwork in that practice area. Normally we only go one day a week for the full day, but last week we did not have class and only went to fieldwork. Level I fieldwork is a great opportunity to observe and maybe apply skills we learned in class to the OT real world.

I am in adult rehab this semester and my fieldwork placement is in an outpatient hands clinic. I have been learning about different conditions and interventions related to the upper extremities. We have seen many different prefabricated splints and exercises commonly seen in hand therapy. We enjoyed learning about the benefits of different physical agent modality (PAM) techniques, including paraffin wax, which I can now say from personal experience that it feels great.

This week in class, we are learning all about PAMs and hand therapy! In lab, we were able to try all of the different techniques I see in the clinic and read about the different diagnoses I have become familiar with. We even made our own splints! I have a much greater appreciation for the work that hand therapists do.

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