Student Blog
Getting Involved

USC Student Run Clinic Experience! ⟩
January 28, 2015, by Claire

Community Getting Involved What are OS/OT?

Hello! I hope 2015 is off to a good start for all of you!

Today I want to share with you about my experience with the USC Student Run Clinic. The Student Run Clinic is a really unique organization that I would recommend students to get involved in! As an interdisciplinary care team, students from USC’s schools of medicine, pharmacy, occupational therapy, and physician assistant work together to provide comprehensive health care to the underserved in Los Angeles.

This past weekend was the first time that I volunteered with SRC. I loved meeting other students and learning about how each of our professions contribute to the patient’s care. It was a busy clinic weekend, so I was able to work with four patients. It was very interesting meeting a variety of patients of different ages and backgrounds! One challenge that I faced was the Spanish speaking language barrier; I learned that language is a crucial part of the communication with the patient. Because I am not the most fluent Spanish speaker (whoohoo high school Spanish), I felt like there were many things that I wanted to offer her as an occupational therapy student, but couldn’t convey it properly to her.

On the other hand, it was extremely meaningful to see how the role of the occupational therapist is so client centered and that we are able to meet the patient as an individual person. When working with the patient diagnosed with depression, the other members of the team did a really great job at gathering her medical history. In the team huddles, I was able to bring a holistic perspective to her life and tie in the medical considerations to her participation in activities. However, I had the opportunity to get to know her and provide a safe space for her to really share what she was struggling with in her life. I was struck by how important it is to build trust with the patient and I felt honored that let me hear the full story about her experience.

Together, we explored all the things that troubled her, including the environment in her neighborhood, her relationships with family members, and challenges in her daily routine. As occupational therapists, we are also concerned about the emotional, psychological, and spiritual health of our patients. It turned out that spirituality was something that mattered a lot to this patient. With my facilitation and encouragement, she personally set a goal to engage in more spiritual reading to help calm her thoughts throughout the day. She left our session feeling empowered and motivated.

It was such a meaningful experience!

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Time Flies! ⟩
January 21, 2015, by Kristy

Classes Fieldwork Getting Involved

It seems as if I just started the program yesterday, but here we are in the final semester preparing for the comprehensive exam, graduation, fieldwork, and then the national board exam! Woah! But before I get to all that, first I get to enjoy my final semester as a Master’s student by taking electives! This is one of the unique things that USC has to offer because this is our chance to “specialize” within a “generalist” degree. What does that really mean? We get to pick additional coursework to take based on our interested area of practice, so we could “specialize” in pediatrics, wellness, rehabilitation, etc. One week in, I am very happy with the elective options I have chosen because it is really information that I want to know more about and find myself very engaged in the reading and can relate it to future practice.

But one course I am taking is actually a course I more or less made up myself! We are given the opportunity to complete an Independent Study or Independent Directed Research. I have mentioned in my previous blogs about a project I started last summer while I was in my Level II Fieldwork at a community based mental health wellness center. During my time there, the site identified a need for a group intervention for adults with ADHD. So I hit the ground running, researching different interventions that are currently out there and nothing seemed to fit just right, so I made my own. Throughout the summer, I spent time writing, rewriting, researching, reading, and presenting all the material I had found, and by the end I had the first draft of a facilitator and participant manual for a group intervention for Adults with ADHD on time management and organization skills. I would not have been so successful if it hadn’t been for the mentorship of the faculty at USC who guided me through the process and encouraged me to further develop the program during my fall course “Occupation-Centered Programs for the Community.” During this time, I revised the manual again and continued to research what was currently out there. I even had the opportunity to attend a conference by the Allen Cognitive Network where they highlighted some current interventions in time management. So this leads me to my independent study! I will continue the development and revisions of the manuals as well as be presenting at the Occupational Therapy Association of California (OTAC) Spring Symposium. I am so excited to pursue this opportunity and feel so lucky to have a program and Division that supports me in my interests and academic pursuits! Occupational therapy is a broad, diverse field that has many niches so there are constantly opportunities to pursue a passion of yours that you didn’t even know existed! Follow your passion. 😊

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Giving Back, Looking Forward, Enjoying the Present ⟩
January 19, 2015, by Jonathan

Getting Involved School/Life Balance

Greetings everyone! Hope you all had an amazing holiday season and have gotten 2015 started on the right note! As for me, my break went by super fast . . . but I guess that’s how you know it was time well spent! I did choose to stay local over the break, since I had a bunch of family and friends in town, but it was nice to just be home and relax/recharge in preparation for what will be my final semester in the master’s program!

With that said, I am feeling rejuvenated to finish off this last semester strong mainly because I got to engage in some of my favorite occupations over the break, such as hiking, running, playing music, and of course hanging with my friends and family. In addition, I also had the opportunity to experience some pretty amazing moments over break. My 9 month old nephew took his first steps! I like to think (emphasis on like to think) that I may have had something to do with his developmental milestone, since he was pretty much my practice subject for all that I was learning in the pediatrics immersion. :lol: I also had the opportunity to see Conan O’Brien (who I happen to think is the funniest man on the planet) at one of his TV show tapings, courtesy of my friend Brian, who’s also in the program.

Lastly, one of the most heartfelt moments of the break was when I had the opportunity to deliver donated toys to some children who needed it the most. Every year during the holiday season, my sisters and I have a tradition of donating toys to the children of Los Angeles County USC hospital. This year, as the USC Occupational Therapy and Science Council Philanthropy Chair, I chose to open up this donation project to the faculty, staff, and my fellow students of the program. The donation project was also expanded to benefit the children of the VIP (Violence Intervention Program), a wellness center down the street from our campus that provides support and advocacy services for children who are victims of abuse, neglect, domestic violence, sexual assault, and children who are placed in the foster-care system. The response was nothing short of amazing! As I was putting the toys together, I could not help but be overcome with joy because my colleagues, teachers, and co-workers’ generosity served as a reminder of what the holiday season is truly about: spreading a positive impact to bring joy into the lives of others. All together, we collected over 100 toys that were donated to the well deserving children of the Violence Intervention Program, creating some priceless holiday memories for these families. Here’s a snapshot of the donations!

Shoutout to the person who donated the doggy! Ha I kidd, that’s my dogggg.

As I embark on my final semester of the program, please tune in for more blog updates from my fellow ambassadors and I! There’s a lot to look forward to this semester, including electives, OT month, my leadership capstone externship in the Philippines, and of course, graduation! As for now though, I will enjoy the ride while I can, and I’ll be sure to document these experiences so that way you’re riding shotgun with me :coolsmile:

Until next time,
— Jonathan

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Pedal Pushers! Pedal to the Medal, Giving Back Shifted to Another Gear! ⟩
November 14, 2014, by Jonathan

Community Getting Involved What are OS/OT?

Hello there everyone! Hope that you’re all doing great!

This past Sunday, some of my fellow classmates and I had the opportunity to help out Pedal Pushers, a Los Angeles chapter of Ambucs Inc., a non-profit organization that helps to provide adaptive tricycles for children and adults through fundraising within the community! The opportunity to get involved with this awesome cause was wheely fun and wheely rewarding 😛 This amazing organization was brought to my attention by Sonserey, a member of Pedal Pushers, who I had the pleasure of meeting at OTAC. I SPOKE (hehe) with Sonserey and she told me all about Pedal Pushers and Ambucs, in addition to the story of what fuels their efforts. Sonserey is an occupational therapist who works in pediatrics. She told me that when she’s doing an evaluation, much alike most OTs, we start off by trying to decipher what the client’s meaningful occupations are. A common response from the kids she works with is to “ride a bike.” However, for some children with special needs, a traditional bicycle may not be the most practical option. Thus, Amtryke therapeutic tricycles were created to offer an adaptable, universally designed option for children with varying levels of physical abilities! The Amtrykes can be custom made to have a number of features, based on the child’s abilities, safety, and family preference. These features include hand or foot operation, rear-assist steering, assistive pedals, in addition to other adaptations. The best part is, everything on the Amtryke can be adjusted, so the child can continue to use their Amtryke as they get bigger and grow older!

What my classmates and I had the opportunity to participate in on Sunday was actually the final phase of the Amtryke process. It all starts off first with raising enough funds to be able to purchase the Amtryke for the child. Committed families, friends, and communities focus their efforts in hopes that they can make the child’s dream come to fruition. Second, the child is then assessed and fitted for their very own Amtryke. Therapists will collaborate with the children and their families in designing a unique Amtryke that best fits the child’s abilities, function, and interests. The final stage in the process was what my classmates and I had the pleasure of participating in on Sunday! There’s a build an amtryke work shop in which therapists and volunteers will actually create the Amtrykes for the children. The children and their families then pick up the Amtrykes, give it a test drive, and then get to take their Amtryke home! The whole process requires a great deal of diligence on the child’s part, as they patiently wait for an Amtryke they can call their own.

The whole building process we engaged in on Sunday was fun, informative, and extremely rewarding. When the children and their families arrived, you could see the excitement on the children’s faces. To see how ecstatic they were when they first hopped on their Amtryke and propelled a couple feet forward was absolutely priceless! The genuine elation that consumed the kids was contagious, and you couldn’t help but feel the same happiness. Thank you so much to Pedal Pushers and Ambucs for letting us be part of this amazing cause! Here’s some pictures of the process, enjoy!

If you’d like to learn more and get involved with Pedal Pushers/Ambucs, please feel free to visit them at pedalpushers2014.wix.com/pedalpushers and ambucs.org.

Also feel free to like Pedal Pushers page on facebook at facebook.com/PedalPushersLA

Thank you for reading! Have a great weekend, follow your passion, pedal on, but remember to not lose your balance 😊

— Jonathan

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OT/PT Forum 2014 ⟩
November 11, 2014, by Bindi

Community Getting Involved What are OS/OT?

In our line of work, collaboration between rehab professionals is fundamental, as a client will always need a team to work with. No one therapist can do it all, since there may be needs that the client will have that are out of the scope of one’s profession.

So the Alpha Eta Chapter of Pi Theta Epsilon and the Physical Therapy Student Association of USC got together to bring us the 5th Annual OT/PT Forum to enable the Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy students to come together and acquire a better understanding and scope of each one’s profession.

The event began with a wonderful dinner where the students mingled and learnt about their academic courses and how they proceed, the different clinical experiences they have and what OTs and PTs thought of one another ☺. During this time we also had plenty time to look at educational posters from both professions.

Soon after we dove straight into the program with welcome addresses from Dr. Florence Clark and Dr. James Gordon, the Associate Deans and Division Chairs of Occupational Science & Therapy, and Biokinesiology & Physical Therapy respectively.

There were two case study presentations, the first on Physical Disabilities and the second on Pediatrics. It was interesting to learn how the OTs and PTs worked together on cases where we as soon to be professionals would not have thought to intervene. The one that amazed me most was the collaboration between the 2 professions on a case of cystic fibrosis with a double lung transport.

Great initiative!!! Fight On OTs and PTs!!!

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