Student Blog
Getting Involved

Having a Seat at the Table ⟩
September 19, 2018, by Joyce

Diversity Getting Involved

One of the unique opportunities at USC is the Student Run Clinic, a completely student organized interdisciplinary clinic that occurs twice a month. We strive to bring about quality care for the underserved population of Los Angeles. The protocol and environment is set up for student to learn to:

• Utilize occupational therapy lens for a holistic approach to patient care
• Collaborate with disciplines from medicine, pharmacy, and physician assistant
• Advocate for the profession of occupational therapy

As the SRC Co-Executive Chair, I have the opportunity to represent the occupational therapy profession at the table. Coordinating patient care across four disciplines can get quite messy with the layers of communication and hierarchy. In order to create a smoother flow of communication, the executive board has been created where 2 students from each discipline comes together, and we brain storm ideas to maintain the occurrence of clinics and enhance the experience of them, for both the patients and the students.  Every month, we meet to discuss any issues that may have to be problem-solved. Within this past year alone, we have tackled many obstacles including patient care, research, communication, and funding.

In partnership with my co-chair peer, I can advocate for the profession of occupational therapy. Having a seat at the table is more than being physically present. When working with the underserved, it is important to be aware of the multiple compounding factors that puts them at risk for future health concerns. While patients are at our clinic, we want them to receive the best quality care in the most efficient way. While the executive board is constantly working towards making that happen, as students, I can use my occupational therapy lens, to bring forth the narrative of the patient population. OTs have the ability and skills to dig into their routines, roles, and access, specific to this population. In this manner, we are advocating for patients using our OT lens.

Most importantly, I am given the space and time to create friendships with students from these various professions! Through our friendships, we are engaging in meaningful conversations that teach one another about our professions. I truly believe that these relationships will continue beyond our time in school and well into our clinical practice years as we learn to lean on each other for collaboration and support.

⋯

Get Involved ⟩
September 17, 2018, by Jessica P.

Getting Involved

Here at USC in addition to our amazing coursework and electives, we have so many opportunities to get involved. Many of our students are involved in professional and volunteer-based organizations and groups. Figuring out what student groups may interest you can sometimes be overwhelming, so here is a summary of the groups our OT students are so passionate about:

Engage is the OT House’s community outreach program which fosters relationships between USC graduate students and our surrounding community. OT students volunteer by designing and participating in recreational activities for at-risk elementary school children.

Occupational Therapy and Science Council (OTSC) consists of every student in the Chan Division and has an executive board of members who work diligently to represent all interests of the student body. They create opportunities for our students to engage in philanthropic learning opportunities, to attend talks surround practice areas of interest for professional development, as well as create a sense of community amongst the Chan Division.

OTs for OuTreach builds and strengthens the sense of community for LGBTQ students and allies by providing opportunities for social engagement and professional development. OTs for OuTreach members volunteer through developing programs and implementing engaging activities for diverse, marginalized and underserved populations. This organization has previously worked with the USC LGBT Resource Center, the Los Angeles LGBT Youth Center, and the Los Angeles County Central Juvenile Hall.

Pi Theta Epsilon (PTE) is the national honor society for occupational therapy students and alumni. PTE at USC sponsors various events throughout the year to promote student scholarship, showcase student and faculty research and engage in interdisciplinary work.

The Pre-OT Club is open to all USC undergraduate students who are interested in learning more about the field of occupational therapy. The Pre-OT club hosts events such as visits to OT practice sites, opportunities to shadow practicing clinicians, networking opportunities, and advisement for the application process for the Entry-Level Master’s program.

The USC Student-Run Clinic (SRC) delivers quality patient care to the underserved people of Los Angeles and enhances health professional education through an inter-professional, team-based approach to health care. Students from four professions (occupational therapy, medicine, pharmacy, and physician assistants) work together to assess, diagnose and optimize the patient’s health and lifestyle to suit their individualized needs.

⋯

Band Camp ⟩
August 13, 2018, by Bethany

Getting Involved

It’s the week before school, and what better way to spend it than preparing for the upcoming football season! The Trojan Marching Band has its Band Camp where we practice all the moves and music to start off our season strong. Members of the marching band come from every school at USC (Surprisingly, the most represented school is our Viterbi School of Engineering.) Some have never even played their instrument before. We’ve got one week to get ready to cheer our team on to Victory. Our incoming freshman get to learn our amazing fight song and of course, the incredible Tusk.

The band doesn’t take the responsibility of being the Spirit of Troy lightly. Not only do we have Band Camp, we also have practice four times a week, preparing new shows for the field. We play at every single football game, home or away. And we do our best to support the rest of the Trojan Family, too, whether that means going to basketball, volleyball, water polo, tennis, or even baseball games.

It is truly Trojan weather, so we make sure to bring Hydroflasks of ice to practice to refill the CamelBacks we bring on the field. A lot of work goes in to being the Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe (Ever!) In the end, it’s all worth it. Come see us and support our Team when football season kicks off! FIGHT ON!

⋯

over and OuT! ⟩
May 4, 2018, by Ali

Classes Externships Getting Involved

As of 9:30AM today I completed my last final of my Master of Arts Degree in Occupational Therapy. This realization just hit me and the nostalgia is real. Although I will be continuing on with the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy to complete me Doctorate of Occupational Therapy with The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens implementing inclusive programming for guests! I am so excited for this next chapter, but right now I want to take a moment to reflect on some of the great moments of this semester that got me to this point. 

1. Externship

As Caroline, Erika, and Kaitlyn mentioned in their blogs over the last months this semester we were given the chance to create our own leadership experience to build our professionalism, communication, and overall understanding of occupational setting in a new setting. A classmate and I continued the work we began in OT 537: Occupation-Centered Programs for the Community. We worked with The Painted Turtle, which is an organization that provides year round camp based programming to children with serious medical conditions. Over the externship I was able to observe new leadership styles in a non-clinical based setting that does not currently have an occupational therapy on staff. We were able to use our occupational lens in a new setting. This opportunity was formative in my decision to complete my residency at The Huntington because I was able to solidify my passion for inclusive programming and the value OT has in community settings.

2. The American Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference

In April I was able to attend my first national occupational therapy conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. I had no idea how much I was going to enjoy the conference and the opportunity to attend presentations given by researchers and leaders in the field that I have been reading about for the last five years. The chance to network with occupational therapists all over the country across so many practice settings was inspiring as I go out into the profession. I know there are endless possibilities in how to create my own practice. I was impressed and honored to be an occupational therapy student entering the profession with so many passionate and hard-working leaders. I am excited to start my residency and hopefully become one of the leaders someday!

3. Comprehensive Exam

Although I have officially finished my finals, I still have the comprehensive exam left! This is an exam that is a compilation of content from the following seven courses: OT 515 Advanced Neuroscience, OT 518 Quantitative Research for Evidence-Based Practice, OT 525 Qualitative Research for Evidence-Based Practice, OT 534 Health Promotion & Wellness, OT 538 Current Issues in Practice: Adulthood and Aging, OT 540 Leadership Capstone, and OT 545 Advanced Seminar in Occupational Science. Although this is a daunting exam, it is also a very meaningful way to complete the program. As this is an opportunity to look back at the foundational courses that have built my occupational lens. I am confident that upon completion of this exam I will have the tools I need to complete my final fieldwork and pass the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy.

4. Electives

I have appreciated this last semester of classes because I was able to take courses that I have a particular interest in learning more about. In addition to gaining a unique view into the theory and intervention of sensory integration I was also able to hone different styles of therapeutic communication. Not only were these courses full of interesting content, but also the opportunity to take classes with students from other cohorts and have professors for the first time. I loved that this semester was different from all the others and allowed me to meet new people and learn new concepts.

Finally, as this is my last blog post, I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for reading and emailing us such thoughtful questions. I am grateful for the opportunity to meet and speak with so many of you as you learned about OT! Fight On! 

⋯

OT in Oncology ⟩
February 15, 2018, by Kaitlyn

Getting Involved What are OS/OT?

I have met a lot of amazing and inspiring people during my journey to becoming an occupational therapist. While I try to preach equality as much as I can, there is still one patient that remains one of my favorites to this day. In my freshman year of college, I volunteered at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, where I met the woman who would spark my road to health care.

Without going into too much detail, she was the kind of woman who wore lipstick everyday even though symptoms and side effects of her diagnosis and treatment yielded a thinning (and nearly disappearance) of her lips. She told me countless stories about her life in her twenties and early thirties — all of places she had lived, all of the countries she had traveled to, and all of the men she had to date before she found her husband (this is my mini plug to say happy belated Valentine’s day!). She was such a light in my life at the time (and still is, to be quite honest) and my interactions with her and all of the other patients in that hospital are what solidified that working with patients in healthcare is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

That was nearly 7 years ago (wow, how time seriously and flies!), and since then, oncology has always held a special place in my heart. As I continued OT school, I was so happy to discover that OT does play a role in cancer care as well. With that being said, a few weekends ago I attended the ‘OT in Oncology Symposium’ hosted by OTAC and City of Hope. This is the first time they’ve held an event like this on this topic, so I knew that I could not pass up the opportunity.

At this event I learned about a multi-pronged approach to cancer-related fatigue, pediatric oncologic OT in acute care, a comprehensive approach to address cancer-related cognitive impairments, evaluation and treatment of of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, psychosocial interventions across the continuum of cancer care, and even how to manage cancer as a chronic condition using a Lifestyle Redesign® approach (lectured by our very own, Dr. Camille Dieterle).

Within these topics, I learned about how fatigue, as a result from cancer, can negatively affect cognition in patients’ everyday lives and how we, for example, can educate the client on how to take proper rest breaks throughout the day. I also learned about the importance of facilitating normalcy and encouraging toddlers with cancer to participate in play in order to yield a sense of autonomy and self, even in a setting like a children’s hospital. In addition, I learned different exercises (i.e., median nerve glides, overhead elbow active range of motion stretches, etc.) to incorporate into treatment sessions with patients to help reduce edema (swelling) and increase tissue circulation in the body. I learned a lot more but if I kept on going this blog post would be way too long!

One of the biggest takeaways I learned from this symposium is that in oncology care (and in any area, really), an extremely essential role for OTs is to present and instill hope in our patients. Yes, as OTs we assess and work on patients’ instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), activities of daily living (ADLs), and range of motion (ROM), but an even more important role is that we aim to make our patients feel understood and really look at what roles are most impacted during this time in their lives. A role can be that of a mother who wants to be able to pick up her child, or it can even just be that of a woman who wants to be able to put lipstick on every day.

⋯