Student Blog
International

First Blog: OTSC International Forum 2014 ⟩
April 14, 2014, by Samar

Getting Involved International

As the countdown to graduation begins (30 days left!), I am thinking a lot of the great moments I had at USC. Moreover, how I don’t want it all to end. What I love most about USC is how there are always opportunities to learn and to be inspired. Just this past Saturday, I attended the International Forum which was organized by the Occupational Therapy and Science Council (OTSC). The forum took place at the quaint and charming Center for Occupation and Lifestyle Redesign (a gorgeous place to be in on a Saturday morning). Me and my classmates from the MAI program got to present posters on occupational therapy in each of our countries. I also listened in on presentations by Dr. Cermak, Dr. Frank, and the students panel on their international externship experiences. All of these presentations have posed important questions on the role of occupational therapy on an international level. There were probably two themes that stood out for me from the International Forum. One theme that kept coming up across all the different presentations was the importance of being inventive at finding low-cost and sustainable solutions to facilitate occupational participation of the different populations across the world. The second theme was the ability to consider the broader contexts of human existence such as political and cultural contexts and how might these uniquely influence occupational participation. Being an “international” occupational therapist myself, I feel that the topic of global occupational therapy and occupational justice is close to my heart. So, it felt great to have a forum of discussion on this very important topic. On top of that, I got to enjoy a good part of the day socializing with my favorite OT students. Overall, I feel like this event was such a great mix of learning, socializing and having fun.

This is a picture of me and my classmates minus one (we took the picture with her poster instead!).

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Externship + Spring Break ⟩
March 26, 2014, by Kate

Externships International School/Life Balance

It’s been a whirlwind in my life the past 3 weeks. I went on my externship to Ghana (alongside 35 other OT students and fellow ambassador Clarissa) and then I spent 3 days in Berlin, Germany with one of my good friends from the OT program. My jet lag has not gone away, I must admit, and I am still confused as to when I should be hungry and when I should be tired. All in all, it was an amazing time away from school and I wish I could do a video blog to tell you all about it and share pictures and videos. I will try my best to be succinct yet thorough!

In Ghana, we stayed at the Mephibosheth Training Center in Appam, about 2 hours outside of the capital city of Accra. MTC is a boarding school for children with disabilities that come from all across Ghana, some as far as 9 hours away. About 53 children, ranging from about 5-23 years old, with physical and mental challenges, live at MTC and go to school. It is a true honor for these children to attend school because Ghanaians have traditional beliefs that disabilities stem from a curse on the family or the individual. Although this mindset is changing in the country, it is an ongoing process. Our group of USC OT students came to MTC to play and love on the kids, as well as perform 3 sets of vocational activities with them to note their skill and interest level in sewing, woodworking and leatherworking. We made a game of cornhole with bean bags and leather bracelets. It was truly amazing to spend time with these children!

We also had the opportunity to meet with OT students from the University of Ghana. They will be graduating their first class of 19 students this year, and it was really neat to share our knowledge and love of OT with them. Our group was also assigned to pair up with students from the University of Winneba in the Community-Based Rehabilitation Worker program. These students go out into the communities, find individuals with disabilities and refer them to sources. Many of the students/CBR workers are placed in schools. I was able to shadow a student placed at a primary school in a classroom of 14-16 year-old girls. They loved me and I loved them. It was magical to be surrounded by such joy.

I had the chance to relax in Berlin, where I toured the city with my friend Mona. We got on one of the hop-on, hop-off, double-decker tour buses for two days. This was the perfect choice because we were able to see all of the sites, get the history and have someone else drive! We ate pretzels, schnitzel, spaetzel and yes, drank a lot of beer. It was fun to visit such a cosmopolitan city! I was pretty happy to come home, however, despite the crazy time difference and my loads of homework due this week!!

Speaking of homework, I think I’ll get back to it. Stay tuned for more exciting developments as my fellow ambassadors and I wrap up our last 5 weeks of our grad school careers!!

Here’s a picture of one of the kiddos at MTC in Ghana and some pretzels in Germany. 😊

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Leadership Externship in Ghana ⟩
March 24, 2014, by Clarissa

Externships International

In the Spring semester of your second year, we take a Leadership Capstone class, where we learn how to be leaders and advocates for our beloved profession. This class includes a 2 week leadership externship where go to different sites to learn the necessary skills that aligns with their goals. Thus, it’s a very personalized experience. It’s also different from fieldwork in that we’re not trying to learn clinical skills — we are building that extra set of skills to help our own careers as well as OT flourish.

As you can imagine, the externships can look very different — I know people who have gone to the American Occupational Therapy Association’s headquarters in Washington DC to learn about legislation and another who went to New York to learn the administrative side of running a private practice. Some stayed local in Los Angeles while some went abroad.

I chose to go to Ghana! International advocacy and improving my cultural competency has always been an interest of mine. Ghana is a great program and is organized by a USC OT professor, Dr. Bonnie Nakasuji. There were 32 students that attended and 11 practicing therapists. We stayed at a boarding school for children with disabilities and we came up with vocational activities for them to determine which vocation in Ghana is best matched with their strengths — we focused on sewing, woodworking, and leatherworking. This was so valuable because I learned how to gear activities to a low-resource population — we used rocks and sticks that we found at the school for some of these activities. Here’s a picture of me and one of my assigned kids Francis doing some woodworking!

Another role that the students had in Ghana was to pair with Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) workers. These were students at the local university whose job is to go into the community, identify those with disabilities that need intervention, ensure they access resources, and also encourage them to follow through with therapist recommendations at home after discharge from therapy. We educated them about the scope of OT and taught them basics in assessment and treatment. It was great just making new friends too! I did some student ambassador work off the job and gave them some OT buttons so they can spread the word about OT!

The externship occurs right before our spring break so I had some time to travel with 5 of my close friends. We flew to Northern Ghana and spent time in a national park, where we saw wild savannah elephants up close. Disclaimer: these elephants are not mating — that is a baby elephant playing with its friend!

I learned so much about myself on this trip. I’m still missing the kids in Ghana and am hoping that I’ll get to see them again.

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Snow Before Sun ⟩
March 2, 2014, by Clarissa

Externships International School/Life Balance

I’m about to embark on my leadership externship in Ghana where it’ll be over 90 degrees every day. I’m going from one extreme to the other because right before the trip, the socials chairs, which includes myself and a first year, of the Occupational Therapy and Science Council planned a cabin trip up in Big Bear for the OT program!

Getting there was quite the ordeal — it’s usually a 1.5 hour drive but it took my car 8 whole hours to get there. We got caught in a snow storm! So the traveling was stressful but it was worth it because, when we woke up the next morning, there was fresh, powdery snow everywhere for us to play in.

It was so fun building forts and having snowball fights with one another! We also cooked, watched movies, took walks to Big Bear Lake, and just talked in our down time. Being in a house together for 2 whole days was optimal for bonding time, which I LOVE.

It was a great trip and I’m looking forward to the next big one coming one — Ghana! In the meantime, I’m going to stress out because I haven’t packed at all.

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Gearing Up For Ghana! ⟩
February 19, 2014, by Kate

Externships International

As I may have mentioned, I will be going to Ghana for my Leadership Externship, alongside about 30 of my classmates and 10 occupational therapists/professors. I’ve known since last November that I was going on this journey, but it is so crazy to me that I will be leaving exactly 2 weeks from today! There have been many items on our “TO DO” list that I have accomplished just in the nick of time; there are also many items on that list that I still need to conquer! Today I bought my insect repellent in order to fend off the mosquitoes, a couple bandannas to help with the dust, and all-important sunscreen. I still need to purchase materials for my activities with the students and get my school materials together for when I am there. I will be able to journal each day to reflect on my experiences, and I bought a camera for pictures and video. I’m so excited for this journey and to learn more about myself and my own capacities as a future clinician. I can’t wait to come back after my 3 week trip (Ghana in 2 weeks and then Spring Break for a week in Germany) and share all about my experiences. My fellow ambassador, Clarissa, will also be on the trip, so I’m sure between the two of us, we will have MANY pictures and stories. HOORAY!

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