Student Blog
International

Spring is in the air ⟩
January 21, 2014, by Rob

Classes Externships International Living in LA

Spring is in the air. Not just Spring semester, but the feel of Spring. An unseasonable warm period has flowers blooming, students wearing shorts, and the ants at my house on the prowl. If you live anywhere east of California, I’m sorry. I know it’s cold. My parents in Chicago sent me pictures from when the daily high was not getting above 0 degrees. That’s not normal even for Chicago.

I’ll tell you, it makes me even happier to be in southern California!

Spring is in the air. In a few short weeks, I will be leaving for Ireland for our Leadership Externship. The experience is a student-organized two-week externship, which means it can be whatever you want it to be. Some of us are going internationally and many more are staying within the United States. For me, I wanted to get more education experience and see how occupational therapy and disability are taught in another country. I’m going to be at the University College Cork for the two weeks and then I’ll have part of Spring Break to explore the country on my own.

Plus, they have a juggling team!

Our final semester is focused on electives, giving students a chance to focus on one or several areas that they find interesting. I have three general areas of interest: education, disability studies, and older adults. For the first two, I’m working on independent studies focused on teaching pedagogy and disability education in occupational therapy. My other electives are Universal Design and a course on housing and older adults through the Davis School of Gerontology.

All in all, it promises to be a fun semester.

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A global reach ⟩
October 24, 2013, by Rob

Community International

Occupational therapy is a profession practiced worldwide, with 80 different nations represented in our global association, the World Federation of Occupational Therapists. USC has embraced the global nature of the profession with the MA-I program, which offers a one-year master’s degree to practicing clinicians, both from the United States and internationally.

I recently received a picture from my friend Toshi, who came from Japan last year to do his MA-I at USC. After finishing the program, he returned to Kyoto, where he works in the sub-acute care sector of adult rehabilitation. I’ve attached his picture at the bottom and I’m glad to see our buttons proudly displayed in his work space!

The opportunity to integrate with practitioners from other countries is of great value to us as students. Being exposed to a broader perspective on occupational therapy continues to challenge us to keep an open mind when it comes to our expectations on what OT should look like. And we get to meet interesting people from a variety of backgrounds and expand our interconnected network of OTs across the world.

Toshi, you may be across the world from us, but you will never be far from our hearts!

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Externship in Thailand ⟩
April 3, 2013, by Alisa

Externships International School/Life Balance

I can’t believe I got a rare opportunity to spend 3 weeks in Thailand. Of course, I took it and ran with it. 2 weeks of externship and a week of spring break. The goal of the externship was to learn leadership skills, so I reached out to my aunt who is the owner of Sammie and Sandy Beauty Spa and the chairperson of a non-profit organization, Zonta International (Bangkok 7 region). Some of the highlights of my externship were that I got to table a booth for my aunt’s company at the Bangkok International Hair Show and a golf course. Those were two different populations, but I had to utilize my people skills to engage potential customers in our services and products. It was a tough crowd I have to say, but it was still a valuable experience. Zonta International had a Rose Day, where all of the regions met up to represent different ASEAN countries. I got to dress up in Thai traditional clothing and networked with the members through an evening of great food and music while learning about ASEAN countries and potential business opportunities there.

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The Road to Centennial Vision: USC–Thailand Collaborations ⟩
December 17, 2012, by Alisa

Classes Externships International

I recently had a poster presentation for my community programming class! It was super exciting to be able to see the finish products of our semester long work. Throughout the project, I learned that although working independent has its perks and glory, it could be very hard to motivate oneself to do project. No joke. Even though I felt comfortable asking my professor any questions I had, it would have been nice to have a partner whom I could bounce ideas with. So, I’ve learned my lesson, but in case you’re wondering about my project, which I’m really excited about. Here is a little synopsis of it.

Title: The Road to Centennial Vision: USC–Thailand Collaborations

Goal: My goal for this potential collaboration is to help USC occupational therapy students and faculty realize the American Occupational Therapy Association Centennial Vision through expanding international experiences and collaborations in ongoing and future projects in order to become more “globally connected.”

Objectives:

1. To foster a relationship between USC OT Division and Thai universities and organizations
2. To address a lack of resources available for students and faculty interested in getting international experience in Thailand
3. To provide unique opportunities for collaboration in future projects and research
4. To offer a reference by those interested in joining or creating new programs in Thailand so that they know what services are already being provided, what needs remain, and what   possibilities for collaborations exist
5. To foster a better understanding of the Thai culture and way of life and promote tourism

One potential collaboration I see happening is with the Thai Elephant-Assisted Therapy Project. Here’s a little more about the project:

From the research that I have gathered, a unique opportunity for collaboration is with the Thai Elephant-Assisted Therapy Project (TETP): an innovative intervention for individuals with autism. The TETP was started in 2007 with a two-fold intention: to sustain conservation and welfare of elephants and address autism. The program has provided a binding force that allows for collaboration across disciplines from researchers, practitioners, and students. The research studies have collected data from participants ranging from 11-19 years old and only female elephants were used. Animals that have been known to provide such therapeutic benefits include horses (hippotherapy) and dogs. Young elephants are used in the program since they tend to be more playful, which is considered a plus when working with children with ASD since they tend to have difficulties engaging in play. According to Zailani (2012), the activities incorporated in the program are preparation (e.g., money management when buying snacks for elephants), sensory integration (e.g., singing the elephant song and riding), social skills (e.g., with each other and elephants), and daily living skills (e.g., bathing and grooming). This program is available for free for children with ASD and has been researched by Dr. Nuntanee Satiansukpon, at Chiang Mai University.

I’m planning to do my leadership capstone in March in Thailand and would love to be able to see this in action. Stay tuned!

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Year of the Dragon! ⟩
January 23, 2012, by Floyd

International

Today is the first day of Chinese New Year 2012 and the corresponding zodiac animal is the Dragon, the Water Dragon specifically. Unlike western culture where we celebrate the New Year on January 1st with the dropping of the ball in Times Square, we celebrate the New Year depending of the lunar calendar.

My understanding of the folktale of the zodiac animals came from my grandmother’s stories she told me when I was little. Thousands of years ago, the Buddha decided to designate animals to the lunar calendar to help the farmers know when the best times to plant and harvest crops. He devised a huge race and invited all the animals throughout the land. The first 12 to cross the finish line would be given spot on the zodiac in the order of crossing. During the middle of the race, there was a long river which many of the animals could not cross, so they had to take time in traveling around the riverbed. Rat and Cat were best friends and decided to venture the race together. The cunning and devious Rat knew that Ox could ferry across the river with ease, so he asked Ox to help ferry Cat and him across the river in exchange for his clear sight and the cat’s sense of direction. Ox had poor vision, so he gladly obliged to ferry them across the river. In the middle of the river, Rat thought to himself that he wanted first place, but worried that Cat would be faster than him. So, being devious and knowing that Cat hated water, Rat pushed Cat into the river while Ox was oblivious due to his poor sight. When they reached land, Rat jumped off Ox and was the first to cross the finish line, following by the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and finally, the Pig. When Cat finally reached the finish line, Buddha sadly told him that all the spots were taken already and that he would not be able to be part of the zodiac. Cat was furious and swore revenge on Rat, which is why cats are always out for the hunt for rats nowadays.

Happy Chinese New Year!

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