Student Blog
What are OS/OT?

The Sky is the Limit! ⟩
April 17, 2015, by Kristy

Community Fieldwork Getting Involved What are OS/OT?

Recently, I had the opportunity to present at the Occupational Therapy Association of California Spring Symposium on time management strategies for adults with ADHD, specifically speaking to my development of an occupations-based group intervention. Not going to lie, I was a bit nervous speaking to a group of practicing occupational therapists about a program that I have worked so hard on for the last year. I was fearful for their opinion of it, their understanding of the material, and overall how the presentation would go. Even though I volunteered to present and share my work thus far, it is still a bit scary; but I’m here to tell you it went amazing! I couldn’t have asked for a better turn out or better experience for my first workshop! This really speaks to the Division’s capacity to prepare us not only as practitioners, but also has professional leaders and advocates for the field. In addition, attendees were so respectful and supportive of my ideas and my work. In which I could not have gotten to the point I am today without the support of the Division and the curriculum, and specifically Dr. Deborah Pitts who has served as my mentor for this project from the beginning. I’d like to share with you how this journey started and where we are headed in the future 😊

Last May, I was about to begin my first Level II Fieldwork with Pacific Clinics, a community-based mental health center. My site preceptor shared with me that several of their members had a hard time managing their time and getting to appointments, these folks specifically also had a diagnosis of ADHD. I willingly took on the opportunity to see what was out there for these individuals. I then brought this to the attention of my faculty preceptor, and we began a literature review. From our searches, it came to our attention that there was limited interventions out there, specifically anything occupations-based. Therefore, we began the development of what turned into a group intervention, based in occupational perspectives, that facilitated organization and time use strategies for those with ADHD. As my fieldwork was coming to an end, Dr. Pitts suggested I continue the development and research on this intervention in my course, Occupation-Based Programs for the Community. Seeing the members success who experienced the intervention with me during my fieldwork, and acknowledging how much it resonated with them, served as motivation for me to continue on with the development. It reassured me that there was a need for this, and I needed to continue my pursuit. I spent the next 3-4 months doing lots and lots of background research on what interventions were out there, different evaluation tools, symptoms and occupational impairment for individuals with ADHD, and what solutions or data was helpful in facilitating occupational participation. By the end of the semester, I had a completely revised manual for the intervention, and boy was I excited! Then the question came again, what next? I still felt that there could be more. I could do more, I could make it better. I could use more evidence to support the intervention and process. Therefore, I enrolled in an Independent Study with Dr. Pitts, and I continued the revision of the facilitator manual and the participant manual. After another 2-3 months of work, I have finally shared my ideas with others and sought their feedback, not only at the Spring Symposium I recently spoke at, but also seeking critique from experts in the field. I anxiously await their responses and suggestions for the future with the intervention. At this point in time, I am not sure what is the next path to take for development. I know I am not ready to be done with it, I am hoping to seek publication on some level to be able to share with others. But who knows what the future will hold!

So why do I share this with you? I really want to encourage others that the sky is the limit! You can do anything you set your mind to! A year ago, I would have never thought I would be in the position I am in now, nor would I have told you I have such a passion for working with adults with ADHD. The reason I am where I am today is because of the Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. The support of faculty, design of curriculum, and fieldwork experiences, have really impacted my future as a practitioner and as a leader in the field. They encourage you to push the envelope, don’t just settle for the minimum, go outside of the box and do something you didn’t think you could or even knew had it in you!  Without USC OSOT, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and for that I am eternally grateful.

So I welcome you to the Trojan Family! You picked a good one to be a part of! Fight on!

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The Occupational Lens ⟩
February 17, 2015, by Jonathan

What are OS/OT?

As an occupational therapist, one of the things we are best at is being able to capture the details of any given occupation. We are trained to develop this skill, because we are constantly breaking down activities into components to find out where our clients/patients may experience challenges or successes during a given occupation. From there on, we have a better idea of where our treatment efforts should be focused. With that said, during the course of the program, I’ve gotten better at developing this skill — almost to the point in which I can’t turn it off. Here are some examples of what I would like to call the “OT lens.”

This one time, I was hiking with Leila and her sister at a pretty challenging course. I remember for one of the pathways, the hill incline grade was ridiculously steep (almost 45 degrees). I remember Leila’s sister was wearing one of those drawstring backpacks, in which she had only one strap over her shoulder. Almost automatically, I found the following words coming out of my mouth: “It may be easier if you put on both straps of your backpack on so that way there’s no muscle imbalance. Also, get down more towards the floor to lower your center of gravity, and spread out your feet to increase you base of support; it may be easier to get up the hill.” I remember Leila smirking, and I found myself laughing as well, because I totally OT-geeked out. Best believe we got up that mountain, here’s a pic from the top!

This other time, I was on my way to a concert with some friends from the program. I remember being in the backseat of a full car, faced with a dilemma I’m sure you’ve all been through: trying to find your seatbelt buckle between the tiny crevice between you and your friend, without looking. I remember saying to my friends, wow, the stereognosis demand on this task is through the roof! For those of you that don’t know, stereognosis is defined as the ability to perceive the form of an object utilizing the sense of touch. I debated with my OT homies and they just laughed, saying “Jon, can we not talk about anything school related right now!?” I responded by saying “I’m sorry, I can’t help it! I can’t turn it off!”

To preface these last examples, I’ll give you a little background about my family: it is currently being overran by numerous cute babies. It’s straight up baby land at my family parties. With that said, I find myself sort of becoming the baby guru of my family. I remember one of my cousins was mentioning that her daughter loves to wash her hands. I then asked, “Does she like to do anything regarding water?” She immediately replied, “Yeah. She loves the water.” I replied with, “Well, she may be sensory seeking towards anything that involves water, much alike me.” It’s important to note that during any family party, I will take my niece an average of 4-5 times to wash her hands (even if her hands are clean), and every time I do take her, all I can think to myself is . . . “I feel you girl, I feel you!” Haha lastly, during a recent Superbowl family party I was hanging out with my 9 month nephew and I was rocking him side to side as he rested in my arms. In 5 minutes, he was sleeping . . . a friend called me the baby whisperer, to which I replied “I can’t take the credit . . . it’s the vestibular input magic at work.”

Yeah, sometimes the OT geeking out can get a little crazy and out of control. The fact is, once you’re an OT, you can’t really turn it off. Call it what it is, but it’s one of the things that comes with being an OT: we are trained to analyze people in the context of their meaningful activities; the occupations that are embedded in everyday life. The lens never really comes off, even if you try. I guess idealistically, I would like to compartmentalize school, work, and my personal life, but the fact is, having an OT lens doesn’t feel like work . . . at this point in time, it’s second nature, and it’s something that I love to do. I guess Confucius said it best: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” For me, that’s what occupational therapy is.

— Jonathan

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Say whattttt, that’s occupational therapy!? ⟩
February 3, 2015, by Jonathan

Fieldwork What are OS/OT?

It’s an age old question: what is occupational therapy? Funny enough, I ran across this on Facebook the other day:

Point being, occupational therapy is a vast field with many faces. An occupational therapist can work with a variety of individuals across a number of diverse settings. With that said, I think it’s because of this reason that it’s a challenge to find an all-encompassing definition of exactly what it is that we do. In my own experiences, my definition of OT is constantly evolving the more I am exposed to the different things that an occupational therapist can do. Just to give you a better idea of the many hats that OTs can wear, I will talk about some of my own experiences regarding occupational therapy and the various outlets I’ve had the privilege of applying my passion towards.

My first level I fieldwork was at City of Hope. Oncology is an emerging field in occupational therapy, and this was something I’ve always wanted to explore because I’ve always had a passion for working with individuals who have cancer. Over at City of Hope, I was doing a number of different OT interventions, such as mirror therapy, ADL/IADL training, therapeutic exercise, and energy conservation techniques. I remember one of my patients was a Mother. I remember her telling me during our sessions together that it was not the cancer itself that was the most challenging aspect, it was more so her frustrations of feeling that she was not able to engage in the roles and occupations that were meaningful to her. Specifically, she felt like she could not be the Mother she wanted to be, and she could not live the active lifestyle she had desired, because she did not the same energy she once had to undertake these ventures. Thus, in her therapy sessions we would work on energy conservation techniques and we would find ways to build her activity tolerance, so that way she felt more connected to who she was while battling her cancer. The context of occupation engaged her in therapy, and I really enjoyed my time working with her. Here’s a picture of my favorite place at City of Hope, the Golter Gate.

My second level I fieldwork was at Project 180. It was over here that I was working with individuals who were incarcerated or who were at risk for incarceration. I remember watching a 30 days documentary by Morgan Spurlock, and he mentioned a statistic that 2 out of every 3 individuals who are incarcerated will be readmitted back into prison. Thus, Project 180 aims to help these individuals who are at risk for incarceration develop the skills that they need in order to successfully reintegrate into the community. The interventions I was doing consisted of a number of things, including helping an individual find a job, develop a skill set for maintaining a job, helping an individual reconnect to their family, and basically supporting these individuals to turn the chapter and recreate a new life story that they could be proud of. Here I am with my friend Amy, on our last day at Project 180.

I’ve mentioned my time at the Honolulu VA in my previous blogs. It was over here that I was able to work with the heroes who have served our country in inpatient, outpatient, and home based primary care settings. Over here, I was able to help veterans rehabilitate injuries utilizing the occupations that they loved to do. Last semester, I did my level I FW in Pediatrics at NJA therapy services, where I was helping children with special needs in both school based and outpatient settings. Over here, I was utilizing interventions such as fine motor exercises, sensory integration, and ADL training to help these children live a life to their fullest potential. This semester, I’m working with individuals who have multiple sclerosis utilizing a lifestyle redesign model. In doing so, I’m putting in my 100% effort to help my participants reach their meaningful goals, and am supporting these individuals to connect to the occupations that provide them meaning.

Based on my experiences, here is my definition of OT: we are a health profession that helps an individual reach their meaningful goals and fullest potential utilizing meaningful activity. This can be through prevention or rehabilitation, but ultimately we use the context of occupation to help an individual get to where they want to be. We look at a number of factors, including social/physical environment, support systems, personal strengths, and participation patterns, to help an individual overcome the challenges that prevent them from doing what they would like to do. We utilize our skill set to help the people we work with, and put forth our efforts to empower these individuals to live a life engaged in the occupations that give them meaning.

With that said, I pose this question to you: What’s your personal definition of OT? 😊

— Jonathan

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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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Spring Semester ⟩
January 12, 2015, by Leila

Classes What are OS/OT?

Today is the first day back to school after a much needed 4 week break! With a new year in place, my mind and body is refreshed and ready to conquer the last semester. This semester is different from the rest because we are able to choose electives! Part of our curriculum is that we are required to take 12 units of electives, but we aren’t able to do so until our last spring semester. Many of us look forward to this semester because we have the opportunity to select specialty practice/topic courses of our choice! Whether it’s building your motivational interviewing skills, gaining a better understanding of dysphagia through the lifespan, or delving deeper into Sensory Integration Theory, there are many classes to choose from. During this semester, you also have the opportunity to take other electives to gain more clinical experience, participate in a research project or take a class outside the OT division. It’s really a great opportunity for us as occupational therapy students to gain more knowledge and expertise on areas of our interest.

This semester also includes a Leadership Capstone class, where we learn how to be leaders in our profession! Like I mentioned in my last blog, this class includes a 2 week leadership externship where we go to different sites to learn and showcase our leadership skills. This is a personalized experience for each student and the opportunities out there are vast! Over the break, I finalized my decision to go to Costa Rica and will be joining 6 other students! A group of seven of us will be split into two groups where we will be placed in two projects: either volunteering at an orphanage or with a street children project. We will be leaving March 1st, which is fast approaching! I’m extremely excited about this opportunity and look forward to the experience. As you can see, the spring semester is quite the change from our previous semesters. Both exciting and challenging!

During my winter break I didn’t do much but enjoy the time off to relax and engage in my favorite occupations. 😊

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