Graduate School Experience
I'm passionate about occupational therapy for its holistic approach to improving lives, focusing on empowering clients to regain independence and engage in meaningful activities despite their limitations. At the IU OT program, I've gained clinical expertise while embracing values of client-centered care and interdisciplinary collaboration. I'm excited to further my journey in OT, using my passion and skills to positively impact others' lives.
1st year of Occupational Therapy
Fieldwork 1A:
For my first fieldwork, my partner and I evaluated a simulated patient with a hip fracture. We spent one week assessing and another week intervening, each session lasting 45 minutes. This experience boosted my confidence and gave me a clear picture of what occupational therapy entails. It was a defining moment that solidified my passion for the field and fueled my excitement for future hands-on work. Some of my strengths during this experience included being empathetic, helping my patient feel less anxious and using my knowledge to explain her precautions.
Fieldwork 1B:
For my second fieldwork I got to go to Indianapolis public schools. I got to observe at George Julian Elementary School, Theodore Potter Elementary School, and George Washington High School. Occupational Therapy services looked different in each school and disabilities and skills varied throughout all three schools. My fieldwork coordinator gave me assignments throughout the week. Those assignments included researching strategies for different conditions such as TBI, Dyslexia, Kabuki Syndrome, and strategies to help with body awareness. I would look up evidence-based articles and write down my findings at home and come back the next day to fieldwork and let my coordinator know what I found. She would type the strategies up in an email and email it to the teachers who needed those strategies. Other assignments included typing up SOAP notes by myself, writing up a list of potential sensory equipment to add in the sensory room and producing treatment strategies for a specific student. As the week went on, my fieldwork coordinator let me conduct some of my intervention strategies and let me do 20 minute treatment sessions with some students on my own. I was able to get feedback from my SOAP notes and improve throughout the week. Everything I learned during this experience truly made it easier for me to make connections, and apply what I learned in my peds course into practice. I believe that the strategies I learned can not only be applied to peds patients but also older adults that suffer traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, developmental delay etc. I was able to understand that self-regulation looks different for everyone and that there are different strategies to help with sensory processing.
Assignments that have helped me grow as an occupational therapy student
Skills on Wheels
I spent two Saturday’s volunteering at Skills on Wheels, where I got to watch and talk to the children. One of the children is fluent in Spanish, and she enjoyed asking me questions and sharing details about her family and pets. Speaking Spanish with her mother during community day was an amazing experience, as she doesn't speak English fluently. She was able to assist her daughter in performing a wheelie, by being the spotter, and it was very rewarding to see her engaging in the skills her daughter had been mastering weeks before. The mother and sister of the child were very encouraging and appeared to be enjoying themselves as they watched the child ascend curbs, go through grass, and go up and down ramps. Now that I've had this experience, I feel better prepared to guide new wheelchair users in achieving independence. By using the skills that I’ve learned through this program, I hope to encourage other wheelchair users and give them the confidence they need to begin a functional way of life. After such a great experience, I can't wait to help more with training and spotting next year and volunteer more.
