Aug 28, 2016
I’m heading back to school this week to help welcome the new class! What would you want to hear/know if you were a first-year OT student?
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I’m heading back to school this week to help welcome the new class! What would you want to hear/know if you were a first-year OT student?
We started the mental health unit today & it made my heart happy that this is what’s being taught to baby OT’s.
Recovery model; doesn’t look at the condition symptomatically but what the person can do & wants to do.
‘We hold the hope for clients when they can’t’ mentioned several times which was one of the most helpful phrases in my recovery.
This also repeated multiple times; ‘our job is not to “judge who will and who will not recover. Our job is to establish strong, supportive relationships with those we work with” to maximise their chances for recovery.’ To go along with the recovery model and not going off symptomatic medical approaches.
They’re also having guest speakers with mental health issues and having them sit in on assignment grading when we come up with intervention plans.
Just so many good things that I’m so glad are being taught to bring in a new generation of far better clinicians. They also said the result of not doing your best and working with your client can be death. For most areas of OT someone's quality of life may not improve or they don't have the tools to help them engage in everyday life, but for mental health clients, it may reach a point where they can't do it any more. Not to scare off people but so people know how important mental health OT is.
Clinic Visits!
We have 3 clinic visits coming up in the next week and a half or so, where each of us get paired up with an occupational therapist working in a particular practice setting for a day. This time, we’ll be going to an adult neuro, seating and positioning, and paediatric site.
It’s definitely a nice break from class and lectures. Can’t wait!
From Splinting to Group Therapy
My class just finished our biomechanics unit for this term, where we learnt different hands-on occupational therapy interventions like splinting, pressure/compression therapy, energy conservation, ergonomics, and systematic desensitization. At the end, we each selected and fabricated a splint for a specific case study (mine was for a man who had sustained deep, partial thickness burns to both arms and hands). We justified our splint selection and design in a paper, and did an oral presentation (as if we were working with the patient.) It feels so good to tie the concepts together and practice carrying out an intervention from start to finish.
Next week we start our psychosocial unit, where we’ll design and facilitate a group therapy session with a partner. I can’t even tell you how happy I am with school. It’s busy and it’s crazy and it’s pretty stressful a lot of the time, but it’s exactly what I want to be doing. As an undergrad I was in a combined biology and psychology program, and I’m so happy that I can work in both physical and mental health as an OT.
Plus, my classmates are the best, most supportive, funny and kind people out there. I love that they’re who I get to be with day in and day out. It makes all the difference.
Feel free to shoot me a message about OT! I’d love to talk with you or answer any questions.
Every school year at HIS starts with the student orientation, where students are introduced to their new teammates, teachers, and rules. We just finished a 2-day OT and are ready to start classes tomorrow. Please pray for us!
My first splint (and completed anatomy glove)! There’s lots of mistakes, but I’m feeling pretty happy with it.
We all get older. How would you want your life to look like at age 85? What about the life of someone you love? Standards of care for older adults should be higher and more consistent across settings. Intergenerational education is just one (really lovely) idea of how we can get there.
My first placement is in geriatric mental health
I haven’t connected with my preceptor quite yet, so I don’t have many specifics. But if you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them as I learn the answers!
Ps I’m very excited