AOTA Student News

Issue 6 / Sept-Oct 2013

Exploring New Opportunities In Occupational Therapy

Exploring Different Practice Areas A day in the Life Student Spotlight: SPin OT The Occupational Therapy Numbers

Key Issues AOTA Political Action Committee

ASD Calendar

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2013 AOTA/NBCOT National Student Conclave

Jacksonville, Florida November 15- 16

Student Conclave is one of the best venues to develop leadership, connections, and professional growth within your governing association, AOTA. As a soon-to-be practitioner, you have probably begun setting goals for your future. The 2013 AOTA/NBCOT National Student Conclave provides a terrific opportunity for you to learn tips to complete these goals.

Click Here to Register Today!

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Occupational Therapy:
Exploring the different practice areas

The Foundations of a Powerful Profession

Children & Youth Mental Health Rehabilitation & Disability

Health & Wellness Productive Aging Work & Industry

To maintain our status as a widely recognized profession we must develop and excel in each of these foundational areas of our practice.

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A Day in the Letter from the Chair Life

A Day in the Life is a piece intended to offer a glimpse into an average day of our occupational therapists who are changing one life at a time in there respective areas of practice. A series of descriptions and stories have been provided by new Occupational Therapy Practitioners & Occupational Therapy/Occupational Therapy Assistant Students.
Rehabilitation and Disability By: Kylie OConell OTR/L
In Acute Inpatient Rehab setting you will see a variety of people varying from different ages with a mixture of diagnosis. In this setting you are helping people who have experienced an injury or illness regain function and become as independent as possible with there daily activities so they can return home. A typical day is very structured seeing about six to seven patients a day. The diagnosis might include: TBI, CVA, SCI, Amputation, Multi-trauma, MS, Orthotics, General Debility, cancer, GuiliianBarre, Myasthenias Gravis, Burns, COPD, and Parkinsons Disease. As an OT you can work on everything from ADLs, IADLs, coordination, balance, cognitive deficits, limited ROM or strength, communication issues, visual perceptual deficits, sensory loss, compensatory strategies, energy conservation techniques and modalities. Patient goals are focused on increasing independence with self-care tasks, meal prep, medication management, money management, community reintegration, housework, and shopping in order to return home as independent as possible. As an OT you work along with the Physical Therapist, Speech Therapist, Recreational Therapist, COTA, PTA, nurses, and doctors to provide the best patient care and to reach the patients goals.

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A Day in the Life

Work and Industry By: Sean Sullivan, OTR/L
I work as an ergonomist for a global ergonomics company. When I think of the occupations that can have the largest effects on health outcomes, I think to myself, what do we spend most of our time doing? The answer to me, is work. For most of us, we spend 8 hours a day working. We assume static postures and we practice routines and roles. Many folks are found sitting at computer stations. Others might be manufacturing drugs or microchips. They climb on equipment, enter data, and often repeat motions throughout the day. The processes by which human beings complete these tasks are an area in which occupational therapist are experts in the evaluation oftask analysis! I believe ergonomics is a global solution to health care. With business receiving costsavings benefits from a healthier employee, the employee in turn being happier and pain free, and lastly our economy can feel the effects of healthier more productive citizens. I work mostly from home through a Virtual Platform. I meet with employees through online meetings who are returning to work after injury, beginning to feel nerve compression in the upper extremities, or those that are concerned about their work habits, as examples. As an example of a typical day for me, I may see a client in Sweden at 6am, an employee in the United Kingdom at 7am, and someone in New York at 10am. After that I may be off to the local police department conducting an on-site workspace evaluation and training someone in the proper mechanics of efficient body postures and the processes of behavioral health change. Work and Industry is an area addressed by occupational therapists. My personal advice? Attend AOTA conferences, read the literature, seek out mentorship, and keep asking questions.

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A Day in the Life

Productive Aging By: Tara Duryea, COTA
In the home health care setting you will see many different people with a variety of diagnosis. In one day I might see up to 7 patients with diagnosis that prevent them from performing their activities of daily living as they once had. These diagnoses might include: CVA, general debility due to illness, hip replacement surgery, heart attack, CHF exacerbation, traumatic brain injury, or difficulties due to a recent fall. The unique thing about home health is that you get to see where your patients live and can actually help them with the areas that they are having the most trouble. Not only will you work to help them overcome their deficits but you will also assess their living situation and make recommendations that make their home a safer place for them to live. Some home modifications might include safety rails in the shower, a raised toilet seat, or removing throw rugs to prevent tripping. Patient goals would be to increase independence with grooming, oral hygiene, dressing, bathing, transfers, and simple meal prep. These goals are met by helping the patient increase their strength, endurance and balance.

Skilled Nursing Facility By: Amy Londry OTS

As a level II student in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF), I learned quickly how fast paced this setting is. In a skilled nursing facility the Medicare patients have 100 days of stay, following a 3 day qualifying hospital stay, to return to or as close to their prior level of function in order to return home. So, typically each patient has an hour of occupational therapy and an hour of physical therapy per day, six days a week. There are many different diagnoses in a skilled nursing facility, but some of the most common are: general debility secondary to syncope and a fall, total hip or knee replacements, and stroke. In a SNF treatment includes preparatory methods, purposeful activities and occupation based activities. Some preparatory methods used are physical agent modalities, stretching and bio freeze. Examples of purposeful activities include: card sorting, clothespins, weight bars, dumbbells, Nustep, and arm bike. Occupationbased treatment includes all ADLs (showering, eating, feeding, dressing, hygiene and grooming, functional mobility including transfers, toileting) and some IADLs (mainly meal preparation).

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A Day in the Life

Mental Health Jessica Richman, OTR/L, OTD Candidate
Jessica Richman is currently completing her doctoral residency at Occupational Therapy Training Program (OTTP) in Torrance, California. Her focus is working with adolescents and young adults with pervasive mental health diagnoses such as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. Interventions are individualized, as clients needs and abilities are very diverse. Interventions may include time management, job preparedness, community engagement, minimization of self-harming behaviors, and facilitation of prosocial behaviors. Jessica is currently providing individual and group interventions in community-based settings. She is also part of the Center for the Assessment and Prevention of Prodromal States (CAPPS) program, which aims to identify and protect adolescents and young adults who are at risk for developing psychiatric disorders. OTTP incorporates an interdisciplinary team, which includes occupational therapists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, case managers, psychiatrists, and primary care physicians.

Psychosocial Rehabilitation David Willwerth, OTR/L

As a PSR Fellow at the VA (PSR = psychosocial rehabilitation), my focus is providing recoveryoriented mental health services to Veterans at our hospital and campus in Bedford, MA (located in the Boston area). Psychiatric OT's like me facilitate a lot of groups at the VA that are similar to groups being done in most inpatient hospitals around the country, with some specialization for the Veteran population. For example, I might facilitate a stress management group called "Challenge of Change" that addresses the unique stressors faced by Veterans as they finish deployment and re-integrate into the community. We also facilitate more wellknown OT groups such as Life Skills, Social Skills, Exercise (yoga!), and Sensory group. I also help our Vets with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) plan and organize their own community outings, assist them with money management skills, supported employment and education. In general as PSR Fellows we seek to educate Veterans about how they can use recovery-based principles to foster their own independence in the community. This is a wonderful population to work with and for those of you considering a career at the VA, it is a fantastic work environment. I am currently practicing under a temporary OT license as I prepare to take the NBCOT exam next month, and the VA has supported me throughout this process. I absolutely recommend the PSR Fellowships.

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A Day in the Life

Pediatric Practice Kristin J. Davis, MOT, LOT/R
We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything, than when we are at play.- Charles Schaefer, American psychologist The world of pediatric occupational therapy is a fun and rewarding place to be! I am a recent graduate of Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, LA , and I currently work at the McMains Childrens Developmental Center in Baton Rouge, LA. As a pediatric occupational therapist, my main objective is to help improve a childs performance in the arenas of self-care, play, learning, emotional response, and social interaction in their home, school, and community settings. On any given day, I may treat a 6-year-old with severe tactile defensiveness that is impacting her ability to stay in her seat at school and stand in line next to her classmates and then a 10-year-old spastic cerebral palsy with a need for an adaptive utensil so that he can feed himself. Next, Ill conduct an evaluation on a 3-year-old with hypotonia. I may then partake in a family meeting with a social worker and a physical therapist to discuss the goals of an 18-year-old client as he transitions into adulthood. Finally, Ill create a home program with a sensory diet for an 8-year-old boy with sensory processing difficulties. Every day is different and brings new opportunities for personal creativity and resourcefulness! My advice to those interested in pediatric occupational therapy is to read everything you can, never stop learning, and find time to play daily. Everything you read, learn, and do will impact the lives of the children you treat. And thats pretty awesome.

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A Day in the Life

Rehabilitation and Disability By: Megan Montague OTS
OTs in acute care are very busy and see a wide variety of patients with either medical or psychiatric diagnoses. The patients length of stay is usually short and is typically determined by the diagnosis that brought them to the hospital. Screenings or evaluations can be ordered for the patient. Evaluations are quick and focus in on clients difficulties impeding the patients ability to complete their ADLs. Treatments consist of stabilizing the patients status, enabling them to function and complete their daily ADLs, recommending adaptive equipment, educating the patients and caregivers about new difficulties they may have to face, providing discharge instructions, and suggesting referrals for post hospital treatment. Children and Youth By: Tara Duryea COTA In an outpatient pediatric clinic we see children with a variety of diagnosis. These children might have diagnoses that include autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit disorder, developmental delay, cerebral palsy, or conduct disorders. In the outpatient setting we work to support what the child is having trouble with at school as well as in the home setting. It is important in this setting to include the family in able to see what kind of support system the child has and what the family thinks are the childs strengths and interests. Goals might include increasing handwriting skills, tripod grasp for writing, dressing, grooming, oral hygiene, social skills or attention to task. These goals are accomplished by using tools that engage the child in purposeful activities that are fun and interesting to that child while still being goal-directed.

If you want to learn more about these or other practice areas we encourage you to connect, facilitate, and pursue additional experience and mentorship.

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Visit AOTA.ORG or email ASD@AOTA.ORG

Student Opportunities
Boardroom to Classroom
What is it? 1- hour long discussion connecting student groups to AOTAs Board of Directors Six topics to choose from: Advocacy in Occupational Therapy Importance of AOTA Membership Getting Involved in AOTA Current Factors Affecting Occupational Therapy Importance of Research and Evidence in the Profession Recent Successes of AOTA for Occupational Therapy How does it work? Contact the ASD Steering Committee OT Vice-Chairperson Kylie OConnell: asd@aota.org to set up a session

Student Centennial Commitment Challenge

What is the challenge? Pledge to stay an active AOTA members after graduation through your transition to practice, and through the 100th anniversary of AOTA in 2017. Encourage your friends to take the pledge as well! What does AOTA offer students and new grads? Discounted membership prices Discounts on NBCOT prep materials Help with finding a job Networking opportunities Evidence based research Continuing education opportunities Help with preparing for fieldwork.

Click here to Take the Pledge Today!

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Student Spotlight: SPin OT

SPin OT is a

student led collaborative project. It is

aspiring to enhance the current academic and clinical occupational therapy practice by providing greater access to insightful and evidence-based

As our profession evolves we hope that SPin OT evolves with it and continues to reflect the unique perspectives of students from around the world. SPin OT

Fast Facts
WHY: Seeking more; more knowledge, more inspiration, more conversation, and more opportunities. WHAT: SPin OT is a website that offers students a way to publish their research and course projects to share with the world WHO: The students behind the creation of SPin OT are Dan BakerJud, Gina M. Bello, and Stacy Leggitt.

student projects.

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The Creators of SPin OT

Dan Baker-Jud moved from the forests of Northern California to the jungles of NYC to
enter the Masters of Occupational Therapy program at Columbia University. He chose occupational therapy because he believes in its balanced and practical approach to mental and physical health. His interests include emerging areas for professional development and OT as it is practiced and received around the globe.

Gina M. Bello spent five years in San Diego finishing her B.S in Cognitive Science and B.A
in Psychology before moving to the East Coast for Columbia's OT program. She worked as a museum studies research assistant, an early childhood interventionist, and a research assistant at UCSDs Interactive Cognition Lab and UCSDs Distributed Cognition and Human Interaction Lab. It was during her time working with children on the autism spectrum that she was introduced to occupational therapy. Inspired by the functional approach to therapy, she decided to apply to an MSOT program. Although she still maintains a love for the research world, Gina is postponing applying to a PhD program for a few years while she fulfills her love of making a direct influence on the lives of people living with mental and physical disabilities.

Stacy Leggitt is a non-traditional student, pursuing a second career after spending many years
in the corporate world. Volunteering with kids with developmental disabilities turned her onto the career of occupational therapy, and gave her the motivation to move on to a more fulfilling career. Now that she has been exposed to the variety of professional avenues for an occupational therapist, she cant tell you what populations or settings she will work in as there are too many that are appealing! Shes hoping to have more direction by the time she graduates in August 2014.

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The SPin OT Story

Interview conducted by Megan Montague The SPin OT Story Interview conducted by Megan Montague
ASD: What inspired you to create SPin OT? SPin OT was born out of an extracurricular journal club that we started. We had a lot of interest in topics that there wasnt time to explore within the university curriculum; in particular, new and emerging fields, and upcoming interventions still in the midst of experimental discovery. We loved it because we chose the articles and we drove the conversation. When our discussions of articles grew into discussions of how we would explore the topic on our own, we realized that the avenues for sharing our findings were limited as students so we wanted to provide an outlet. ASD: Who can submit to SPin OT? Anyone that is an occupational therapy or occupational science student can submit work to SPin OT. In the US, this would equate to anyone in a 5-year BA/Masters program, anyone in an MSOT program, and anyone on a doctoral tract. We are not accepting work from OTAs due to the significant differences in the curriculum. As we begin to interact more with our international audience, we are learning the educational equivalents in other countries and making sure that we accept work as appropriate based on their educational systems. ASD: Who can submit to SPin OT? Anyone that is an occupational therapy or occupational science student can submit work to SPin OT. In the US, this would equate to anyone in a 5-year BA/Masters program, anyone in an MSOT program, and anyone on a doctoral tract. We are not accepting work from OTAs due to the significant differences in the curriculum. As we begin to interact more with our international audience, we are learning the educational equivalents in other countries and making sure that we accept work as appropriate based on their educational systems.

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ASD: What kind of research do you accept? We accept articles, perspective pieces, research, and artistic submissions. All articles and research should be evidence based with references included.

The SPin OT Story Continued

ASD: How can students submit research to SPin OT? All submissions must be made via email to studentperspectivesot@gmail.com. Submissions must include the name, university, level of current academic work (i.e. specify Bachelors/Masters/Doctorate), university-hosted email address, and phone number for each author. http://spin-ot.com/submissions/ ASD: How do you plan on sustaining SPin OT past your graduation and for the years to come? The student voice is the heart and soul of SPin OT, and therefore the project is exclusively run by students and the content is 100% produced by students. That means that when we--the editorial board--graduate it will be time to pass the editorial torch onto the next generation of students. We will select these students through an application process in the spring. In the next year we hope to generate funds to cover operating costs (e.g., the website), and conference exhibition fees so that the future SPin OT staff have the greatest opportunity to continue and expand this endeavor. Article submissions, however, have not been as forthcoming as we would have hoped. We enlisted several classmates to submit articles prior to launch in order to showcase the type of work that we were looking for - both in quality and scope, and in the hopes that it would foster ideas for new work. We have begun reaching out to individual students, and to student groups, to solicit and encourage submissions. We want to reiterate that SPin OT is not exclusively a research publication. SPin OT accepts a wide variety of work including course projects or related material (e.g. treatment protocols, evidenced based intervention ideas, case studies, and creative pieces). Learn more about SPin OT at www. spin-ot.com or https://www.facebook.com/st udentperspectivesot!

ASD: Is student participation and article submission what you expected so far? The response and support of students, professors, and professionals to SPin OT has been very supportive and enthusiastic. We did not expect to receive the amount of traffic on the site and on our Facebook page that we have, especially from outside the US. Close to half of our Facebook traffic is international, primarily from the UK & Australia, but also from places like India, Nigeria, and Iran!

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Occupational Therapy by the Numbers

In 2010, AOTA conducted a workforce study that surveyed 11,152 occupational therapy practitioners and students. From this study data was collected that highlight various aspects of the profession, ranging from various salaries across regions to the variety of practice areas that practitioners work in. As a student, this data may help to paint a better picture of where we are as a profession and where you are going as a future practitioner. Heres short summary of some of that information at a glance.* Work Setting Overview: Primary Work Setting: 67.7% of OT practitioners primarily work in one of these 3 settings: Hospital (nonmental health) (26.2%), Schools (21.6%) or Long-Term Care/Skilled Nursing Facility (19.9%). Secondary Work Setting: 31.1 % of OT practitioners report working in another setting besides their primary setting, with the majority (30.6%) working at a Long-Term Care/Skilled Nursing Facility for a median of 6 hours per week.

Profile of the profession:

Professional Status: 86% of occupational therapy practitioners are OTs; the other 14% are OTAs. Gender: 91.6% of occupational therapy practitioners are females. Age: The median age of an OT practitioner is 42. Ethnic Background: The majority of OT practitioners identify as being Caucasian/White (88.2%) Educational Background: 47.4% of OTs report having a baccalaureate degree in the profession, followed closely by 46.6% reporting having a masters degree in OT. The vast majority of OTAs hold an associates degree at 91.2%.
Compensation:

Work Week: The majority, 84.8%, of OT practitioners work a full-time schedule (30+ hours per week) in their primary setting.

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Salaries: The median annual salary for a full-time OT is $64,722; the median annual salary for a full-time OTA is $44,000.

Key Issues:
Things you need to know about our profession right now.
By Gail Fisher, AOTPAC Chair

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Occupational therapy was recently ranked by U.S. News as #7 on the list of "Best Healthcare Jobs" http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/occupationaltherapist
Hospitals will now be penalized if their Medicare patients have a high rate of hospital readmission and hospitalacquired conditions such as falls, pressure sores, deep vein thrombosis, and infections. OT has a role to play in helping hospitals improve their performance in this area. See the September AJOT for a Health Policy Perspectives article by Gail Fisher and Jen Friesema for more on this timely topic. 680 students participated in AOTA's Capital Hill Day on September 30, 2013. That was 90% of the 752 in attendance! ASD representatives were recognized during the opening remarks by AOTPAC chair Gail Fisher. Read more at http://www.aota.org/en/PublicationsNews/AOTANews/2013/HillDay-13.aspx

AOTPAC helps legislators get re-elected who support our causes. Hold a fundraiser for your SOTA club and share the proceeds with AOTPAC as part of the Student Challenge program. Each participating school gets a certificate at the ASD meeting in April, and is listed at the AOTPAC booth. Help guarantee that we have allies in Congress! http://www.aota.org/Advocacy-Policy/AOTPAC/AOTPACStudents_1.aspx

States are establishing essential health benefit plans under the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare which open January 1, 2014. All insurance plans on the state exchanges must include rehabilitation and habilitation benefits similar to the typical insurance plan in the state, thanks to AOTA's efforts. We must be vocal at the state level to make sure OT is covered adequately so access to our services will be there for those who need it. Join with your state OT association in this effort. Learn more at http://www.aota.org/Advocac y-Policy/Health-CareReform/Exchanges.aspx

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The American Occupational Therapy Political Action Committee (AOTPAC)

Who is AOTPAC? A voluntary, non-profit committee made of members of AOTA. It is the only PAC in the United States that focuses solely on advancing the interests of occupational therapy on capital hill. What does AOTPAC do? AOTPAC is a political action committee that supports occupational therapy practitioners and students at the national level. AOTPAC works with AOTA to support legislators who share our priorities, as well as working to get legislation introduced and passed that is beneficial to OT and our clients. AOTPAC relies on contributions from members of AOTA and student groups to operate. Why is AOTPAC important? Federal legislation directly affects how we will be able to practice occupational therapy in the future. It is important to have legislators that share similar goals and interests so that when legislation comes to congress that may affect us they can support us. How can you help AOTPAC? Host a fundraising event with your student OT/OTA association or group to support AOTPAC and keep our profession strong! All participating groups are recognized with a certificate and announced at the ASD meeting at conference. Fundraising ideas available at: http://www.aota.org/Students/ASD/38211.aspx Where can you find out more information? http://www.aota.org/Practitioners/Advocacy/AOTPAC/AOTPAC-Students_1.aspx

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ASD Calendar
October 10/22 Prospective Student Chat @ 7:00PM EST

November 11/1 Deadline for ASD Steering Committee Nominations

11/1511/16 11/20 NBCOT/AOTA National Student Conclave Prospective Student Chat @ 7:PM EST

Student Centennial Commitment

. Learn more about it and make the pledge today at: http://www.ao ta.org/SCC

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