RehabCare

Halloween at RehabCare!

Patients at Washington, Missouri's Cedar Crest Manor were greeted by Thing 1, Thing 2, and the Cat in the Hat when they came for therapy today!  Just in time for Halloween, Julie Hulsey, PTA-PD and Renee Kuenzel, OT get into the spirit by dressing up as Thing 1 and Thing 2.  They were joined by Lacey Sincox, CNA who posed as the Cat in the Hat.

Matt Meier, PT, Deb Sweet, OTA, Jill Surmeier, PT, Heather Venezia, OT, Jake Hoene, PTA appropriately dress up as the village people at their facility Friendship Village South in St.Louis. As you can see, RehabCare is a great place to be!

Perks of Being a New Hire

This past week I came across a great post titled, The Perks of Being a New Hire.  The post is part of Lisa West's featured blog, Life as a New PT Grad, on ADVANCE.com.  Current therapy students and recent graduates should definitely check out Lisa's blog.  Weekly posts touch on her day-to-day encounters as a PT.  Not only are they interesting to read, but they are enlightening as well. In previous weeks Lisa blogged about her feelings of being "the low man on the totem pole", but in this post she highlights the advantages of being a new therapist. Here are just a few:

"3. I have energy. I'm not burned out. Being a new grad, I am so excited to spend my time with patients all day instead of face-down in my notes, studying. I love working, and I love getting paid.

4. I am eager to learn and develop myself as a professional. This goes along with point #3. I have a drive to push myself. I want to learn how to treat in ICU settings, to learn different diagnoses. I am not stuck in a rut with my career."

If you are a new hire, what "perks" do you see?

The Student's Point Of View - AOTA National Student Conclave, Part 3

            Sorry it has taken so long for me to come back and tell you all about the student conclave.  My semester is just wrapping up so it’s been busy, busy.  Anyways, the conclave was great!  It was educational and definitely a good networking opportunity. 

            The morning consisted of visiting a few of the companies’ booths that were represented, and then attending the children and youth session.  This session was very informative and reviewed occupational therapy services in an early intervention setting, school based setting, and the sensory integration approach.  I am presently taking an early intervention elective and this part of the lecture coincided nicely with what I have learned throughout my semester.  IDEA was briefly reviewed and how it impacts EI services, as well as the IFSP (individualized family service plan).  In addition, how to create appropriate measurable outcomes for the children who receive this service was also discussed.  The information presented about occupational therapists in schools was mainly aimed at school mental health issues which was not something I have learned a lot about through my schoolwork.  The most interesting thing that I learned during this part of the lecture was about the three-tier model of school supports and how the academic system and behavioral system are more similar than I expected.  Both systems have the same 3 tiers (core instructional interventions, targeted group interventions, and intensive individual interventions) with the only difference being that the academic system is a more intense tier 3/intensive individual intervention and of a longer duration than the behavioral system.  I found the sensory integration part to be less informative because of the background I already have in it from my school curriculum.  It was a nice overview of the SI approach for those who were not familiar with the basics.

The Student's Point Of View - AOTA Student Conclave, Part 2

I’m finally here at the student conclave!  So far everything has been very organized and everybody that I’ve met is really nice.  I have met people from so many different states and schools that all have such different experiences with O.T.  There are also a lot of companies that are attending the conclave and a lot on the east coast as well.  Since the conclave was in Chicago, I wasn’t expecting as many east coast companies as there are.  I haven’t met with all of the companies represented yet, but I will before the day's end!  I am now off to the resume critique and mock interview session.  I can’t wait to get back home to Philly and tell my friends and teachers all about the things I’ve learned here.  And don’t worry; I’ll blog back soon to tell all about my experience.  Until then, stay warm everybody!

~Sara

The Student's Point Of View - AOTA Student Conclave, Part 1

RehabCare recently offered a scholarship for one student to attend this year's AOTA National Student Conclave in Chicago.  Sara Jasin, a student from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, was named the lucky recipient.  Sara will be a guest author to our blog over the next few weeks providing an insight from the student's view of preparing for the conclave, what's going on there and what she took away from the entire experience.

    "I am very excited to be attending the 2008 AOTA/NBCOT National Student Conclave thanks to RehabCare.  I’ve already signed up for the conference and made my selections for the concurrent sessions.  On Saturday I will be attending the clinical sessions focused on children and youth, returning soldiers, and health and wellness. 

            I am interested in working with children and adolescents once I graduate and therefore I am interested in attending this particular session to learn more about the various environment in which a pediatric OT works.  Sensory integration also interests me and this session will enable me to learn more ways that OTs support their client’s sensory needs.  I signed up for the session about returning soldiers because presently it is extremely relevant and because I do not know any information on the ways an OT can help with soldiers.  I think this session will be very interesting and perhaps inspiring.  The last session for the day is on health and wellness.  This session, which is based on fall prevention and the latest video devices OTs are using in therapy, could relate to and give me another perspective on my current research project on virtual reality rehabilitation.  I picked these three sessions with such different topics because I wanted to gain as much new knowledge as possible on a variety of subjects during this conference. 

            I am also very excited to attend the information sessions of the realities and myths of the OTR examination (my professors are also excited for me to bring back information on this), as well as the mock interview and resume critique.  You can never have too much interview practice!  So until Nov. 14 when I leave for the conclave I will be updating my resume, getting ready for making a lot of connections, and packing warm clothes.

            If you want any more information on the sessions I will be attending check out http://www.aota.org/DocumentVault/Documents/Conclave/Descriptions.aspx "

OT Toolbox Suggestions

Here are some suggestions from OT student Karen about some cheap and/or free items to place in your OT toolbox.  Some of these are great ideas for PT's as well!  Check out Karen's student blog  by clicking here or you can find the link on our "Blogs We Like" sidebar.

If you have any suggestions about other items the would be great to include in your therapy toolbox - post a comment and share with us!

A Fellow PT Student's Blog

One of your fellow Physical Therapy student's has started her own blog to be featured on ADVANCE.com.  Veronica Haywood, a PT student at Marquette University, said she found herself wondering if she was the only PT student who felt certain ways about things.  Well, the best way to see if others feel the same way as you, is to start a communication system that can reach a large number of individuals.  Hence, the creation of Veronica's blog.  Her blog will "reflect on my experiences as a PT student as well as address important issues that directly affect us as students, the physical therapy profession, and the field of health care in general."

Another Blog to Visit

I have a great blog for all you Physical Therapy students.  Toni Talks About PT Today is a blog written by Toni Pratt, a practicing PT.  According to her bio Toni "has 20+ years of experience as a therapist. She has been an APTA member for several years. She has practiced in just about every setting except Pediatrics. Currently, she is working toward the GCS exam and entering an advanced master's program."  Her blog gives you a glimpse into what being a Physical Therapist entails on a day to day basis; from weekly department meetings to working along side other disciplines to daily patient treatments. 

Below is an excerpt from her post tittled Not All Refusals Are Created Equal. 

Blaire House Of Tewksbury Shows Love For Students

During a recent trip to the Boston area, I had the pleasure of visiting one of our buildings in Tewksbury, MA - Blaire House of Tewksbury.  I had to chance to meet with most of the staff and get their thoughts on taking students for clinical fieldwork as well as hiring new graduates.  They all had very positive things to say and welcome new grads and students with open arms.  I sat down with one of their OTs, Tracy Pazyra, who recently had an OTA student and gave me some of her thoughts on taking students and how she felt a student could benefit from a long-term care building such as Blaire House of Tewksbury.

Occupational Therapy - Straight From The Student's Mouth

I ran across a great blog posting from Patti, who is a fellow blogger and who just happens to be an Occupational Therapy student herself.  She posted this blog in response to many questions that she receives from other students and future students about going to OT school.  Many are questions that get emailed or phoned in to us all the time.  She offers up some great first-hand knowledge and experience.  Thanks for sharing with us, Patti!

"Throughout the semester I've received a bunch of emails from prospective occupational therapy students. Here are some of the Q's & A's I've compiled, hopefully it will help someone out!

So OT's the same thing as PT, right?
Not exactly. When people ask me what occupational therapy is, I usually start off with something like "It's a little like physical therapy...", just to get them in the right mindset. OT's take a movement and make it functional and meaningful to their client/patient. For example, a person recently had a hip replacement. This may be the first time they're using a walker and have 'hip precautions' which means certain things such as not flexing the hip past 90 degrees... so how do they maneuver around their small kitchen safely with a walker? and how do they get into their car without flexing their recovering hip? and if you can't bend over, how the heck do you get your shoes/socks/pants on? That's where occupational therapy comes in. We give people the strategies and tools necessary to adapt and compensate.