Why did you choose to go into the field of occupational therapy?


            I have always loved my science and art classes since I was in elementary school. During my sophomore year of high school, we were instructed to find someone in a profession we found interesting and follow them around for a day for “Career Shadow Day”. At this point I knew I wanted to go into the field of healthcare because I was loving my science courses, and I wanted to choose a profession that could help people. I was doing some research, but I kept running into the same issue—I hate needles. So I put “healthcare profession without needles” into the Google search engine, and I discovered occupational therapy. I found an occupational therapist who was willing to let me shadow her for the day, and I absolutely fell in love with the profession.
            Since that day, I have continued to immerse myself in the field and discovered the many areas of practice that occupational therapy offers. I love that the profession is client-centered, so an occupational therapist gets to help each client with what they want to be able to do. I enjoy the hands-on environment and direct contact with the clients, and I like that the profession encourages the professional to be a life-long learner. Now that I am in the Occupational Therapy program at UTHSC, I continue to fall in love with the profession a little more every day, and I cannot wait to get into the field.

Comments

  1. Dr. LancasterFebruary 2, 2019 at 5:01 PM

    I love that a Google search led you to OT - and I'm so glad you found your way to UTHSC!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Self-Portrait of a Leader

Image
            In a Self-Portrait of a Leader exercise, my current drawing has changed in three ways since the beginning of school. First, the hair on my drawing has changed. Curly hair represents the importance of creativity in leadership, while straight hair represents the importance of organization in leadership. In my first drawing, I drew straight hair, but now that I have almost completed the didactic portion of school, I better understand the importance of a balance of creativity and organization in a leader. A leader must be able to think on their feet and creatively deal with unprecedented situations that arise, but it is also important to be prepared and organized.             I also drew a different nose for my portrait this time. The first time, I drew a triangle nose which means I used to think it was necessary to see yourself as a leader in ord...
Read more

Biomechanics Post #3 -- Scapulohumeral Rhythm

             Scapulohumeral rhythm is the ratio of movement between the scapula and the humerus to maintain optimal congruency between the glenoid fossa and the head of the humerus. When performing abduction of the humerus in the frontal plane about the sagittal axis, for every degree of upward rotation of the scapula at the scapulothoracic joint, the glenohumeral joint abducts the humerus two degrees. This phenomenon also allows for a greater range of motion at the shoulder without compromising the stability of the joint. If the scapula did not upwardly rotate as the humerus abducts, we would not be able to put our arms above our heads—it would greatly restrict our range of motion at the shoulder. With this synchronized movement, the muscles can maintain the optimal length-tension relationship, and it helps maintain the sub-acromial space so that there is not an impingement. The congruency of the joints also results in decreased shear fo...
Read more