I knew pretty early on that I wanted to pursue a career in the rehabilitation field. Luckily, I was able to shadow many different settings during my undergrad years. I was offered a job as an OT aide my senior year at the University of Alabama at a local outpatient clinic called Tuscaloosa Rehab and Hand Center. I had hands-on experience with client and non-client related tasks. I was exposed to the many different aspects of outpatient therapy, and what it would be like to work on an interdisciplinary team. This setting really stood out to me, and I developed an interest in hand therapy. I loved how each client was different and challenging in their own ways. Seeing individuals lose functioning in their hands, and then being able to help them get back to living their best life would be so rewarding. Achieving the Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) specialty certification is something I would love to do. Not only would it make me more specialized in the field of occupational therapy, it would be a long-term professional development goal. Because I am interested in hand therapy, the CHT certification is very appealing to me. Once I graduate, I want to surpass the Entry-level performance level and further develop my career.
Last night my OT class had the opportunity to watch a local D-I professional wheelchair basketball team practice. The Rolling Grizzlies is an athletic group of men who compete in the highest wheelchair basketball division. What an experience it was getting to watch them play. Not only did we get to watch, but the players let us take their chairs for a spin! I played basketball growing up, so I jumped at the opportunity to try out one of the chairs. Instantly I realized the arm strength required to shoot and pass the ball from a seated position as well as the coordination needed for pushing the chair and dribbling the ball smoothly. It is much harder than typical basketball. These men played for an hour and a half with hardly any breaks. This shows what great physical shape is required to participate in this game. During my undergraduate career, I was fortunate enough to take an adapted athletics course where we learned about all types of ...
Hi Anna! That's really cool that you had that exposure to a specialty area of practice so early on along the path in your OT career! Incidentally, I did one of my Level II fieldworks at DCH in Tuscaloosa :)
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