Summer Semester 2015: Fieldwork I, Classes, Books

Alrighty, so right now I'm on a short 2.5 week break. I finished classes on May 6th, headed home on May 7th, and am expected to return back to school by May 26th (the first day of the summer semester). On May 26th, the 2nd years (us) are hosting an MOT BBQ for the first years. I'm responsible for tracking RSVPs and tallying up the counts for hamburgers, hot dogs, and veggie burgers. If ya'll remember last years blog post "First Day: Orientation (Summer 2014)," I talked about going to the BBQ, meeting my "big", and leaving pretty shortly after. Last year, I really didn't socialize much, but this year I'm going to try to be a little more interactive.

Yesterday, I was assigned a "little." I really don't care for the "big/little" titles. It comes off very condescending to me, but whatever that's just me lol. Anyways, I got her information yesterday so I will be going to the store when I get back on the other end and buy her a gift, just like my "big" bought me one.

Also, on May 26th, we will start classes and the first Fieldwork I rotations: Mental Health & Pediatrics.The two classes I will be taking are "Clinical Reasoning for Fieldwork" and "Assistive Technology."

My Mental Health rotation is at an inpatient psychiatric unit where we will be responsible for hosting therapeutic groups that provide just right challenges for the patients. There are three main types of groups: physical activity, psychoeducation, and therapeutic activities. We will be rotating between these 3 groups throughout the semester. The groups last about 45 minutes and usually contain 10-18 members. The groups will be held weekly for 7 weeks. We will be separated into groups of 3 I believe. I'm not sure who my partners are yet. Continuing on, the main diagnoses seen at this particular inpatient psychiatric facility are major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective, bipolar, and corresponding substance abuse or personality disorders. The other mental health rotation options were with a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and at a children's home, which while great options were not my top choices.

My Pediatric rotation involves working with students in grades Kindergarten through 5th on building social skills as well as language and literacy skills needed for children in elementary school. I will be in a group with 5 other individuals and we are working interprofessionally with Speech Language Pathology students. We will be responsible for planning themes and activities for 1-4 programs days, adding fine motor/sensorimotor components to activities, providing consultation in regards to fine motor, developmental, positioning, and other OT-related areas, and documenting sessions.  The pediatric fieldwork only lasts about 1.5 - 2 weeks. The other pediatric rotation options include the same program, but with ages 3-6 years old, a handwriting camp, and a program designed to work with children with food selectivity.

Now that that is all out of the way, let's take a look at the required books. If you read my last blog post these books should look familiar! We will also be using a previously purchased book called "Occupational Therapy in Mental Health: A Vision for Participation." The "Assitive Technologies" book you see on the right is actually the 3rd edition. A month after sending out the original book list, the professor recommended that we instead purchase the 4th edition. I will just be asking a classmate of mine to look at there's if necessary. Too much time has passed to try and hassle with getting a refund and the 4th edition is around $100.

Left to Right: Stepping Into Handwriting: For Students Studying Elementary Education by Handwriting Without Tears,

The Wheelchair Evaluation: A Clinician’s Guide  by M. Batavia, and Cook & Hussey’s Assistive Technologies Principles and Practice by A. Cook & J.M. Polgar

This is not set in stone, but my plan is to post AT LEAST a weekly blog post keeping you updated with my fieldwork experience! A daily update would be optimal, but I don't know if I can commit to that! lol

Well I will talk to y'all next blog post!

<3 Bemo