Assistive Technology Seminar Day!

Fruit, Tea, Water (later chex mix was added to the table)

Cookies, Brownie Brittle, Cupcakes, Donuts, M&Ms,
Soapilla Cheesecake, Peanut Butter Cereal Bars, and Coffee

Today, July 17th, was AT Seminar Day! It was a long day, but it was a great day! I had tons of fun! So, the event lasted from 9am-4pm. Several students from the program brought snacks for the vendors and attendees to munch on! For lunch, we were provided sandwiches from McAlister's Deli. We were broken into 6 groups with 19 students each. There were roughly 16 vendors give or take. Some were set up in the lobby of the building and others were in different classrooms or conference rooms throughout the building. In the lobby, there were also small contests that we could compete in to win a gift card prize (who could put a sock on with the sock aid the fastest, who could write their name most legibly with a writing aid, who could type a selected sentence with a typing stick the fastest, who could button two buttons of a button-up shirt with a button hook the fastest, who could adjust the leg rests to the proper height quickest and on first try, and who could adjust the breaks the fastest). I won the sock aid contest! My prize was a sonic gift card. Also, during the seminar, I learned how to pop a wheelie (though not very good) and how to recover from a wheelchair fall (i.e., how to pull yourself back upright after tipping backward in a wheelchair). Other than that, there isn't much else to say about the day. I have included tons of pics below. Enjoy! Keep in mind not every item at the seminar is pictured below. I also took a couple of videos, but since I recorded them on my phone the quality is crap. One of the cooler products that I don't have pictured is the Tobii Dynavox I-15. This product is a communication device that uses eye gaze. I got to test it out and it was really awesome. The only thing is that after a period of time it seemed to miscalibrate what I was looking at. It was unfortunate because the vendor was going to record me using the device but then it started acting up -- bummer.

Nosey Cup, T-handle Mug & High Sided Plates

Weighted Fork, Knob Turner, Angled Spoons,
Cuff with Spoon, Weighted Spoon, Built Up Spoon, Rocker Knife

Sugru (can be purchased on amazon.com)

Foam and Gel Cushion Samples

W/C adapted BraunAbility Toyota Sienna  

Adapted Chevrolet Silverado 

Bemo sitting in the chair of the adapted
Chevrolet Silverado

Crutches & Walking Sticks

Bemo in the IWalk

"Safer" Automatic Wheelchair Wheel Locks
by United Plastic Molders
saferwheelchairs.com

Whirlwind Wheelchairs

Nurmi Neo Posterior Pediatric Gait Trainer
by Ottobock
ottobockus.com

Leckey Squiggles Pediatric Stander
by Ottobock
ottobockus.com

Kimba Neo Pediatric W/C
by Ottobock
ottobockus.com

K450 MX Pediatric Power Wheelchair by Permobil
permobilus.com

F5 Corpus by Permobil
permobilus.com

Buddy Roamer Posterior Walker

Rock and Roll Cycle
rockandrollcycles.com (website down as of 07/17/15)

AM-16 AmTryke by Ambucs
ambucs.org

JT-2000 AmTryke by Ambucs
ambucs.org

Multichair Tub Slider System
by Nuprodx

Switches (demonstration in video below)

Environmental Control Units

Environmental Control Remotes

Ergonomic Computer Access 

Keyfinder Keytime Left Hand Keyboard
 Standard one-handed Qwerty keyboard
Keyfinder Dvorak Right Handed

Maltron One-handed keyboard

Thanks for stopping by!

<3 Bemo

Mental Health FW 1 Experience: Recounts & Thoughts

Hey guys, so as of Tuesday, July 14th,  I wrapped up my MH FW 1. To give you some background the FW took place at an psychiatric facility for short-term crisis stabilization. I was in a group with 2 other classmates. The FW was a total of 7 weeks with group once a week. The first week, we got to observe the current therapists at the facility conduct a group. I was kind of disappointed because the group we were able to observe was just a physical education group. They played "HORSE" -- not much to see. I was really looking forward to observe a psychoeducational group, but that didn't happen.

Every other week we were required to write a SOAP note on one of the group members. The most common diagnoses that we saw were bipolar, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder with corresponding substance abuse. In order for the clients to participate in group they had to at least be yellow status. Red status clients were only allowed to participate in group if it was held in the outdoors part of the unit. We hosted 2 physical education groups, 2 media/craft groups, and 1 psychoeducational group. One week of our group got cancelled due to a newly admitted patient unknowingly having chicken pox.

Postive Affirmation Shoe Box

Waterballon Obstacle Course

Plastic Container Staining 

Ceramic Box Painting 

Foosketball

Piñatas 

We did a water balloon obstacle course, positive affirmations shoe boxes, ceramic box painting and plastic container staining, foosketball and knockout, and piñata making and hitting. Our best group was probably the water balloon obstacle course. The group members seemed to really enjoy it. Our least successful group was probably the piñata making and hitting. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad group, but it was a little chaotic. For one, there were wayyyy to many group members for this particular session (16 group members). The room that craft activities and most groups take place is super tiny, with not a lot of room to navigate. Also, the members didn't have enough time to finish their piñatas, which I already anticipated. I had expressed my concerns to my group members prior to the session but they thought it would be fine so I was like okay. Also, the bootlegged piñata we made for them to hit was burst on the first hit. So 1/16 group members got to hit the piñata lol HOW FUN! The group with the worst turn out in terms of attendees was the foosketball and knockout games. There were only 4 people for foosketball and about 6 people for knockout. The staff decided to join in since participation was so low. Fortunately, those who decided to participate seemed to really enjoy it. I joined in during knockout and actually won the second game -- yay Bemo! ha Also, our large dice was complete crap lol -- it didn't roll effectively and it tore apart in less than 6 rolls. It was kind of embarrassing.

In my opinion, our sessions were not the most creative. I'm horrible with coming up with activities that I think others will enjoy, so I didn't contribute to coming up with the main ideas. My biggest role was making sure that whatever my group members suggested were realistic and could be completed within the 30-45 minutes or would actually last the 30-45 minutes we usually had to hold groups. Some of their ideas were pretty cool, but not realistic to last for an entire session. Some of the other groups that hosted sessions were MUCH more creative! Unfortunately, I don't have access to their pictures so I can't share.

My evaluation on how I did is Thursday, July 16th. I think I will be rated pretty average. I don't anticipate that I will be rated as exceeded expectations in really any category. I felt like I did a good job interacting and connecting with the members and my documentation was pretty good, but I don't feel like I did anything spectacular. I also didn't really ask any questions. One of my group members consistently asked the supervisor about their diagnoses after group. I'm not particular fond of labeling people so I never felt like I just NEEDED to know their diagnoses, especially not for the purpose we were there. Now, if I was actually establishing real goals for the members to meet, then yes knowing their diagnosis would be more important. I guess I just didn't feel like it was my business, since we weren't their to actually "treat." Probably a mistake on my part. I did ask one question about how to respond to when group members become visibly upset. The second group we held, a man was just sitting there. Since he came to our first group, I knew that it was not like him to be sad like that during group. I asked him if everything was okay, but that seemed to make it worse and he shook his head no and started tearing up. I didn't know if it was my place to keep at it, so I told him that I hope he feels better and backed off. The supervisor said it would have been okay to see if he was willing to step out of the activity room and talk about what was bothering him. I kept that in the back of my head for a next time, but there was no next time.

Update (07/16/15) -- So, I got my eval today and I -- am -- SHOCKED! I mentioned that I anticipated that I would be rated average. For our FW scaling that would equal a 3, which is "meets standards, performance is demonstrated 70-89% of the time when behavior is necessary." However, I was rated a 4 in all categories except for "discusses/selects/implements interventions that demonstrate knowledge of characteristics of client/population." Wow! The supervisor's comments were "[Bemo] is a highly dedicated and conscientious learner. She exercises good judgment in treatment planning and interactions. Documentation skills are outstanding and demonstrate good observation and assessment skills. She will need to work to control occasional anxiety that appears to be related to a desire for perfection." Her feedback is similar to the constructive feedback that I typically get...my feedback seems to always be related to either my lack of confidence or my anxiety. I know it's my biggest area of weakness and I'm not quite sure how to address it, but I will continue to work on it!

Anyways, that about wraps it up. All-in-all, I'm proud that the supervisor thought I did a good job. The first round of FW 1's are all done! Yay.

Assistive Technology Seminar Day is tomorrow (July 17th, 2015) so I will be taking tons of pics to share with you guys! Look for that post in the next couple of days!

<3 Bemo

Pediatric FW 1 Experience: Recounts & Thoughts

So, woah, talk about missing in action!

To give ya'll an update, I'm completely finished with my pediatric FW 1 rotation. I finished the last week of June -- and yes, I passed! :) My mental health FW 1 rotation will be over next week.  I'm going to go ahead and sum up my experience with my peds rotation!

So, in my last blog post, I mentioned how unorganized and frustrating the rotation was. The frustration subsided as the days went on, but our role and purpose was still unclear. So to give you some background, the rotation was 2 weeks M-W -- so a total of 6 days. We were expected to be there around 7:45am on those days (unless it was "our day") and we left around 12pm (unless we needed to set up for the next day). When we got there, we would assist the leaders of the day with any last minute things they needed to set up. At 8:25am, we all gathered together for a "walk through". The leaders would tell us the behavior regulation activity for the day, the name tag activity, the script study activity, the word study activity, the sound study activity, the OT graphic station, and what the snack for the day would be. Then we went outside and waited for our "little friends" to arrive. At the end, before we headed out, we had a debriefing and discussed what went well and not so well. 

The group that I had was what they called the "higher level group." I worked with them in collaboration with one SLPS. I honestly wish that I would have had a more "lower level group." Although the kids in my group had several deficits in speech related areas, for the most part, they were developmentally appropriate in fine motor and gross motor skills. Their only deficits were in things like attention, behavior regulation, and sensory processing (two were sensory seeking and were unable to achieve the appropriate amount of vestibular and proprioceptive input). The two things that made it difficult working with this group were 1) we haven't had our pediatric class yet, we have it in the Fall and 2) it was hard finding a way to meet my "OT" goals, when the rotation had such a strong speech emphasis. 

This particular fieldwork rotation started as a "camp" put on my the SLPS. This year they tried something new by allowing OT students to assist with the "camp." However, because our role was never thoroughly established, the activities catered to speech's goals (remember when I said word, script, and sound study...yeah all speech). I guess their attempt of incorporating OT was by adding the OT graphics station. However, unless your child had fine motor deficits or sensory defensiveness, which mine didn't, it was just more for creative expression or any opportunity to work on attention and behavior related things . So, for my kids, it was hard to implement interventions to address their needs. For my counterparts that had lower level kids, they had more opportunities to work with their kids on handwriting skills or fine motor skills, which worked out great because handwriting meshed well with speech goals and fine motor skills could be worked on during OT graphics. Are you understanding? 

Anyways, so although I enjoyed interacting with my kids and everything, I don't really feel like I did much. I tried to work with them on following directions and turn taking. I also tried different transition activities between stations to try to increase attention like bear walks, stomping, big steps, etc. We also implemented a wiggle seat cushion because two of the kids were constantly rocking and fidgeting (the wedge seat worked better for them than the round one). I also took one kid aside and worked on his words for the script because I noticed he was really struggling and not getting the proper attention to be successful (not really OT related, but he ended up beasting his script by the end!). Other than that, that's about it. I didn't really feel like a valuable member of the team to be honest, but it was a unique experience. 

So in the end, I passed my fieldwork and received positive feedback from my supervisor. Even though I don't feel like I did anything special, she and the SLP clinicians that all contributed to my overall rating saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. We were also able to give feedback about the rotation and I expressed my thoughts on the form. 

Take away lesson: So, as with any experience whether bad or good, there is always something to take away from it. For this fieldwork, we had to write a daily SOAP note each day on the same kid. On the first soap note, we had to establish at least 2 goals for the kid based on our observations. It is always emphasized that your goals should be measurable, so I made my goals measurable -- I thought. However, what I realized is that you have to make sure that your measurable goals are realistically measurable. Are you actually able to measure your goals as written and will there be enough opportunities available to meet your goal as written. For example, if you say that the client will do something 4 out of 5 times within two weeks....will you actually be able to provide those 5 opportunities or will those times naturally occur? Also, are those opportunities expected to be given in one day (i.e., five opportunities each day) or over the course of two weeks (i.e., one opportunity for at least five of the days).  As another example,  if you say that a client will do something 80% of the time, will there realistically be enough opportunities for the client to meet that goal? Say that a client did something 3/4 times...There were 4 times the client could have done whatever but they only did it 3...that's pretty good right...right, but that's only 75%...goal not met.  Do you get what I'm saying? Also, with everything that goes on during a session, can you realistically keep up with the goal you have established...I didn't realize how hard one of my goals would be to track over a 2.5 hour period. A lot of things happen in 2.5 hours and my job was to help all kids, not just one, so my attention was being pulled in multiple directions the entire time. 

So my biggest lesson was to make sure I'm writing and establishing measurable, measurable goals. The more specific, the more realistic, the better. Think...if you had to miss a day of work and someone took your place, would they understand how to continue tracking your clients' goals based on what you wrote and could they effectively measure them? If the answer is yes, you are on the right track. If your answer is no, you may want to rethink how you are writing your goals. 

Helpful Resource: https://funandfunction.com/habitat/https-funandfunction-com-blog-wp-content-uploads-2015-06-activity-guide-june2015-web-pdf.html

I used this downloadable resource to help me come up with ideas for sensory breaks and transitions between stations. 

<3 Bemo

FW 1 Summer Experience: Day 1/2

Alright so I'm already off to bad start with meeting my goal of posting a daily update, but so far I'm still within the weekly goal.

There really wasn't much to say about yesterday, so I didn't feel compelled to write anything. I will have to be mindful of what I say in this post because I'm not sure who all will read it. So, this week is primarily focused on "training," planning, and set up. As mentioned in a previous blog post, I am currently in a pediatrics and mental health fieldwork.

If I can be completely honest my experience with the pediatric fieldwork has not been that enjoyable. So far it seems unorganized and incomplete meaning that essential details seem to be missing. I have been confused since day 1 and that confusion has not subsided much since then either. We are told what we are supposed to do, but not exactly how we are supposed to do it and sometimes not even when. On the first day, it was emphasized what things could cause you to fail fieldwork. There were many things mentioned and much of them were mistakes that could easily be made. Therefore, when things are unclear I find that I get really frustrated in fear that I will miss something and fail fieldwork. In my younger days, I was more of a "go with the flow" person, but since I have gotten older...not so much. I'm trying to work on it, but so far, no good.

Continuing on with pediatrics, when I heard "training" I thought we were actually going to be trained on the skills necessary to successfully plan and implement activities/interventions for these summer programs. However, so far, that has not been the case and today was really our last day of training. We went over the syllabus, our general role in the summer program, and discussed TEAMSTEPPS which is an evidenced-based model designed to optimize team performance.

Today was little bit more exciting, we did much more activities and such. Since we are working interprofessionally with speech language pathology (SLP) students we did an activity where we had 5 minutes to write on a large piece of poster paper what we thought the other profession did (e.g., SLP wrote what they thought OT did, and OT wrote what they thought SLP did). Then we did a campfire activity where one student acted as the "client" and sat on a wiggle seat cushion or an exercise ball and had to follow the woman in the front's directions using pretzels, hot tamales, and marshmallows. After the activity, we had to label the SLP components (e.g., receptive language, articulation, sensory components, protesting) and OT components (e,g., balance, posture, stability, attention, problem solving, fine motor skills) of the activity. Then a lady came and talked to us about behavior regulation and some of the activities we will be doing with the students. After that, we were broken into our programs where we discussed a bit more about the specifics and then had to plan all 8 days of the program. We were split into about 4 people per day and were responsible for planning the activities and snacks for that day. The planning was a little rocky, but it went smoother than I anticipated so that was good.

Overall, today was a good day. The issues didn't come about until it was time to wrap up and it was announced that X, Y, Z was due and that shopping was going to be done Friday. However, outside of shopping, it was not clear (and it still not clear) how Friday is going to go with setting up and everything. Right now i'm just playing the waiting game and seeing if there will be a clarification email of some sort sent out. If not, I'll have to ask my classmates and see how they interpreted everything. I'm hoping that once the planning phase is over and we actually start the program everything will fall into place. **fingerscrossed**

In regards to the mental health fieldwork, it is much more organized and clear. I'm looking forward to my mental health fieldwork much more! We toured the inpatient psychiatric unit today. It's a small facility, but I look forward to sitting in on one of the group's next week!

I could say more, but I'll end this post here.

<3 Bemo

Does the Prestige of an OT School Matter?

Hey guys,

So this blog post is in response to a video created by DobberOT and itsmyOT. The topic is about whether the prestige of an OT school matters when selecting your program. These two individuals had differing opinions about the matter and I would argue that my opinion slightly differs from both of theirs as well.

First, when questioning prestige, we must determine what we are really talking about. When we say prestige what does that really mean? Is prestige equivalent to a ranking? I would argue no. Although prestige and ranking may be correlated, a ranking does not give a complete picture of a school's prestigiousness. The rankings of OT schools that you see posted on usnews.com or graduate programs.com are based solely on peer assessment surveys meaning that people within the system are ranking the program on X-Y-Z factors (not some "big dog" at the top). We must keep in mind that there are a lot of factors that influence these rankings, some of which we are aware of, but many of which we are not. Do I think that these rankings say something about the programs? Yes, but I still think it creates an incomplete picture and many false perceptions.

My OT program is ranked somewhere in the middle (not highly ranked, not lowly ranked) according to usnews.com and is actually in the top 10 according to graduateprograms.com. Despite this inconsistency in rating, I would argue that my school is fairly prestigious. My program puts a strong emphasis on client-centered, evidenced-based practice. Therefore, a strong foundation in theory and research is paramount, however we also focus on practical applicability (which I know some "prestigious" schools often lack).

Another thing about my program is that the faculty are all "down to earth" and easily approachable, including the program director. Their doors are always open, they are very knowledge, and they do not hesitate to answer questions. As also mentioned by itsmyOT, my professors are not only professors but they are also active clinicians and researchers. Many of them present at both the state and national conference for occupational therapy each year.

Our program also has many great connections when it comes to guest speakers, off-campus observations and opportunities, and fieldwork sites. Our program is contracted with an abundance of fieldwork opportunities within the state (not just locally, but all throughout the state) and is also contracted with facilities in 20 other states. Also, because we have established such a good reputation through the performance of our fieldwork students, we are easily able to contract with new sites and keep strong relationships with the old.

Also, when talking about prestigiousness we have to consider outcomes. Outcomes include NBCOT first-time pass rate and clinician performance in real word settings. In 2013, we had a 100% first time pass rate. In 2014, we had a 97% first time pass rate (35/36) -- 100% by ACOTE's new standards.  ACOTE standards have changed and now report pass rates as any new graduate who has passed the NBCOT exam during the testing year regardless of the number of attempts. I have also personally witnessed (even before deciding to apply to this school), the level of skill that both new grads and long-time clinicians that graduated from my program possess.

I could go on and on, but i'll just give one more example. A lady in itsmyot's comments mentioned that her OT program offers a course dedicated to assistive technology which apparently less than 5 schools in the US offer (that comment has since been edited). I don't know the accuracy of that statistic, but what I can say is that my program is one that offers an assistive technology course. If you read my last blog post "Summer Semester 2015: Fieldwork, Classes, Books," I mentioned that assistive technology was one of the courses I was taking this summer.

So what is my point? My point is that you cannot get too caught up with these online rankings and that you should not solely base your decision on a "ranking." You have to do your own research and really get down to the "nitty gritty" of  what the program offers and how it can benefit you as a student and future clinician.

So what is most important? I would argue that accreditation and goodness of fit are the most important factors to consider when choosing a program. As I mentioned in my "Tips| Applying to an MOT program," you should be choosing a school that best fits your learning style, personality, and goals. If you don't, it doesn't matter how "prestigious" the school is, you will likely be unsuccessful or you won't reach your true potential as a future OT.

Well that's all I really have to say about the matter lol.

<3 Bemo

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

Spring 2015 Semester Wrap Up

OMMGGG! Can you believe that I have OFFICIALLY completed my first year of grad school!!!??? I can't. It has definitely been an interesting year to say the least. It started off with anatomy, which was doable of course, but also very fast paced, stressful, and difficult.

Then, there was the fall semester which actually wasn't too bad. The courses themselves and the assignments, tests, projects -- all that, were very manageable. The only thing was my mind wasn't right so my motivation was below sea level. If your mind isn't where it should be the simplest of tasks become difficult.

Finally, there was the spring semester, which challenged me in many many ways. It was uncomfortable, but a much needed experience for both personal and professional growth. I have always understood the importance of being able to work well in a group, but it is something that I have always struggled with. This semester we had crap loads of group projects. I worked well in the groups that were just me and one other person, but the ones with 3 or 4 people to a group were stressful because the dynamics were sometimes off. I'm slowly learning to choose my battles and which projects are okay for me to take a more passive go with the flow role. I wouldn't label myself a perfectionist, but I take pride in quality work. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I like to give my best effort. Another thing that challenged me was "patient" interaction. In my blog post "Looking Beyond Conditions & Physical Interactions," I talked about the awkwardness I felt while interacting with clients at the ADC and how I struggled with feeling inadequate. During this time, I was also going through a "crisis." There were a series of events, that now I am unable to recall, that really challenged me and made me feel incompetent and I had a small break down. It was really bothering me because I have never felt so inadequate in my life and I didn't like how it felt -- very unsettling. As a result, I bought a ton of books with money I didn't really have, in an effort to soothe my discomfort. Three of the books pictured below are actually books required for the summer semester. I will picture them separately in my next blog post when I tell you about my summer semester adventures lol. But anyways, the other 13 books are completely supplementary. 

Row by Row; Right to Left:

(1) Stepping Into Handwriting, Creek's Occupational Therapy and Mental Health 6th ed., The Intentional Relationship, Documentation Manual for Occupational Therapy,

(2) Quick Reference Occupational Therapy, Quick Reference Dictionary for Occupational Therapy, Therapeutic Exercise Foundations and Techniques, Assistive Technologies

(3) Critical Reasoning in Occupational Therapy,  Optimizing Cognitive Rehabilitation, Activity Analysis Application to Occupation, Physical Agent Modalities

(4) Occupation-Based Activity Analysis, The Successful Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Student, The Wheelchair Evaluation, Spanish for the Occupational Therapist

The tests and content covered were also much more difficult. In preparation for the NBCOT exam, the professors have given us 3x more "NBCOT style"questions on tests and quizzes. There were quite a few tests that I felt no bueno about when I handed in my test. Fortunately, in the end, everything turned out well and I was able to pull through with all A's. One of the courses, " Foundations for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice" was combined with "Intro to Clinical Reasoning" and was counted as a Pass/Fail. 

This summer, we start our first fieldwork I rounds so I am definitely ready for a change in pace. I will give you more details in my next blog post!

<3 Bemo 

2nd Adult Day Center Experience

You will have to bear with me through this post because although it's not late, I'm extremely tired. So, anyways, in a previous post entitled "Looking Beyond Conditions & Physical Interactions" I mentioned that my last experience at the adult day center (ADC) was a hot mess and highly frustrating. I felt very incompetent and my weaknesses were definitely highlighted within the 3 hours that I was there.

I told you guys that if I had time I would let ya'll know how it went this time around. So, my partner and I had 2 "clients" -- the same 2 as last time. Prior to going to the ADC, I texted her and asked which client she wanted to be primarily over. After talking with my professor, I felt that this would be a good idea since I didn't get to participate much in the questioning or interact much with either client. She texted me back her choice and I told her I would take care of the one left. Because I was very anxious about going to the ADC out of fear of messing up or making a fool of myself again, I felt the need to prepare, prepare, prepare. Since this time around we would actually be performing assessments with the clients, I practiced the assessments by recording myself talking to space (my imaginary person). I also took the time to make some reference sheets that I could take with me to help guide my assessments. It was much of the same information in the manual but without all the unnecessary fluff and with a much bigger font size. Here are a few examples of the sheets I made: (you may have to click on the picture to see it better)

Digit Span Test: Forward Span 

Cognitive Performance Test: Shopping

Cut this paper in half and used it to help guide Activity Card Sort

Toggle Category Assessment 

I was so glad that I took the time to make these because it helped my assessments go pretty smooth! The only assessment that I did not make a sheet for was the ACLS-5 (Allen Cognitive Level  Screen - 5). My experience at the ADC was MUCH MUCH MUCH better this time around. I also got 2 hugs from two other members of the ADC. Another two people asked me to come sit with them. I told them that I would after I met with one more person (I didn't see a reason not too). Unfortunately, after I finished writing up all my notes, they were heading home :(. Oh well! The lady that I was working with had me write in her notebook what we did with the Activity Card Sort so that she could show her house parents. I'm not even sure if what I wrote many any sense! lol I was focused so much on getting through the assessments that I'm sure it ended up being gibberish. Plus, she made me sign it, so there is no denying that...yup that was me...and yeah I know what I wrote probably made no sense. 

Well i'm going to go ahead and get to bed. I'm going to a CEU from 8:30am - 5pm. Obviously I can't get CEU's but I like when going when I can because you get good information!

Ttyl <3

City of Binders

So in OT school we get A LOOTTTT of papers, handouts, and everything in between. Trying to organize it all has been a CHALLENGE. At first, I thought about just putting all the papers for a semester in a 4 inch binder -- and I did. However, it was heavy and not the easiest to navigate. Plus, our classes often overlap in material, especially when it comes to documentation, interviewing patients, and various conditions. Therefore, organizing by class isn't the best idea either.

So, instead, I decided that I would buy a crap load of binders and organize them by topic. It has been time consuming since I've had to rummage through my chaos of papers from all my classes pulling things out and putting them together with their mates. However, it's been well worth it. So far I have used 8 of the 13 binders I bought. Pictured to the right is a few examples of some of the binder topics I chose to group together (I have small hands so I could only hold so many lol). I'm still not done organizing everything. I still have a lot of papers to go through and I want to add a table of contents as well as some labeled dividers. When I finish organizing all the papers I haven't gotten thus far in my program I will share the completed "project." 

My next biggest challenge will be finding space for all of these binders. On top of all these binders, I also have a ton of OT related books. I have the ones that were required by my program, but I also bought other resources that I thought would be helpful throughout my career (I'll share all of them in a later post). Space won't be as big of an issue when I get my own place, but for now, I must deal with the space I have -- which isn't much. 

I'm also sure as the semesters go along I may have to either buy bigger binders, or group them differently, etc. etc. So, that will be interesting as it goes along. My ultimate goal is that all my papers (from May 2014 - May 2016) are well organized by the time Fieldwork II starts (June 2016). If I have all these resources but can't access them quickly then it's really pointless, in my opinion. 

Well, that about wraps up this blog post. Just wanted to fill ya'll in on my latest and greatest! lol :) 

Looking Beyond Conditions & Physical Interactions

Last year I posted a blog called "Note Taking during Observation & Bridge Burning!" Great blog, in my opinion, but it's missing something - something important. Something I did not realize it was missing until this semester (Spring 2015).

During my observation, I focused soooooo much on the condition the client had, what the therapist did with the client, tips and tricks, all that...but the one thing I forgot to pay attention to was the interpersonal interaction between the client and therapist, the therapist and parents, and the therapist and his/her team. I have over 45 pages of notes outlining my clinical observations and NOT ONE talks about anything of the such UNLESS there was something that the therapist did that I did not agree with.

I did not take the time to note any of the positive, beneficial, or key interactions. Nothing that the therapist said to motivate their client, nothing that the therapist did to support their client when they burst into tears, nothing that the therapist asked to try to understand their patient better, nothing that the therapist did when they could tell their patient was getting hostile, nothing about how the therapist approached his/her colleagues (e.g., other OTs, PTs, nurses, doctors) when he/she had questions, nothing that the therapist expressed when interacting with caregivers...just NOTHING I tell you and that's so unfortunate.

Taking note of the conditions you see and of the specific therapy techniques and activities the therapist does with the client is important, but the interpersonal interactions that occur within the setting is just as important and it's something I failed to attend to during my observation. I won't say I was focusing on all the wrong things, because I wasn't...I actually learned a lot...but what I will say is that the lens I had on was too narrow to see the big picture at the time. And now, as my first year of OT school is coming to a close it is something I regret. But why?, you may ask.

Well, interacting with others on certain levels is not something that comes natural to me and it's a long story as to why. I communicate well with others when it just happens and I'm not putting to much thought into and also when I'm one-on-one with someone. However, lately, I feel like I have to be so much more intentional and when I'm intentional it's just so unnatural, especially if I'm with another person and especially if I have to follow a specific protocol (i.e., that required by an assessment). For example, we have been going to an adult day center to interview some of the members there so we can fill out case maps, do some assessments, and eventually create a treatment plan. When I tell you it's like I couldn't improvise, I couldn't think, I didn't know what to say, it was awkward, and I couldn't play off the dynamics of my group member...I am not joking nor exaggerating. I got so frustrated that day. Plus, the way our seats were positioned was conducive for my group member to interact with the client, but not for me because I was off to the side (not that I wanted to be, it just happened with how my partner sat). Long story short, it was a mess. I think it would have helped if my partner and I would have met prior to discuss how we were going to execute obtaining the information we needed to, but with our schedules so hectic it just wasn't possible. We should be able to meet before we go back again (this coming Thursday) so hopefully my experience will be much better this time around. I talked to my professor about it and she was able to give me some advice so we will see. If I have time, I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

Anyways, back to the point. The point is that I wish I would have took the time to acknowledge how the therapists interacted with others, how they improvised etc. etc. because now I'm faced with situations that are unnatural for me and I have nothing really to go off of but words. Words are great, but I learn best by seeing firsthand. So all-in-all, my advice to anyone who may struggle with interpersonal interactions, are introverted, or just want to see the bigger picture is...don't just focus on conditions and physical interactions, also take notice of how the therapist is interacting with those around them. Hopefully, this will help you not to struggle as much as I have been. I only gave you one example, but I have encountered a handful of situations that were just a big fat mess.

Anatomy & Cadaver Lab Tips & Tricks!

Alright, so it's about to be that time of year again. I promised I would get this out to you last year and I never did...my bad! It's here now! Hope these tips are helpful to you. Don't forget to checkout free printables at the bottom of the post! If you have tips of your own, feel free to leave a comment!

1. Wear clothes you don't care about. The smell of the cadaver lab has a tendency to linger on your clothes. 

2. If the smell is too much for you too handle try rubbing a SMALL amount of Vicks on your upper lip and nose. Some people have suggested cinnamon flavored gum (e.g., big red), but Vicks works much better, some labs don't allow gum, and do you really want to be smacking on gum with cadaver juice flying all around?

3. Don't buy an expensive tool kit. Many of your tools will possibly fall in the tank or get mixed up with your group member's so you don't want to spend too much money on a tool kit. Plus, unless you are going into the cadaver dissecting field you will probably never use the items inside the kit ever again. I will, however, say that you will need a lot of blades because they can get dull pretty fast. My suggestion is that you split the cost with your group to buy a box of 100. 

4. Don't leave your gloves sitting out, people will use them and they will be gone before you know it. Box of 100? Umm, what box?

5. Don't set your tools on the edge of the tank. They will most likely fall in and be gone FOREVER! lol

6. Don't use the body as a scapel holder. When it comes time to open the body and "play" with their organs there is a high chance that you will have poked into the intestines and there will be poop EVERYWHERE. That happened to the group next to us. It was a stinky stinky mess. 

7. Take your lab coat to a laundromat, you don't want to stink up your washer/dryer. Also, don't try to bleach it - may make the smell settle in more.

8. Read about the dissection procedure prior to dissection. I usually just went with the flow lol, but I wouldn't suggest it. I was the one showing up like "yeah, so umm..what are we supposed to be doing?" Don't be like me, be better! 

9. Use lab time effectively in an effort to finish dissection. Don't spend more than an hour and a half a day outside of lab time trying to finish your dissection (especially if your in a fast paced course). It's usually not worth it and the professors and lab TAs will cut and dig for the structures they want anyway. You need to be using as much of your free time as possible studying or reviewing the structures on the cadaver...not trying to dig through fat to find them. 

10. Speaking of fat, if you get to choose your own body, avoid the big belly bodies :) You will be cutting out and digging through fat for dayssss!

11. Don't just mindlessly dissect your cadaver. You usually spend 2-4 hours in lab for class...take advantage of it. When you identify a structure share it with the group. When your group members find something have them share with the group. Pay attention to the location, what structures it can easily confused with, all that. Let's be real though, sometimes that's hard to do because everything usually looks the same and you have no clue what you have found, if anything.

Another option, is to review lecture material while you are dissecting. Everyday, have a different "leader" at the head of the tank "teaching" that day's lesson. They read you a part of the material emphasizing the important parts, and then they quiz you over what they just covered. Then they cover a little bit more and quiz you again. This worked really well for my group. We were able to remember a lot from being quizzed over class material while dissecting.

12. Make a list of everything you are expected to be able to identify and make sure you locate it and write down the easiest way to locate it. Sometimes the professor will provide you with a list, but it usually has other nonsense on it. You need to make a list with just the structures, free from any unnecessary distraction.

13. Don't just identify a structure on one body. I recommend you see every structure AT LEAST 3 times on 3 different bodies. Sometimes they look very different depending on the body.

14. If you don't work well in groups for studying purposes DON'T do it! I don't usually work well in study groups, but I thought "OMG, everybody is always studying in groups, I need to study in a group too." Yeah, no! The one time I attended a group study session, it was a mess and I felt like so much time was wasted and that I could have learned much more on my own. 

15. Take advantage of tutoring if it's offered. I recommend going once a week every week if you can. I did solo tutoring and just asked the tutor to show me where to find a bunch of structures and then explain to me how I can easily find and identify it, while distinguishing it from similar structures. I wrote this information down and went on about my business. This was discouraged, but it worked amazing for me. They suggested that you have the tutor quiz you over structures that you should have already identified on your own. Yeah right, there was usually too much going on to have already figured out where everything was located. It was my belief that I could quiz myself, but what I couldn't do was locate all these structures on my own, so if the TA just tells me where they are all at first I can figure out my own way to quiz myself later.

The reason I did it this way is because I quickly learned after the first test, that the structures I missed were the ones I had never seen before. Why? because I never identified it to begin with, so when I saw it, "I'm like what in the world!!?? Umm...let me see well it obviously isn't A because A is located somewhere else, but oh is that B?, can be look like that?...crap I only have 10 seconds left... umm shoot i'll just pick D." It was a mess.

After that test, I had my tutor show me every single structure we were responsible for, how to find, how to distinguish it from other similar structures. Next test went 1000x better. lol

Some people did group tutoring, but again, I emphasize if you don't learn well in groups, don't do it just to save a buck or $10. Nine times out of ten you will regret it. 

16. If your lab TA's host practice lab tests GO TO THEM! Pay the money if they charge and go to them. It really helps you to see what areas you are struggling in. Also, some of the questions may pop up on the real test. Also, sometimes going just helps you get your technique down. You have to move quick and you have to think quick! "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick."

17. Now is not the time to experiment with new ways to study or follow someone else's method of studying....unless you are a procrastinator, then you better snap out that quick. Other than that, if you have a particular study method down pat, stick with it! 2nd year MOT students discouraged me from making note cards because they were too time consuming and "not worth it," but I knew that I could memorize information like no other with flash cards. So i went for it! Was it time consuming? HECK YES. Did it pay off? Again, I say, HECK YES! ...If this is your method of choice the key is to not play around. Get them made so you can get to studying. The one section that I didn't make flash cards over...forearm and hand muscles...was the one section that I knew the least well. I tried some else's method and guess what? It didn't stick.

If you take your first test and you realize "OMG, the way I studied was a mess. I thought I was getting it until I took my test and then I was like what????" Then that is the time to go to the drawing board. If you have an advisor, go talk to them...sometimes it's mandatory anyways, but I strongly advise you seek their advice. Most of them have been doing what they have been doing for awhile and have a few suggestions up their sleeves.

If I can find one of my advisor appointment sheets I will scan it and share it with you all!

Resources that I made that helped me and may help you if you are learning similar content! :) 

You have permission to use them ANYWAY you think will be beneficial.

I encourage you to make your own as well!

Disclaimer: Pneumonics may offensive to some viewers. Some pictures were taken from online sources.

SHOW ME THE ORIGIN & INSERTION & LABEL

DRAW ME THE BRACHIAL PLEXUS

MUSCLE DETAILS PRACTICE SHEET

AXILLARY ARTERY BRANCHES

BRACHIAL PLEXUS

CONTENTS OF MEDIASTINUM

CRANIAL NERVES CHART

ERECTOR SPINAE

Panel Lessons to Tuck in a Special Place!

So this is my way of checking in and letting ya'll know that I'm still alive and kicking. This semester has just been a huge roller coaster for me academically and emotionally and I have not had the time nor energy to sit down and type.

Since I have about a 2 day break from school work, I decided to get on here and share what I thought was an amazing and much needed guest lecture. So, on Wednesday for my conditions class my professor invited 4 individuals to participate on a panel where each shared their "disability" experience. Although, in our profession we emphasize person before disability, it is not appropriate for me to disclose the identity of these individuals. However, I can share their conditions for those interested. TBI (ATV accident), Stroke (she had a stroke twice, each time after the birth of her children), T8-T9 SCI (skiing accident), C5-C6 SCI (car accident). As they spoke, my professor occasionally interjected and shared some of her experiences working with patients as well.  

Here is a cumulative list of many of the lessons they each had to share:

"The therapy team acts a connection. They help individuals plug themselves back into their lives."

"It's import to work with a team that can help you in areas that you are weaker in."

"The words you choose and the attitude you have as a clinician are powerful."

"Don't take away their hope. Don't give false hope. Don't lie."

"Allow families to have their faith and support them in it. You don't have to agree with their faith...it's not about you."

The patient is not the only one who can lose their identity. Traumatic events are traumatic to the whole family.

"As an OT you are the nucleus"

"Take the time to listen to caregivers, they may give you information that can enhance your therapy and thus help the patient improve."

"Therapeutic use of self is not just for the patient."

"Things may not become easier, but they can become possible, if you change your mindset."

"You can't feel sorry for your patient and you don't want to become too attached to them. It will hinder you from doing your job and your patient can take advantage of you."

"You never fail until you give up. If you don't give up you can't fail."

A journal may be helpful for patients who don't feel like they are making any progress

"Doesn't matter how bad you feel. Doesn't matter what happened when you woke up, when you drove to work, when you got to work... Leave it at the door!" 

The panel members also shared some of their not so good experiences with the medical team. It was shocking some of the stories they told. The story that stuck out the most to me is the one where the mother of one of the individuals stated that when her son was in his coma, the physician walked in sniffed over his bed and said something along the lines of "Smells like death today." :O Jaw dropper right? Yeessss!! Unbelievable smh. 

Well, that's all I wanted to share. Take care. I will update ya'll on my FWI: MH and Peds rotation soon! :)