Lighthouse Easter Egg Hunt

Some of us volunteered for the Lighthouse Easter Egg Hunt on April 4th.
Thank you, Jenny, for sharing these pictures with us.

Newsom Lecture 2009

Here are pictures from the Seventeenth Annual Mary Joyce Newsom Lecture
honoring the Master of Occupational Therapy Class of 2009.

Thank You Cards for TWU Staff

The SOTA presented thank you cards to TWU staff - Deb, Marilyn and ARC staff, IT staff, Security officers, and Farrah. They all were very appreciative of our gratitude. When I took the picture above, Farrah asked me to tell you that she's very thankful and she will miss us very much.
Our thanks to Veronica for preparing all the cards/cookies and delivering them.

Run for the Rose 2009

On the 29th of March, some of us went to participate in the Run for the Rose.
Thank you, Dr. Rydin for your sponsorship!!!

Texas 5K Run

On January 31, some of us participated in the Texas 5K Run/Ben Taub 5K. Kendra ranked at 2nd place in her age group, and Sergio ran under 20 minutes again this year.
We really appreciate Dr. Rydin for paying everyone's participation fee for this great cause.

The Houston Half Marathon

Congratulations to everyone who ran and finished the Houston half marathon on January 18th.
This picture was taken at school, wearing the finishers' shirts since they couldn't find everyone on the day of marathon. Dr. Rydin, Dr. Hersch, and Joanne also finished the marathon.
Great job, everybody!!!

This Year, Make Resolutions Research Shows You Can Keep

This is a link to a social media release from the American Occupational Therapy Association for new year's resolution. To read, please click the logo above.

Training for the half marathon in January

Several of our classmates continue to train for the Houston half marathon, to be held Sunday, January 18, 2009 (two days before spring classes begin). The picture is from their Sunday training at Memorial Park on December 7th. Good luck to all our runners as they keep up the good work & hard training through the holiday season! Make plans to support your classmates on race day! Amy, Katie, Kristen E., Kristen B, Kendra, Edie, Christine H., Sergio, Caroline, Veronica, Theresa, Andrea, Lacey, & Dr. Rydin.

Canned Food Drive

As you all know by now, we've won the canned food drive. Thank you all for your generous donations.
SGA will sponsor a breakfast for ALL of the occupational therapy students on Wednesday, December 10th, from 8:00-9:00am in the Legacy Room on the 8th floor.

Finished Quilts and the World's Teacher's Day

The Quilts that we started in PTO during the first semester have been finished by Mr. Davidson. Mr. and Mrs. Davidson presented them to us on Monday. They are to be donated to a place of our choice, but it has not been decided yet. We really appreciate Mr. and Mrs. Davidson's hard work on the great looking quilts.

October 5th was the World's Teacher's Day, and presenting flowers to the faculty was decided during the SOTA officer meeting. Veronica took care of getting the flowers and delivering them. Mrs. Davidson is wearing the flower in the picture. Thank you Veronica for your beautiful work.

National Custodial Worker's Day

As Lacey mentioned during the SOTA general meeting, officers sent a thank you card to the custodians in TWU for the National Custodial Worker's Day. Deb told Lacey the custodians are exited that we took note of what they do and that we appreciate them. The pictures above are the card that we sent posted on the board of their break room. Let's keep up the good work.

Class of 2007

Check out Class of 2007's blogsite about their Level 2 FW experience!
Thanks My!

Class of 2007

Fieldwork finished!

I hope everyone's fieldwork went well. I learned so much from the OTs at Quentin Mease. My CI let do so much more that I expected, from scapula modes, SOAP notes, interventions, planning, goal writing, and interacting with patients one on one. Not only that, I even got to learn some Spanish while I was at it. Since it was a county hospital, most patients were only Spanish speaking. It was difficult to communicate, but I picked up a few words here and there..."derecho, izquierdo, descanse, siéntese" (right, left, rest, sit).

Here's useful website for Therapeutic Recreation Activity and Treatment Idea Page

From Karla's Corner

Both of my fieldwork II experiences have been fun and great learning experiences. My first was Occupational Therapy Center - Kelly Jones the second LBJ Hospital - Acute Leslie Schiff.
I feel very lucky to have had great CIs that have not expected me to know much of anything and know that this is a learning experience. When starting each of these experiences, both of my CIs were open to me asking questions and using some work time to look up things I did not know. I feel like I have learned a lot; however, I have continually gone back to my books and my huge collection of papers from our classes. This has been super fun...and I am very ready for a real job!!

-Karla

From Jordan's Corner

My FW II Experiences:

Phys Dys- Methodist in the Med Center Supervisor: name available upon request
The hospital was a great learning environment. Somewhat fast, so I thought at the beginning, and seeing a wide variety of diagnosis. Lots of stroke, hip replacements, debility, a few amputations and cognitive/mental disabilities. Great staff (5 previous TWU students) and great real life-like areas to train/practice with your patients. (living room, apartment, two different walk in bathrooms and kitchen area) However, my CI was NOT good!! She was spiteful and belittling! She did not teach well at all and rolled her eyes at many of my questions. She put me on the spot in front of patients and other staff members. I cried on multiple occasions and seriously thought about quitting! Are you excited!! I have reported her to the directors at Methodist (Others actually saw how badly I was being treated and reported her and then I just confirmed it) and have e-mail Sher Harnish about the situation. As far as I know, she will not be getting any more TWU students, but if any of you should get her please e-mail and I will give you a pep talk before during and after your rotation!!

Peds-Helling Children's Center Supervisor-Lynnette Molkentin
I LOVE this place!!! Everyone is sooo kind and helpful and really encourages me! There are 4 SLP, 1 PT and 2 OTs. Everyone is fairly young and works well together. Most of the kids are developmentally delayed, autistic, dyspraxic or have a specific syndrome. We so some SI, Therapeutic Listening, some NDT, general strengthening/increasing endurance/coordination and fine motor skills. It is on the East side so most of the children and parents speak spanish, but I'm getting by not knowing much at all! (Seriously Hola and muy bien are almost all I know.) My CI is super sweet and is always here for me when I need to review something or ask a question. They gave me the day off to go to TOTA and we get off at 3 on Fridays. We have two gyms and then each therapist has an office that you treat the kids in when you are doing handwriting or fine motor/visual motor stuff. I love it here and would recommend it to anyone!! I have been given an offer here and I am seriously considering working here!! Maybe I could be your CI haha!!:)

Hope this is helpful!

Jordan
(MOT5)

From Alvin's Corner

Greetings to all! First of all, I'd like to thank Violeta for keeping this site up and running. I've thoroughly enjoyed all the updates and the informative posts!

My name is Alvin Chung. I'm a TWU MOT student who's currently doing my 2nd internship at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. I'm here to share a bit about my fieldwork experience: some basic info that can help you to get ready (though we can never truly be ready for FW; we can at least try!) for fieldwork and some other "factors" that may foster or hinder your experience. I'll get right to them...


1. THY SHALL KNOW YOUR MANUEL MUSCLE TESTING (MMT) THROUGH AND THROUGH

This is one of many basic tools necessary to complete an initial evaluation. You must first know the proper position for testing each upper body (UB) muscle group in gravity and g-eliminated plane as below:
Shoulder - flexion, extension, lateral abduction, internal/external rotation)
Elbow - flexion & extension
Wrist - flexion & extension
Once you know how to test them, you must give each position a grade. Pay attention to gravity vs. gravity-eliminated & full ROM vs. part of the ROM when testing and grading. (The grading system varies from facility to facility. My current affiliation used Trombly (OT for PhysDys)).

Learn the textbook one well and your clinical instructor (CI) may teach to a quick gross test depend on the setting you will be in. This is a crucial weapon to keep in your arsenal! Fire away!



Well, I'll post one at a time. Second Commandment to come tomorrow!


-Alvin
alvinchung2@gmail.com

Handicap

So instead of driving to San Antonio, I decided to ride the greyhound bus. Along the way, the bus picked up an older lady at Katy. This was the first time I saw the bus use the ramp to lift and load a wheelchair into the compartment. Her chair was strapped and locked in. It was fascinating to see because the other day I went to a driver rehab with my class discussing about people with disabilities learning how to drive. The bus continued its route and everybody settled in their seat. From the corner of my eye, I glanced over to see how the older lady was doing. Her chair was the basic folding wheelchair with a homemade padding. She held her bags on her legs and stared quietly at her feet. It was as though she wanted to disappear.

Normally, I don't approach strangers and chat, but for some reason I felt a bit of curiosity. I wondered if she wanted her bag put up so she would have to hold it. So, I asked. She shook her head and declined my offer. I introduced myself as an OT student and talked to her about various topics from music, movies, family, etc. It was sad when she said..."I'm an English teacher...well, I was an English teacher." Her husband passed away about 10 years ago and she has no kids. She currently lives with a caretaker. But, she sadly said that she might have to find another place to stay because her caretaker was getting too old to transfer her. She had a little difficulty talking because I think she was ataxic. I'm guessing she had a stroke since she I didn't dare ask what her condition was. Then, she asked that she would like for her bag to be put up after all. I gladly agreed to move it for her and continued our conversation.

After a while, she softly spoke, "I'm not very good talking to people." I asked her if she wanted me to stop and she answered yes. So I respectfully agreed and went about my business.

However, during the trip the older lady initiated some small talk a couple of times. She asked for my name and who was picking me up. I answered happily and asked the same questions back. When we arrived at our destination and everyone got up to leave. I unexpectedly hear her say goodbye as I prepared my bags to leave the bus. I turned around and saw a smile on her face. I said goodbye to her as well and wished her a good weekend. For a moment, I wish I could had helped her, but I knew I wasn't in a position to or qualified, yet. Seeing her initiate conversation with me made me feel I might have made a small difference in her day.

On a happier note, I found this clip. Handicap people dancing. It's amazing to see.

Handicapped Dance Contest Click on link

-Violeta