Final Thoughts Combo

Evidence Based Practice Final Reflection
Over the course of nearly two years I can honestly state that my practice and use of
evidence based research and ability to review and utilize research as increased immensely.
During my undergraduate career, I studied many types of research within the field of psychology
however, none compares to the quality of research I have learned to respect and enjoy since my
time at Touro began.
During my first two semesters at Touro I learned the basics of quantitative and qualitative
research and the value that each type holds. I believe that understanding the foundations of
research especially within ones own profession are important in that it will continually shape
how you conduct your work as a professional and with patients. I was fortunate enough to attend
the annual AOTA conference in 2015 which also helped me to identify not only certain
components of practice I was most interested in but also the waves of information that can be
helpful from the conferences expo. Finally, in my fourth semester I put my researching skills to
the test and formally researched some of the most influential theories and interventions within
the occupational therapy profession; Ayres sensory integration. Deciphering, analyzing, and
concluding a systematic review with my partner Marissa Elder, became something like a crown
achievement for me because I had never formally conducted such research on such a wide scale.
However, with all that being said, I believe that in my fieldwork rotations my true ability
to understand and implement research came to fruition. Learning how to facilitate interventions
from previously conducted research I think helped me grow immensely in my ability to become
a hands on therapist. Not only did my research come from well-known journals such as the
American Journal of Occupational Therapy, but from reputable websites, and from formal
textbooks. As I continued with my first level II fieldwork I began to really see the value of such
interventions like sensory integration even though most of the evidence is deemed inconclusive
based on numbers alone. This has also come to help me find that not all research is entirely
reliant and that some evidence based practice can work well despite the formal reviews by
journals. I hope that with time research for sensory integration with a wide variety of populations
can be implemented grows secondary to the fact that I have truly seen it work well with children
in an outpatient clinic.
As a final statement, I have come to appreciate the want and need of evidence based
practice and urgency to continue research in the field of occupational therapy as it has helped to
shape who I am as a student practitioner and eventually as an independent licensed clinician.
Occupation Based Practice Final Reflection

Upon entrance into Touros occupational therapy program I had only a slight idea of what
it meant to be an occupational therapist or even what occupation fully entailed. I have come to
learn and love this profession through so many aspects that the coursework has to offer but also
because of the specific element of occupation integrated throughout. From our first major
assignments revolving around occupation including the occupational analysis and intervention
plan, to the persistent use of occupation in our first level II fieldwork settings, I can honestly
state that my ideas about how to facilitate occupation based interventions has come a long way.
Although many of our assignments have had occupation as a concept attached to them, I
believe that writing the occupational profiles on different patients were one of the most helpful
assignments conducted throughout the program. From the first child based team approach case
study during our second semester to our own independent case studies in third and fourth
semesters with clients we met during our level I fieldwork experiences. Often times in practice
an in depth look at a patient through an occupational profile is unable to be conducted due to
time constraints and getting to know the patient comes through building rapport with the client.
Here, we were able to do just that and conceptualize what we might do if we were able to take in
all components of the clients occupations. With an in depth occupational profile we were able to
research and create occupation based goals and interventions for the clients we interviewed on
the basis of building our clinical reasoning skills in occupation as a means and occupation as an
ends.
While creating such an occupational profile was likely not done in many students level II
sites like myself, it was helpful frame of mind to take on while interacting with patients to make
treatment sessions meaningful in ways that might not have been done otherwise. So,
unfortunately writing up such extensive occupation based profiles does not occur often in
practice but, to me having such practice during our time at Touro has really helped to shape how
I identify clients whether or not it is formally written in documentation or not. Having a strong
understanding of the person and how occupation effects their life is ultimately one of the best
skills that we as occupational therapy students and future practitioners can hold to our
profession.
Leadership Final Reflection

Leadership has come to be one of the most valuable components of this program to me
because of its immense value in so many different ways. Being a leader and seeking ways to be a
leader in my community and within my own personal profession are what I find to be the most
significant changes in my character as a new graduate. I began this program really wondering
how I would fulfill these requirements of showing leadership within my community, and by the
end owning leadership within my own right was one of the few things I could honestly say I
know how to do to a certain extent.
Leadership began as the journey into this masters program. Preparing, applying,
interviewing, and completing all didactic coursework to complete this program has been more
than a two year process and I believe shows commitment in every single classmate and future
colleague of mine to be a leader within their profession. Though, throughout the program I have
grown immensely in my ability to serve my peers by representing the President position of the
Student Occupational Therapy Association, helping to feed the homeless at local churches,
stocking food banks, helping my peers through tutoring in anatomy and in analysis of movement
courses, attending the annual AOTA conference in Nashville to learn and grow within my
profession at a student level, and engage to children with Downs syndrome in their primary
occupation of play.
The last volunteer driven leadership experience I completed was ultimately what led me
to believe that I had gained significant insight into what it meant to be a leader. I attended a
volunteer event through the Las Vegas Learning Program where children with Downs syndrome
and their parents receive education on the IEP process and receiving services for their disability.
Not only was this event wonderful for parents in an educational pursuit for their child but it was
an opportunity for children to receive information education and therapy by an occupational

therapist, a speech therapist, and a teacher. Although I was not the occupational therapist, I was
able to apply the skills I had attained during my level IIa fieldwork at a pediatric outpatient clinic
to the leadership experience. Taking what I had learned through nearly two years of school, and
12 weeks of practice to prepare me to be an entry level practitioner was what leadership became.
Applying my skills, knowledge, and professionalism to the occupation I was helping to establish
was my lasting leadership moment from this program.
Social Justice Final Reflection

Throughout the course of this program, we have observed, learned, and analyzed many
acts of social justice and injustice. From these basic concepts that we are familiar with as a
culture and society are more abstract concepts such as occupational justice. This program has
taught me to not only look at the injustices of societal concepts but how those justices within the
confines of such concepts affect occupation. Occupation can be affected almost inadvertently
from such normal societal conflicts that result in an injustice on one person, family, culture,
race, and so on.
While attending Touro I had the opportunity to help populations that were oppressed,
marginalized, and too often lacking the ability to complete necessary occupations just to live day
to day. For example, a few students and I volunteered at an organization known as Clean the
World. Their aim is to deliver hygienic products including recycled soaps from local businesses
and hotels in the Las Vegas area and deliver them to people who do not have the means to access
these simple, ADL driven products.
Acknowledging and merely trying to understand how social injustices can affect those
around us and our future clients is the first step to becoming a better occupational therapist and I,
am very grateful for having the ability to take a course on such topics. Of course, one person
cannot change the wrongdoings of a society that affects any one person or population however, I
think what this program has taught me the most is that I can make a difference within myself and
within my future clients lives by attempting to understand the injustices they might be
experiencing and in that help to make a adjust any occupational injustices the client might be
facing.

Final Thoughts Combo

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Final Thoughts Combo

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Final Thoughts Combo

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Evidence Based Practice Final Reflection

Occupation Based Practice Final Reflection

Leadership Final Reflection

an opportunity for children to receive information education and therapy by an occupational

Social Justice Final Reflection

You might also like