This is a great idea for a post! I've been wondering how people in other programs have been doing!
I actually started school in the summer, taking kinesiology (4 week crash course), neuroscience (4 weeks), a crafting class which allowed us unlimited supply to all kinds of materials
😀, & an OT history class. The history class was really eye-opening & the crafting class helped us all to unwind and get to know each other better. They offer it as a way to get familiar working with crafts in case you want to use it in your future practice for whatever reason. Plus, it was our own form of occupational therapy!
Fall semester has been a lot crazier. They separated our large class of over 100+ students into 3 cohorts, about 40+ students, each cohort cycling through one immersion a semester (physical disabilities, mental health, or pediatrics). I started off in mental health this fall, so in the spring I'll be doing pediatrics, then next fall I'll be doing phys dis. Anyways, the immersions are all very different, so I can only talk about mine which is mental health. It's a lot of reading, a lot of small group discussions, larger class discussions, and a presentation. We also do our fieldwork at this time, once a week. Next month we're doing a full week of fieldwork so that will be cool. While the "work" aspect of it is pretty easy (all the other cohorts say ours is the easiest), honestly the material that we have to grapple with is what makes it really challenging and sometimes really draining and difficult (schizophrenia, drug addiction, homelessness, Alzheimer's, depression, etc). That's the part that I'm having the most difficulty adjusting to so far but thank goodness classmates are some of the most caring, thoughtful and understanding people I've EVER met!
In addition to our immersion classes & lab, we also have a research class which teaches us how to break down journal articles and apply them to clinical questions that might come up in practice. Once a week, we have our neuroscience class (my first exam tomorrow!! but thank goodness it's multiple choice), and therapeutic use of self, which talks about how you as a therapist can bring in your own personal characteristics and therapeutic style to help your client. There's a lot of self-assessment quizzes in that class.
While our class is huge with over 100+ students, everyone still knows each other thanks to summer classes. There are tons of opportunities to get involved! They're always pushing OTAC & AOTA stuff on us, but even aside from that there are lots of cool things on campus to check out. Plus USC hosts lots of amazing free things for students (lectures by different authors, architectural tours, watching Philharmonic orchestra) so I've definitely been taking advantage of all that.
I hope this gave you guys a better picture of what my program is like and my experience of school so far, I'm excited to hear about everyone else's experiences with their programs!
