Chicago Applicants and OTs!

[aczerniak]

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Where did you all get your Observation/Shadowing hours? I'm having a terribly hard time finding an OT that I can get hours shadowing and i'm starting to get desperate! I already volunteer at RIC but I have no shadowing hours at all!

Anyone have anyone/anyplace they suggest?

 

[eedee]

Depending on what facility you're looking at, you either have to go through volunteer services to do your observation hours and specify you want to volunteer in the OT department. I did that for a Chicagoland hospital and a nursing home. All I did was observe, but I was treated like a volunteer.

At the hospital I currently do my observations at, I had to go through the therapy department itself and talk to the director or whoever coordinates students observers.

I had to call numerous times and talk to a bunch of different people so you might have to be a little pushy and let them know exactly what you're looking to do. Try looking into smaller hospitals for observation/shadowing opportunities or asking any OT/PT's if they can refer you somewhere.

I recommend Rush Oak Park, that where I did some shadowing (you have to go through the volunteer services) or going to an Athletico or ATI. Most of the time you can just call the facility and ask to speak to someone about observation. I've done that before, I called Athletico on a Tuesday and was able to observe two days later.

 

[john135]

Try Alden. They do a lot of rehab and can easily fit you in.

 

[AspiringOT7]

Hey aczerniak, I live in Chicago as well. I've done observation hours in multiple settings: hospitals (acute, inpatient/outpatient/pediatrics at Resurrection, Children's Memorial), clinics (Athletico, ATI), SNF, and the schools (Northside Learning Center).

You can easily call an Athletico clinic in your neighborhood that offers occupational therapy. I used to work as a rehab aide at Athletico. They usually allow pre-OT/PT students to observe right away. They understand what it's like to be a student and how important hours are.

There are a ton of pediatric clinics you can observe at as well. I did a few hours at Northshore Pediatric and in any special ed school in the Chicagoland, suburban area. I currently lead play therapy groups and work with children with autism under a behavior analyst and OT.

 

[OT2015]

Reach out to Quality Therapy in Chicago, too. They allowed me to observe within a week and have several locations to choose from. http://www.qtctherapy.com/contact-us/

 

[OTlove88]

I also had no problems with observing at Accelerated Rehab and know a few people who observed there as well. I also did most of my hours at Resurrection and found that retirement centers are pretty flexible to observations as well.