Occupational Therapy Observation Options

[536728]

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Hey all.; first time/long time. I have a potentially naive question: aside from school, hospital, and home settings, what are some other possible OT settings? Do people specialize more than peds or adults, or those three settings? I know it's a silly questions, but I just thought about it and see if any of you could toss some advice my way.

Thank you very much.

 

[OTtoBe2013]

Hand therapy

 

[sleepiful]

You could look for private clinics in the area. Personally, I volunteered at a hand & occupational therapy clinic, so it was a mix of OTs and PTs. It was mostly middle-aged to older adult patients, but there were a few younger individuals that came in usually because of accidents.

I know there were some other opportunities to work with blind children (special learning center specifically for children with vision impairments), and another for working with infants/toddlers, but I didn't get to volunteer at any of them due to schedule conflicts.

 

[OT2015]

Are you talking specifically about locations, or also re: types? There are a lot of settings to choose from in addition to those you mentioned, including outpatient clinics (e.g., hand therapy), community centers (e.g., mental health), and corporate environments (e.g., ergonomics). Hope that helps.

 

[536728]

Wow, thank you all so much! I was targeting my question more towards different types of practice, just so that I'd be able to apply with a wide array of OT practices. Currently, I'm volunteering at OHSU (I live in Portland, OR)in the rehab inpatient department, and also at a private clinic for kids with various degrees of SPD. It can be really tough finding places to volunteer when you work full time.

Does it seem like a good approach, volunteering/observing at as many different types of practices as possible, getting over 100 hours in at least one practice?

 

[OTtoBe2013]

Depends on the program you are applying to. You mention you are in Oregon-are you going to apply to Pacific? If so, Jon-Erik (admissions dean) says the number isnt important. He says what more important is what you get out of the experience. Some places have even told me that too many hours can actually be a bad thing! I know, suprising-right?

 

[OTIndustrial]

Industrial rehab is my passion and every school that I interviewed with showed a lot of interest in my shadowing/internship at the Industrial clinic I did my work at. If you work in an area of the country with a lot of industry there will surely be someone who does industrial rehab. It could be an OT or PT either way it will benefit you seeing this.

 

[reb0rn75]

I got most of my hours from shadowing/volunteering at places that serve people with developmental disabilites...so places with group homes or services for people with developmental disabilities.

 

[536728]

Beautiful suggestions, thank you! And where are you all currently enrolled? Or, where were you enrolled?

 

[cammmiam]

hippotherapy!

 

[reb0rn75]

I will be starting my MSOT this summer at Virginia Commonwealth University.

 

[536728]

I will be starting my MSOT this summer at Virginia Commonwealth University.

If you don't mind, what were your stats? I started eyeing VCU. Seems like a great program, and it's cheaper than a lot of the others!

 

[prodigiousflame]

what is industrial rehab? I haven't even heard of that