Tag: black OT

Posted on in occupational therapy

Three Weeks Down as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist!

Hello Renrenspeakers! How is everyone doing? Long time, no type! I am so glad that the weather has FINALLY cooled off. I have returned my fuzzy socks and sweats as my go-to loungewear. I am about three weeks in as an official OTR/L in an outpatient pediatric clinic with some home health. So far, it has been such a wonderful experience! Lemme update yall on my journey as a new grad thus far.

As a new grad OT, there is a huge learning curve in general. I am constantly consulting other peds OTs I know and look up to, handy dandy Google/ChatGPT, and my old notes/resources from my fieldwork experience and school to refresh my mind on things that I am less familiar with or need additional information on. Heck, the other day, I even pulled out my TherapyEd book I used briefly to study for the NBCOT to verify various developmental milestones and primitive reflexes. Either I blacked it out, but I don’t remember studying as frequently – or might I rephrase, as diligently – when I was in school. I think that I am more willing to seek out this information because first, my license is on the line; and second, I am so new to this, so I want to be the best therapist I can be! I actually do enjoy researching things and discovering how I can spice up my sessions, apply the knowledge that I learn to my tool kit, and educate parents and caregivers for increased carryover (via HEPs, education, etc).

I know my mind is young and fresh, but here are some of the reasons I enjoy the pediatric population thus far:

  1. I always have a story I can recall at the end of the day. My clients say and do the funniest, cutest, and interesting things. I recently had a client who was eating cherry tomatoes for her snack, and she had some remaining juice on her fingers. I laid my jacket down on my chair prior to session starting, and out of nowhere, I saw her walk up to my jacket to wipe her fingers like she would do if she were using a napkin, lol.
  2. I get to be in touch with the youth and channel my inner kid. There are so many things I have discovered that kids like these days, like Ms. Rachel. I also felt super cool working with a client who liked Roblox because I know exactly what that is and could converse about it (shoutout to my little sister, Claudine, for the exposure lol).
  3. I can do a ton of arts and crafts – and they are used therapeutically! First, arts and crafts are my thing. Plus, they can target so many performance areas such as fine motor skills, sensory (tactile), bilateral coordination – the list goes on and on! So far, I have enjoyed finding themed printables or even just creating templates on my iPad and printing them out to use in sessions. I can also upgrade/downgrade them to my discretion. For instance, I can cut pieces of a craft out and have the child bear crawl to them, picking them up 1 by 1 all over the room to also target gross motor skills or any other skills they are working on.
  4. Each client is so different from the next. The variability of clients allow me to get to know many different personalities and learn how to navigate hardships I come across more effectively.
  5. I am constantly on my toes. I never know how the day is going to go as much as I may plan for it, truthfully. Of course, I always hope for a positive, productive session. However, sometimes my clients just might not be feeling an activity as much as I am. I have to be flexible and adaptable so that I am also meeting the client’s needs. This is a skill I am definitely growing in, but knowing that I constantly have to modify my creativity forces me to learn, and therefore, grow as a clinician.

I am thankful that I have a great work environment that supports me and accommodates my needs well. I hear many new grad first job horror stories, and I hate that for us because we are just trying to learn and be our best selves in this new life transition.

The hardest transition for me honestly has been getting used to being an OT. When I first started, I was very anxious because I just did not know what to expect. I had many worries – What is my kids don’t like me? What if my clients and I don’t connect? What is the right way to do therapy? First, there is no right way to do therapy, because everyone’s style is different! Of course, some days are harder than others, but I have to remember to give myself grace. I am three weeks in, NOT 30 years in. And no matter where I am in my years of experience, I will always have room to grow and improve. That is what striving to be a great clinician is all about – recognizing what you don’t know and addressing those gaps. I’ve learned so far that it is okay and even encouraged to ask for help! As much as I try to figure things out on my own, there are going to be so many things that I merely do not know. Again – that is OKAY! I am new to this life! After all, clinicians always say that it took them a year before they finally started really feeling confident and comfortable in what they were doing, so I still have 49 weeks to get there, haha. Fieldwork was a good way to get my feet wet, but that was only the foundation. I get to constantly add to my foundation as a life-long learner. I try to stay grounded as a new grad OT by continuously giving myself grace because again – I am new! I can mess up, I will make mistakes, I will learn from them, and I will grow because of that. Being a peds OT has required me to quickly adopt a Type B personality – one that is more relaxed, easygoing, and flexible when needed.

One thing I noticed that is so easy to fall prey to is going to the store and being tempted to buy anything that I can use for my session, lol. Yesterday, I went to the Dollar Tree and found a TON of items that I could use with my clients to target their goals (shoutout the Dollar Tree for inexpensive stuff, though I do have to side eye a little bit because everything was really marked $1.25. Inflation I guess). My next destination is Goodwill, haha. Currently, there are multiple go-to games stashed away in my car that I did not even touch until starting my job, and I believe that this list will continue to grow at the rate I’m going. I also have a Peds wishlist on Amazon and a growing checklist on my Notes app. Sometimes, it is hard to resist buying new items that my clients might enjoy or benefit from (so help me out with this, fellow peds OTs lol).

The largest downside I’ve faced so far – the getting sick part, eh, not my favorite. I am currently recovering from a bad cold – ah, the joys of working with kids, lol. I remember when I did my first fieldwork at an outpatient peds clinic. I literally lasted 2 weeks, and then BAM. I got COVID for the first time. I was out all week. My immune system is not up to par yet, but I know I will have a beast immune system in no time. 😉 I guess I’ll have to stock up on my vitamins extra hard to try to avoid being sick at all costs.

On my to do list is to continue researching, taking CEUs on my weaker knowledge areas (ex. sensory integration), and honestly just striving to do the best that I can do every day. I also want to work on work-life balance. I want to improve my documentation efficiency, as I notice that I can be a little long-winded when it comes to notes (I blog after all, so writing is inherently a part of my personality trait, lol). If yall have advice or an example of the most efficient notes you’ve written that you’d like to share with me (respect HIPAA, obviously), I am all here for it. 🙂

Thanks for riding this journey with me thus far!

Peace and love,

Irene

Posted on in graduate school, lifestyle, occupational therapy

Three Weeks of OT School DOWN!

Hello, friends! Can you believe it? I made it through THREE WEEKS of my occupational therapy program! I feel like I literally just started my program, but at the same time, I also feel like I have been in school for months based on the content that I’ve been absorbing these three weeks. Honestly, I am definitely feeling the pace of graduate school. Most of my days are spent studying, digesting, and absorbing new knowledge and content learned. I would say out of my curriculum thus far, anatomy is definitely the most rigorous course I am taking. I don’t think that learning anatomy is an easy task to the everyday person, but I honestly have such a supportive classroom setup, environment, and professors that have made learning anatomy a bit less daunting. I had my first anatomy exam earlier this week which I actually did well on so thank God because I literally studied my butt off! I hope I can keep this same momentum throughout the semester, lol!

I can honestly say that I have seen a stark difference in undergrad compared to grad school. I’ve always considered myself a studier and thought that I had pretty good study habits set in undergrad. However, cramming for an exam and then forgetting about the material was more or less something that I made an unhealthy habit of. In GRAD SCHOOL though, SO much studying is required of you every day. Cramming? I don’t know her (at least I do not want to know her). The expectations are much more different. It is expected that you are responsible for interacting with the material that is presented to you so that you can critically think and apply it beyond the classroom. Because there is a lot of content to consistently interact with, I can admit that it has been pretty easy for me to forget to take care of myself and engage in constant small acts of self-care, whether this is sleeping on time, eating my dinner at a reasonable hour, or taking a break and getting some movement in. It is something that I am actively working on, I promise!

I am thankful that I have found resources and a friend group to help guide me and embark on this journey with me. Unlike in many of my undergrad classes, my grad school cohort actually looks out for each other and all want to see each other succeed! I appreciate and admire the cohesive, united, and collaborative environment that is continuously cultivated. Competing for the best grades is literally irrelevant because we are all in the same place getting the same degree, and genuine learning is MUCH more important than a letter grade! This is something that I have been actively unlearning, and it is truly liberating to reframe measures of academic success that society has shaped.

One thing that I think is SO important to my overall well-being and occupational balance is getting that social input outside of school! I realized that after all the studying I have been doing for a few weeks, I missed being social! I really have not explored the area that I am at, so I made it a point today to go out with friends and treat myself to lunch. Social input is very refreshing and rejuvenating, and sometimes it is hard to realize that when you are constantly on the grind.

Overall, grad school has been a time of critical reflection, self-awareness, unlearning, and relearning. I am glad that I am on this journey though and I am anticipating seeing where I am headed!

Peace and love,

Irene