Post-Interview Reflection

So I had my mock interview on September 9th.  I was one of the last people to go that day.  My interview was with Allied Health Services with Ms. Elaine Robinson.  Overall, I felt the interview went really well!!  I was definitely nervous going into the interview, because I was not sure what to expect, or even really how to prepare for it.  I had some ideas as to what I was going to be asked, but I can say that Ms. Elaine threw me through a loop with some of the them!  What I was not expecting during the interview, was how well I was able to convey what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it.  I would like to think I impressed Ms. Elaine, however that could just be me inflating myself.  If there was something I could have done differently was not say the word "um" as much.  I struggle with saying that work too often, as I used to say the word "like" all the time.  I think if I work on just allowing a pause when I'm talking, I'll find myself not saying "um" as much.  What I learned from this mock interview was that I definitely have more confidence that I initially realized.  I don't think I will ever feel fully prepared for an interview, but I think as long as I go in with confidence and answer each question to the best of my abilities, I think I can be successful in them.

A Glyph on Leadership

Comparing my new glyph to my old one, the only things that have changed are the fact that I now feel like I have not had as much leadership experience that I would like to have had at this point in my life.  Also, I deemed self-awareness as not a priority for an effective leader in my original drawing, but made sure to include that in my most recent glyph.  I have really enjoyed doing this exercise again, because it does show that I have grown in some areas, but also I have held steadfast in other areas regarding leadership.

Instructions for Glyph Drawing:

Face Shape: If you believe that leadership is an inborn trait, draw a triangle-shaped head.  If you think that leadership stems from nurture over nature, draw a square-shaped head.

Eyes: If you think the vast majority of OTs are leaders, make big circles for the eyes.  If you think there is a fairly equal mixture of leaders and non-leaders in the field of OT, draw small circles for the eyes.  Fill in the pupils.  Add glasses if you feel that you have had more experience in leadership roles than most other people your age at this point in life.

Eyelashes: Draw one eyelash on each of the eyes for each of the five themes you can name based on your personal Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment from earlier in the curriculum.

Eyebrows: If you like to take the role of the leader in an out-in-front way, make curved eyebrows.  If your leadership style is more behind the scenes, make pointy eyebrows.

Nose: Draw a triangle nose if you think that seeing yourself as a leader is necessary to being a leader.  Draw a rounded nose if you believe that a person can be a leader without seeing himself or herself as a leader.

Skin:  Add a freckle anywhere on the skin of the face if you believe that self-awareness is vital to effective leadership.  Leave the skin clear if you don’t think it’s an essential trait.

Mouth: Draw a smiling mouth if you can think of at least one leader who has had a positive impact on you.  Draw a frown if you can’t think of a good example of a leader.

Ears: Draw round ears if you think technology is an important part of effective leadership in many situations. Draw pointy ears if don’t think so.

Hair: Draw the hair based on a continuum, based on your personal viewpoint in two areas:

What’s more important in leadership:             Curly hair  <------------------------->  Straight hair 

          creativity or organization?                   Creativity  <-------------------------->  Organization

                        AND

Can an introvert be an effective leader?         Short hair <-------------------------> Long hair

                                                                           No way  <------ I’m unsure -----> Definitely yes

Accessories: Add at least one accessory (example: a piece of jewelry) if you see yourself as a leader.  Add a hat if the way you think about or approach leadership has changed as a result of what you have learned since beginning in OT school.

Finishing Touch: Label your paper with your name, writing in cursive if you have a written plan or goal about to serving in leadership roles in the future; write in print if you do not yet have a written plan.

Internal Locus of Control

Reading the statements and figuring out what my LoC was, I found out that I do have more of an internal LoC, however, I also firmly believe that there are some things that are out of my immediate control, and we often have to let fate take the reins for a while.  For the longest time, I used to hate that.  I could not stand not having control over things, not being able to choose what the outcomes are, and that would cause a lot of unnecessary stress for me.  It's taken me a long time to get to the point I'm at now when it comes to things that are completely out of my control.

For a leader, I think having a pretty solid internal locus of control is very important, because they are able to recover more quickly from setbacks.  They are able to adapt more quickly to certain things, and respond better to when their plans do not work or are changed by an outside circumstance.  I think in order to be a well-rounded OT practitioner, having a strong internal LoC will make you more successful and also more willing to accept certain things and know how to traverse the unknown when it arises.

Post-SIM Reflection for OCP in Pediatrics

Based on the video recording of myself, the debriefing, and some good self-reflection, I think the SIM encounter, overall, went well, but there was definitely some things I could have done better.  I know I felt I was empathetic at points and listened to what the parent had to ask me and I tried to better help her understand what it was I was talking about, but I feel like I could have incorporated more about Libby's interests and how to tie those into the sensory schedule I made up for her.  Instead of choosing activities based on what I thought she would like, I could have looked at the background info on Libby more and chosen the activities based on what she already likes to do in her free time.  Besides that, if there was something that I could have done differently, I definitely would have taken more time to really have a good one on one conversation with the parent.  Having only 10 minutes was tough, especially with knowing everything we needed to touch base on in the SIM encounter, I felt myself almost rushing through some of the information.  So much so, I inwardly feared that even though it seemed like the parent was understanding what I was saying, she was only doing so to appease me.  I feel like if I had just taken more time to really talk with her and slow down the rate of information I was giving her, I feel it could have gone better.
Reflecting on some empathetic listening skills I really tried to incorporate in my encounter, there are some very specific examples of how an OT can give empathic listening to a client/caregiver.  One of those examples is eye contact.  One of the biggest signs that someone is paying attention to what you are saying is eye contact.  By looking directly at the person speaking, you are indicating to them that you are listening to what they have to say and see that their voice and opinions are heard without fault.  Another example is that of nodding and repeating what was said to you, as the OT, by the client/caregiver.  By doing this, you are showing that you actually heard what they told you and show them that they are being listened to and therefore, cared for.
I know trying to get the information out and across to the client/caregiver is important, but I want to be able to really strive to do better in conversing with them instead when it comes to future encounters or even when I start practicing on my own.  Get to know them on a more personal level and not just throw almost foreign information to them in the hopes that they get it.  By approaching it that way, I feel I might gain trust and rapport with them a lot easier than if I was just only there providing information and seeing how they go about processing that.  I did really like this SIM encounter and I think I'm gaining more confidence in myself as a future OT practitioner after completing this assignment. 

Media Project: The Page Turner

When I first heard about the Media Project assignment, I was incredibly excited!  I thought to myself, I’m super creative, this is going to be easy!  Little did I know that that mentality would change to worry in almost an instant; that instant, being the moment I heard what my material was going to be: a pair of dice.  As I sat there in class and started thinking up ideas of what I could possibly make, that’s adaptive, out of dice, I realized that I was stumped.  My case report was for a woman named Susan who was diagnosed with ALS.  I racked my brain for weeks, trying to come up with something that would work.  Arts and crafts?  No.  Communication board?  No.  I was becoming more frustrated with each passing day, and more worried as the showcase day loomed closer.  After bouncing around some ideas with my professor, she asked me a question.

            “Why not try to find something that would help her with scrapbooking?”

            Ah-ha.

            The idea came forth like a tidal wave and I instantly knew what I was going to do.  See, my client, Susan, loves to scrapbook, and hopes to create a few for her husband and children.  Remembering what we learned about ALS, fine motor control is one of the first things lost for most people diagnosed with the condition.  Since I knew that, I figured I could create something that would help Susan turn the pages of scrapbooks, so she could look at them herself or with her family around her.  As I started building my project, I became increasingly happy and satisfied with my idea.  I tested it out and found that, with some tweaks and practice, someone could easily use my equipment to flip through things, from scrapbooks to magazines, and even to books.  Through this project, I learned a lot about what I need to think of when it comes to adaptive equipment.  Sure, creating things that will be useful for the person’s impairments to come later on is great, but it is also important to remember that creating things for the person’s enjoyments is also a major accomplishment.  Knowing that I created something to help Susan be able to turn through her scrapbooks that she will have worked so hard on, I know that means more to her in the long run.  In completing this assignment, I feel like I have a better idea as to how to approach rehabilitation and the use of adaptive tech for future clients.  I also hope to pass on this newly found information to anyone else who may struggle with this project in the future or even to future therapists that I will work with once I become a licensed OT.

What Would You Choose?

APA Citation for Ted Talk video:

Rotberg, S. [TEDx Talks]. (2018, March 6). Navigating Genetic Disease Testing: A Personal Story [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_O5TfMVqD8

I chose to my last Neuro Note on Huntington's Disease.  The reason I chose this particular disease is because I honestly wasn't aware of the condition before taking this class.  I think I had heard it briefly mentioned before in another class I took in undergrad, but other than that, I knew nothing about Huntington's.  I find it both fascinating and saddening that such a condition exists, but I'm hoping that with further advancement in research, a cure, or at least a way to lengthen the life expectancy of those with HD, can be found.

I ended up watching a Ted Talk on YouTube and the guest speaker was Seth Rotberg.  He was a younger man, and he opened up his talk by explaining that he had been tested positive for Huntington's Disease, since his mother had the illness as well.  He goes on to tell his story about how as he was growing up, he never really wanted to be around his mom due to the physical impairments she had because of HD.  He was 15 when he learned the name of her condition, and was a sophomore in college when he made the decision to get tested for the disease, since a parent with HD has a 50% chance of passing it down to their child(ren).  Once he had found out he tested positive, he didn't tell his family for over two years.  He discussed that once he had told them, there was immediate relief and he regretted not telling them sooner.  He goes on to discuss that he continues to live each day to the fullest and hopes that a cure for HD is found soon.

I do recommend people watch this video, because it follows the journey of a young man who is roughly our age and we see how he copes with knowing what his condition is and still tries to live life and find happiness in it, despite knowing what he has.  I also do hope that a cure for HD becomes available, and I do hope to see that cure within my lifetime. 

Brain Injuries: A Prismatic Experience

APA Citation for Ted Talk Video:

Barrett, A. M. [Tedx Talks]. (2016, August 1). A Vision of Brain Injury Rehabilitation [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ-OBXTA5AE

I chose to do my 3rd Neuro Note on this Ted Talk video because the lecturer talks about TBIs and strokes, and how such injuries to the brain can lead to spatial neglect, which can cause serious complications in the rehabilitation period for a person who has suffered an injury to their brain.  I chose to do this because one of my good friends in high school was a competitive lacrosse and field hockey player.  Despite physical contact being prohibited, she still suffered multiple hits to the head in both sports.  Because of this, she was left was permanent eyesight problems.  One of my other good friends received a concussion and was taking out of the our rowing program for months because her brain was healing fast enough to allow her to get back into the sport.  In all this, I watched and saw what how intimately a person's life can be effected by brain injuries.

In this video, A.M. Barrett, a cognitive neurologist, gives a talk on brain injuries, specifically TBIs and strokes and how both can cause spatial neglect in a person who has suffered from either.  She pulls up pictures of patients who cannot complete things on their left side, as the injury was to their right hemisphere, therefore everything on their left side has been effected.  She goes on to explain how such spatial neglect can cause serious delay on a person's rehabilitation, as well as dramatically increase their risk of falls.  She then proceeds to discuss a new, innovative, yet cheap method in rehabilitation for those with spatial neglect.  She called it the prism adaptation, which is a pair of goggles with prisms in each lens, with the left side of each lens being higher than the right sides.  This treatment, as she explained in the video, has been shown to increase a patient's independence by helping them regain the spatial awareness that they had lost post-injury.  She talked about how not many hospitals or rehab clinics use this type of treatment, but hopes that they will in the future.

As future occupational therapists, I think this video is important because we will eventually work with clients who have suffered from TBIs or strokes, and with this treatment because affordable, as well as easy to use and train other therapists with, I think advocating for this will become a necessity if we want to see clients have more independence in the long run.