An Actual OT Moment!

[Note: Identifying details have been changed to protect the patient's privacy. Yup, I know about HIPAA.]

At a moment when I least expected it, I actually got to do something OT-like today. Woot!

My dog and I have been visiting patients at the local children's hospital for about three years now. We were there today and saw a burn unit patient before heading for the elevators to the upper floors to do requests. (Anyone who really wants as many doggie visits as possible can call the office and get themselves put on a special request list. Every team that comes in checks the list and picks up some requests if they can.) I was stopped in the hallway by a nice lady asking if I could visit her son. "Sure!" I said, and borrowed a pen to add the child's name and room number to my list.

I finally made it to the little boy's room at the tail end of my shift. After introducing my dog to him, I noticed was that the boy's left foot and ankle had a brightly colored brace on it. "Wow, you are seriously stylin'!" I said to him. "That is possibly the coolest-looking brace I have ever seen." (And it really was!)

"He got to pick the colors himself," the mom said. "He sure has a good eye!" She brought out a pair of nice-looking kid-sized sneakers. "And he picked these out too, red and blue!"

"Cool!" I said. "Do those come in my size? 'Cause I would totally get a pair."

The boy seemed pleased to be told he had good taste. I asked if he wanted to give my dog some cookies, and he nodded eagerly, feeding my dog using his right hand.

"He had a stroke," the mom said abruptly. [Note: I NEVER ask why the child is in the hospital. People often tell me, but I never ask. It's not important and also none of my business. I don't need to know a child's medical history to cheer him or her up, which is my actual job.] "Eight years old, and he had a stroke. Can you believe it?"

The mom told me the whole story, and I shared that I too have some experience in that area (a TIA four years ago).

Of course, now that I knew the whole story, the brace and the mom's urging her son to speak all made sense. And then I got an idea. I walked my dog around to the boy's other side, the side with the weaker arm and leg. "Would you like to feed my dog some more cookies?"

"Yes," the boy said happily, and stuck out his unaffected hand.

"Let's try the other hand," I suggested. "You can do it."

He wasn't thrilled, but agreed to let me put a cookie in his weaker hand. He worked to open his hand a little so my dog could take the cookie. Success! We repeated this four or five more times, the boy happily making the effort and smiling every time my dog's tongue lapped across his hand to take the treat.

It was a very cool moment.

The Waiting Game

Sorry I haven't been posting, but in all honesty, not much is happening. My first day of class continues to draw closer. I think I've finished The Out-of-Sync Child (guess I could do some posts about that), and I continue to read my Abnormal Psych textbook. I've been skipping around a lot rather than reading it straight through, but it is actually a very enjoyable read. I really like how they use news events to further discussion of a certain point. For example, in the chapter about models of abnormality, they took the Binti Jua case and noted how clinical theorists interpreted her actions differently depending on their preferred theory. Well played, Psych book, well played.

A Shadowy Experience

Part of the application for the MOT program reads as follows:

Although not mandatory, it is strongly recommended that applicants volunteer and/or work under the direct supervision of an occupational therapist in at least two areas of practice.

Given the insane competition for spots in the program, I translate that as "You don't have a flaming snowball's chance of getting in unless you do this, you twit."

The wording makes it sound like you have to actually work in the healthcare field, but fortunately for me, this is not the case. It refers to a practice that seems fairly common in the healthcare field called job shadowing. Basically, this means that you watch the healthcare professional (occupational therapist, physician assistant, physical therapist, etc.) do his or her job for a certain number of hours--you act as that person's shadow. Sort of a pre-approved and welcome stalker, if you will.

The exciting news is that I have gotten approval to do 40 hours of job shadowing with an OT at a local children's hospital! Even better, I already volunteer at this hospital anyway, so I don't have to worry about getting fingerprinted, background checked, references checked, etc. I'm already in the system, so it will be easy to reclassify me as an OT department volunteer. I'm scheduled for half-days (some mornings, some afternoons) for the first three weeks of August. EEEEEE!! I am so excited about this. It's a children's hospital, so obviously it will be pediatric OT. I'm not sure if it's all outpatient or if they also do some inpatient (though I am sure I will find out quickly enough). The OT mentioned that they also have feeding groups, something I have read about and am eager to see for myself.

When I asked the OT what I could do to prepare beforehand so that I get the most out of my shadowing experience, she said I should read The Out-of-Sync Child by Carol Kranowitz and review my developmental milestones. (And in this case, "review" actually means "learn on my own from the ground up," since I won't have my lifespan course until the fall, too late to help with this placement.)

At this point, I have no idea what population I want to be working with as an OT. We can work with anyone from newborns to elderly patients in hospice, so we truly work across the entire lifespan. I think shadowing is a good idea, both to give yourself a reality check ("Is this really how I want to spend my days for the foreseeable future?") and to try and narrow down your preferences. This shadowing will let me sample both a population (kids) and an environment (hospital setting). I definitely want to do at least one more shadowing experience next spring or summer. I will obviously want either adults or the elderly as my population and a non-hospital setting (skilled nursing facility? rehab center?) as the environment. But first things first--in a few months, I will get to see what I think of working with pediatric OT patients.

Another Day, Another Hundred Bucks

As I mentioned in my last post, I am now officially a student in an Abnormal Psych class starting next month. I also mentioned that I paid an obscene tuition bill, and that every minute in the classroom is costing me fifty-one cents. I can call, like, the Republic of Tonga for that amount of money. Sheesh!

But of course, let's not forget that tuition is not all you have to pay. Classes have textbooks. It is generally advisable to buy the textbook for the class you are taking, especially if you hope to get an A. So I trundled off to Amazon this afternoon to buy my book. I figure if I've already read some of it before the session starts, so much the better.

The book, she was not cheap. Although I bought one from an on-line seller that was 30% cheaper than Amazon's own price for the book, it still cost me $70. And when I added an accompanying workbook (the better to constantly review with, my dear!), the total tab including shipping was just over a hundred bucks.

I should put a little meter on the right that says "Amanda's total college expenses thus far," except I think the number would make me cry. Sometimes it's better not to know.

Spending Spree

Well, it finally happened. I signed up to take a class this summer. I am going to start scaling Prerequisite Mountain. Abnormal Psychology will be the first one to get marked "done" on the prereq list. Whoo-hoo!

Of course, mountain climbing ain't free. Yesterday, I paid a whopping tuition bill. It was a four-digit bill for one three-credit class. Each minute that I spend in the classroom is costing me fifty-one cents.

Fifty-one cents a minute, people. I'm not making that up. It's enough to make you cry in your beer.

On a less depressing note, I realized that as a newly enrolled student, I need supplies! Here are the results of my insane shopping spree:

First, I got a really cute backpack at TJ Maxx. I also got The Out-of-Synch Child because it was recommended to me (more on that in another post), and I got The Sensory-Sensitive Child because the author of The Out-of-Synch Child recommended it. And even though I won't be taking Anatomy until at least next spring, it's never too early to start learning the material. A coloring book is nice and interactive. Here's a sample page. The little round bubbles next to each description are for you to mark the color that you're using to color in the corresponding muscle in the diagram.

The little cylindrical tin you see in the first picture contains these:


I can't wait to start using them on the diagrams in my Anatomy book. I have never been so excited about a set of colored pencils in all my life!

The Great Eight

I started talking about prerequisites a few posts back. These are the classes that I have to take before I can apply to the MOT program. There are eight of them--the Great Eight, as they shall be known henceforth. Why don't I introduce them to you?

1. Medical Terminology. Thankfully, there are no prerequisites for this class. And it's offered on-line!
2. Abnormal Psychology. In a word, everything that can go wrong upstairs. The only prerequisite for this class is Intro to Psych, which I had my first time around as an undergrad.
3. Lifespan. This class is about human development from birth to death. Basically, it's all about milestones and then decline. It also has Intro to Psych as its only prerequisite.
4. Social Science Statistics. This class is about understanding the math used in scientific research studies so you can tell if a study is bogus or believable. Could come in very handy. If I take this class at BCU, Intro to Psych is the only prerequisite.
   

Those are the four non-science courses. Because they require very little in the way of prerequisites, I will probably have all four of these done by next summer. The other four courses are considered the "science core." The grades I get in these classes count double (translation: you better not get less than an A in any of them!) for my GPA for admissions purposes, so it is massively important not to screw them up.

1. Human Anatomy with Lab. At last, my chance to cut up dead people! And don't forget the opportunity to smell like formaldehyde. I must have a 200-level biology class with lab before I can take this class. I think I read somewhere that one should take anatomy before one takes physiology.
2. Physiology with Lab. No cutting up dead people here. I'm not sure about the smelling like formaldehyde part. The 200-level bio class is also required as a prereq for this class.
3. Pathology. This class is all about disease and things that can go wrong in body and mind. You can't take this class until you've taken physiology. (Which sorta makes sense, since you should have an understanding of how things function normally before you can really appreciate what constitutes abnormal/pathological function.)
4. Neuroscience with Lab. This class should be called Zombie Class, because it's all about braaaaaiiiins. Specifically, it's about the structure and function of the central and peripheral nervous system, which of course includes the braaaaiiiin.

So, there you have it: the Great Eight, the eight courses that will set the stage for being allowed to enter the hallowed ground of the MOT program at BCU. I will periodically revisit this list to "cross off" the courses as I complete them and note the grade I get for each course (hopefully an A!).