{"id":17304,"date":"2017-05-10T11:17:21","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T15:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=17304"},"modified":"2017-07-06T14:28:06","modified_gmt":"2017-07-06T18:28:06","slug":"risk-takers-trailblazers-utc-graduates-first-class-occupational-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2017\/05\/risk-takers-trailblazers-utc-graduates-first-class-occupational-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Risk takers & trailblazers: UTC graduates first class in Occupational Therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/b>Elyse Newland couldn\u2019t afford the tuition at a private school. She didn\u2019t want to move too far away from her home and family in pursuit of low tuition.<\/p>\n

But she was determined to pursue a doctorate in occupational therapy and UTC fit the bill.<\/p>\n

Now she\u2019s one of the Lucky 13, a group of risk takers, guinea pigs, leaders, and trailblazers. Graduating May 5, the class members are the first to earn a Doctorate of Occupational Therapy<\/a> (OTD) at UTC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ll be the first in my family to have a doctorate,\u201d Newland says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cWe\u2019re very proud of them for being risk takers and becoming leaders,\u201d said Susan McDonald, director of the OTD program.<\/p>\n

Through the therapeutic use of everyday activities, occupational therapists help people throughout their lives accomplish the daily things they need and want to do.<\/p>\n

When UTC\u2019s program launched in 2013, there were only seven other entry-level OTD programs in the country. Even now, UTC is still one of only 16. McDonald explained that only seven of those are public universities, \u201cso we feel like we\u2019re a pretty good bargain.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the Lucky 13 began their OTD degrees before the program was accredited. That changed in May 2016 when accreditation came through.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a while to go through the accreditation process once you create a new program,\u201d McDonald said, \u201cbut we are fully accredited now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tiffani Sherlin, one of the graduating students, explained, \u201cI knew [McDonald] from my undergraduate career at UTC and I knew that if she was confident that we were going to get accredited, then it was going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

While most brand-new OT programs have 24 students, the inaugural class in the doctorate program started with only 13.<\/strong> From Day One, the class and faculty have used the hashtag #lucky13 on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery few knew each other to start, but they\u2019ve become very close-knit. It was a small class, so they\u2019ve really become family,\u201d said McDonald.<\/p>\n

No one in the class dropped out, so all 13 crossed the stage at commencement, becoming fully-fledged occupational therapists.<\/p>\n

Occupational Therapy<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"

The lucky thirteen after their White Coat ceremony in 2016.<\/p><\/div>\n

In their new careers, the Lucky 13 will work with clients, evaluating their home, school, or workplace to see what is needed to improve or maintain their quality of life.<\/p>\n

They may recommend adaptive equipment and train clients in its use or they may even make the equipment themselves.<\/p>\n

Occupational therapists also help children with disabilities participate fully in school, aid people with injuries in regaining skills, and provide support to older adults experiencing physical and cognitive changes.<\/p>\n

For example, a hip injury may prevent the range of motion necessary to put on pants. Even though the patient may be undergoing surgeries, physical therapy, or just recovery, they still must figure out a way to put on pants. Occupational therapists help find alternative methods to navigate such everyday tasks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve had an injury or a disability, we help you live as independent as possible as you recover or to find your new normal when facing a lasting disability,\u201d said McDonald.<\/p>\n

Hands-on work<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Some of the UTC labs for OT, located in the Mapp Building, may not be what you would expect to see for a rehabilitation profession.<\/p>\n

One lab has a sink, cabinets, a bathtub, a kitchenette, and a single bed with a wooden frame, not a hospital bed. The layout looks something like an open-concept apartment.<\/p>\n

The setup allows OT students to help patients adapt to new ways of accomplishing everyday tasks. Heating food on the stove, for instance, is a relatively easy task for most, but turns into a more-difficult task for someone in a wheelchair.<\/p>\n

On many stoves, the knobs are at the back of the cooktop. No problem for most people, but dangerous for someone whose arm is alarmingly close to the hot eyes when turning the stove off.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can get stoves with knobs in the front, but they\u2019re more expensive and most people don\u2019t have those in their homes,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cSo we may have to help someone figure out, \u2018How am I going to reach across the stove to turn it on and off in my wheelchair without burning my arm?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another OT lab has electrical drop cords hanging from the ceiling and attached to hot glue guns, sewing machines, and other tools the students can use to create assistive devices to suit a client\u2019s particular needs.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cMaybe a child might need a special sling made from neoprene, which is soft and stretchy, but still strong enough to support small limbs,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cOr maybe someone needs a hand splint.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we pull out the sewing machine, some of them say, \u2018Wow, I haven\u2019t used one of these since Home Ec in middle school!\u2019 McDonald said. \u201cBut ordering these kinds of specific items from a medical catalogue can be very expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

What now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

With her OTD diploma in hand, Sherlin plans to take a job at Life Care Center of East Ridge, working with their neurorehabilitation unit, which deals with damage to the nervous system.<\/p>\n

\u201cOT lets me work closely with people, be creative, and also be in the medical field at the same time,\u201d she explained. \u201cI will be the first \u2018Dr.\u2019 in my family and that is definitely special to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor Campbell isn\u2019t done learning yet and plans to obtain an advanced certification in stroke rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brother received OT services from ages 3-7 at an outpatient OT clinic,\u201d she said. \u201cI went with him every week and was able to experience first-hand the impact OT has not only on a person but also the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized that I wanted to go into this occupation and have the ability to help others in impactful ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julia Schlicher has joined the team at Life Care Center of Morgan County in Knoxville.<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly cannot say that I did this on my own. It took a village to get my class to this point,\u201d she said. \u201cIt took the instructors, practitioners from the Chattanooga community, other staff from UTC, the students’ families, and \u2014 most of all \u2014 my classmates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newland plans to work with the geriatric population in a skilled nursing facility and eventually work in home health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted a fulfilling career in which I had the opportunity to help others but also make a living. OT turned out to be so much more than that and I’m thankful I chose it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lucky 13 have been a class of risk takers, guinea pigs, leaders, and trailblazers, and on May 5, they became the first group to earn a Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD) at UTC.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":857,"featured_media":17314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,70,52,12822],"tags":[7223,48391,7318],"class_list":{"0":"post-17304","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-college-of-health-education-and-professional-studies","9":"category-graduate-school","10":"category-occupational-therapy","11":"tag-commencement","12":"tag-commencement-2017","13":"tag-susan-mcdonald","14":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nRisk takers & trailblazers: UTC graduates first class in Occupational Therapy | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - 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