1. Demonstrates the ability to give constructive and timely feedback.
When considering this objective, I initially considered answering it in a way that would evidence how I provided feedback to others. Upon further consideration, however, I decided to answer it in a way that evidences I gave feedback to others and myself. Since I consider self-reflection and self-improvement to be vastly important, meeting this objective in this manner was significant. An example of both occurred during my psychosocial rotation. One of my educators used of variety of methods to encourage such self-reflection and self-feedback on her students' part. One method was asking thought provoking questions directly following a treatment session. As soon as the two of us found ourselves in private, she would ask two questions aloud. The first question, focused on positivity, was, “What went well?” The second question, aimed at improvement, was, “What would you do differently next time?” During the first few weeks of my fieldwork experience, these questions were posed following the sessions she was conducting. Anticipation of such questioning caused me to be an active observer, and to more critically examine what I was seeing. This also gave me an opportunity to provide feedback to another professional in a way that was both constructive and kind. As my fieldwork experience progressed and I began conducting the sessions myself, it was my own performance that I was examining. My educator would continue to ask these same two questions, and I would provide answers. My educator gave input as she saw fit, but I knew her main objective was self-reflection for improvement of services on my behalf. In an effort to demonstrate autonomy, I began to answer such questions about my own sessions without prompt. Immediately following a session, I would inform my educator of what I viewed as positive, negative, or indifferent. Moving forward, I plan to continue this practice, as the opportunity for improvement is truly endless.
2. Modifies behavior in response to feedback; seeks opportunities to apply feedback.
I have always viewed adaptability and flexibility as strengths of mine. These strengths are typically evidenced by my ability to go with the flow and remain calm in unsure situations. That being said, when adaptability was posed as a weakness during my first level II fieldwork, I was stunned! In anticipation of a treatment session in this outpatient pediatric setting, I would list all the interventions and activities I wanted to engage the client in that day. More often that not, these activities needed adjustment in the midst of treatment; Whether it be because they were too difficult, too easy, or the client simply did not have interest in engaging. Despite awareness that this would likely occur, when it came time to adjust, I would freeze! I felt panicked and would look to my educator for guidance. My educator would provide assistance as needed, and would share words of encouragement and guidance following these sessions. My aha moment occurred when she explained that my struggle likely stemmed from not using my activity analysis skills. When she shared this, it was as if she had truly identified the source of my difficulty. Thinking about my interventions in this manner allowed me to better adjust and grade the activity I was engaging the client in. Instead of focusing on the activity itself, I focused on the goal and what I was working towards. My educator and I agreed that my task modification and ability to adapt improved throughout my fieldwork experience. Please see her comments on my midterm evaluation versus those on my final evaluation via the links below.
3. Productively uses knowledge of own strengths and weaknesses.
Productive use of strengths and weaknesses stems, firstly, from awareness. Assertiveness is a weakness that I will likely address for the remainder of my career. I find that when I bear this weakness in mind, it is most effectively addressed. Please see a discussion board I crafted during my second level II fieldwork experience, as it describes a situation in which I productively used my knowledge of this weakness, as well as the strengths I possess, to more effectively interact with another student.
4. Maintains balance in personal and professional life while prioritizing professional responsibilities and commitments.
While my personal and professional life looked different during each of my three fieldwork experiences, I took the same course of action to maintain balance during each. I am self-aware in what allows me to feel balanced in my personal life. Such factors include rest, exercise, and social engagement. For all experiences, I attempted to get eight hours of sleep per night. I decided at the beginning of the rotation what my exercise of choice would be, and mentally committed to a minimum of 4 hours per week. In regards to social engagement, I made a commitment to myself that I would engage in leisure activities and refrain from fieldwork-related activities or work on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings. Professional responsibilities and commitments were prioritized simply by allowing them to come first! An example of prioritizing professional responsibilities and commitments occurred during my physical dysfunction rotation. During this experience, I lived with my sister. She, too, was a student. We were both busy, but attempted to have dinner together every Wednesday night. This weekly dinner date served me well, as I typically feel energized and refreshed following quality time with my sister! Certainly, it brought balance to my personal life. Yet, one Wednesday, I was unable to attend, as I have not yet completed an assignment due the following day. I prioritized my professional responsibilities by working on my assignment that night, and maintained balance in my personal life by rescheduling the dinner for later that week.
5. Demonstrates functional level of confidence and self assurance.
I feel as though a student’s confidence and self assurance can be measured not only by their actions, but also by their ability to articulate the role of occupational therapy to clients and communicate effectively, overall. I could perform assessments and implement interventions and feel a sense of pride and accomplishment, but the feeling of being a “true” occupational therapist was found when I was able to communicate the meaning behind my actions. It seems to go hand in hand: Confidence and effective communication. My educators agreed that my self-assuredness was evidenced by my ability to communicate. See their comments on my final evaluations below.
Upon reflection, I realized how frequently humor is utilized during my interactions with clients. I also realized how essential the use of humor is for my therapeutic relationships. Often, the clients we treat are in an extremely vulnerable state. Tension can certainly stem from feeling such vulnerability, and it presents itself in a surplus of ways. Empathy and humor are far and away the most powerful tools I possess for navigating these situations. I find that humor comes most easily with my geriatric clients, so, naturally, the examples that stand out in my mind are from my physical dysfunction rotation in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital. Many of these examples involve the diagnosis of dementia. Dementia is one of the toughest battles I have witnessed to date. I am still learning how to best handle what comes with this territory, including proper behaviors around caregivers. I have seen caregivers display frustration, anger, embarrassment, and sadness, just to name a few emotions. While I look forward to attending continued education courses and further exploring research regarding caregiver education and interaction during my professional career, I do feel as though we often have to follow our “gut.” We must fall back on what intuitively feels right in that moment. For me, this was often humor. One particular client and his wife will forever be embedded into my heart. The client and I joked back and forth often. As dementia goes, he had his good days and bad days, his good moments and bad moments. As an outsider, the good and the bad were manageable. Understandably so, as I had only ever known this man to be this way. His wife, however, struggled. She shared that he was not the same man he had once been. She would talk often about his academic accomplishments; I often wondered if she was trying to paint him in this light for my benefit. I know she wanted me to see him as a good and smart man. She had no explaining to do, as I could easily see his light. And I told her so. Ultimately, humor served to communicate this message to her. Humor was my way of letting this client’s wife know I understood he was engaging in behaviors that were uncharacteristic to his “typical” self, but that it was okay and expected. For example, he would shave for hours with an electric razor if I would let him. His wife would cringe in the corner with embarrassment, or become frustrated with him. Humor worked to diffuse the tension that these behaviors brought out in the wife. It never took much, typically just a smile and stating loud enough for both to hear, “I think we better cut him off, what do you think Mrs. L?” This verbal cue was enough for the client to terminate his behavior, and also enough to bring a smile to his wife’s face. I will never forget the day this pair left the inpatient rehabilitation hospital. His wife grabbed both of my shoulders, and told me I was the perfect fit for occupational therapy. She told me that I had found what I was meant to do in life, and to “never change.” It was a pivotal moment for me as a student. It taught me that, when it come to human interaction, trusting my intuitional and what I know to be true is key.
7. Maintains professional behavior, regardless of problem or situation.
During my physical dysfunctional rotation, I found myself receiving less supervision than I felt comfortable with. This frustration stemmed, mainly, from the implications inadequate supervision had on my clients’ safety. Many were of the geriatric population and had recently endured a major surgery of some sort. This meant that their fall risk was heightened, and that their assist levels were typically great. During one particular treatment session, I was attempting a transfer with a client who had recently had a total hip arthroplasty. For a variety of reasons, the transfer did not go smoothly. I ended up holding the client’s full body weight and was forced to ease her back onto her bed. It was only the client and I in the room, and my supervisor was not accessible. I felt lost and scared; Easily the most frustrated I have ever felt in the field. I wanted to blame my supervisor for the entire encounter, and I wished to communicate this blame and frustration through crying and yelling. These behaviors are unlike me, but frustration surely brings out the worst! I wanted to tell her everything she should have been doing differently in that moment. Yet, I resisted. Instead, I communicated calmly. I did express my needs, but I did so without tears or an elevated voice. I shared with her that I would feel more comfortable if she was easily accessible, particularly when I was transferring new clients. This communication led to an improved relationship between us and a level of supervision that I was more comfortable with.
8. Takes risks to maximize outcomes.
During my level I fieldwork experiences, I was often provided opportunities that began with the sentiment, “Are you comfortable with trying…” followed by a situation I had not yet encountered. It was easy to say, “no,” or “not quite yet,” and I occasionally found myself answering these questions in this way. Upon embarking on my level II fieldwork experiences, however, I made a goal to seize such opportunities. Unless a client’s safety was at risk, I promised myself that I would instead say, “Yes! I would love to try.” An example of embodying these mentality and taking a risk occurred during my psychosocial rotation. Moments prior to an evaluation, my educator asked me if I would be comfortable administering the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). Although we had learned about this assessment in the didactic portion of our program, I had never seen it carried out first hand. Yet, I knew I had the knowledge and skill set to effectively administer this assessment. Reluctantly, I agreed to the challenge! Although opportunities such as these were often outside of comfort zone, and certainly felt like risks, accepting them allowed me to grow as an occupational therapy student and to maximize my outcomes.
9. Uses knowledge and information in an innovative way.
During my rotation at an outpatient pediatric clinic, I often saw animal walks utilized for improved coordination, strength, trunk stability, motor control, and body awareness. To grade an intervention, cues were delivered. Several clients continued to struggle with crab walking, in particular, despite verbal directions and demonstrations being provided. My clinical reasoning led to justification of creating visual cues for this intervention. Ultimately, these visual cues assisted the client in motor planning and increased their understanding of the task. Please see the flyer below, which contains a picture of the visual cues I created for the clinic. A comment from my educator on my final evaluation is also provided.
The skill of coaching was modeled most accurately and effectively by one of my educators during my psychosocial rotation. She explained to me that her clinical experience had shown her that clients respond well to coaching. After adopting this practice myself, I can attest. Essentially, the idea is to lead clients to forming their own solutions rather than providing them. This practice empowers the client, leading to confidence and, ultimately, increased carryover. Once you learn the language of coaching, it is relatively easy to use with coworkers and team members as well. Coaching was imperative for one particular client, who had a decreased sense of self-confidence. This client had home management and meal preparation goals, and we would often cook together. Interestingly enough, he would often ask questions during these cooking sessions that he already knew the answers to! In such cases, I would ask, “What do you think?” If he asked a question that he did not know the answer to, I would provide indirect cues to lead him to the answer or identification of a method he could utilize to answer his question. Ultimately, such coaching led to increased confidence and increased independence.
11. Actively participates in leadership or supportive roles in local, state, and/or national associations.
I contributed to student life at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center through serving in leadership capacities. Such leadership and service led to an invitation to join The Imhotep Society, a leadership recognition organization. I am a proud member of this society. Active service via volunteer hours at the following organizations led to my invitation to join: Night to Shine, Special Olympics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and American Cancer Society. Please see the photographs below that were gathered during my involvement in these organizations!
12. Maintains values over self-promotion or profit.
Fielding gifts from clients has posed as a great difficulty for me. My difficulty has not stemmed from losing the “profit” that these gifts would have provided me, but rather, it is rooted in protection of the therapeutic relationships I have with my clients. For many of these clients, gifts are the way they show their appreciation for services. If a gift is not properly rejected or handled, the therapeutic relationship is certainly at risk. I let the value I place on honesty and integrity guide my interactions, however, and do my best to explain why I must reject all gifts to the clients that offer them. I assure them that their words of gratitude are more than enough for me. Follow the link below to read a discussion board post in which I discuss the ethical dilemma of receiving gifts from clients, and how I handled one particular situation.