Term Two Round Up - And on to placement...

Wow! Time flies. I can't believe that term two is done already. It was a big change from term one, in the sense that the workload was more distributed and constant. It was a challenge! But at the same time, you kind of get used to the pace when it is that consistent... and seriously, time flies!! I can't believe it's done.

In the end things worked out really well (that I know about so far). My evidence based appraisal assignment on motivational interviewing did not go so well, I must confess. I feel that the expectations were unclear; the instructors feel that we're graduate students and that we learn better from making mistakes and figuring it out on our own. *sigh* I apparently didn't figure it out. But my scholarly paper on the affect of transitioning from independent living to a supported living environment was very successful (thank goodness!). And the work assessment I did, which included a physical demands analysis of the job and an executive summary with proposed assessment and treatment plan also went well. We had a group seminar presentation to do this term and my group presented on social role theory... and both the presentation and associated reflection paper were well received. A modified essay question exam, that really tested our on the spot clinical reasoning, is still outstanding... as is a take home exam type assignment that we did that was called a problem write-up, where we selected one of three client scenarios and then wrote an in depth analysis following the McMaster Lens.

And that reminds me... I need to complete an online survey giving feedback on the courses and faculty. We won't get our outstanding assignment grades until 80% of the class has completed the survey.

So, now we're all out into our term two placements!

I am working with a preceptor at an in-patient schizophrenia services program and I am loving it! Psychosocial rehab is definitely up my alley. The team that we work with includes psychiatrists, nurses, a CCAC case worker, social workers, a recreation therapist and a vocational rehabilitation therapist. There may be others too... I'm just in my first week, and it can be a bit overwhelming to take in, so I'm sure there are details that I've missed. But all the different professionals seem to work together very collaboratively, which is great. With my OT so far this week we conducted a few initial assessments, an in home assessment, run some activity groups (that included art and playing cards), and went on a community integration outing were we took some clients out to a cafe for coffee. We also went to the weekly grand rounds in psychiatry, where the speaker (Dr. M. Woodbury-Smith) discussed his research on people with a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome who are in conflict with the law. It was very interesting... though we had to duck out early because we had an appointment with a client.

Anyway... I know that this post has a lot of broad brush-strokes and not a lot of detail, but I wanted to post an update no matter what! It's been too long.

On another note, it should be less than a month until new applicants find out about interview invitations! Very exciting :) I won't be a part of the interviews this year because I'll be in Thunder Bay, but I'll be thinking about you guys on that day... and I'll be thinking about my classmates who have volunteered to help out! It's exciting for everyone. I look forward to hearing about how it goes.

Well, must get going before my free Internet time at Starbucks runs out!

Cheers,

SweetPea

T2 W3.5

We're into week 4 already! Time flies. However all the stuff I'm posting about was done in week 3 and received/presented today, so I'm designating the post as a 3.5 lol.
My second try at a scholarly paper proposal has been accepted!! Woot! The topic had to focus on an aspect of the environment that influences occupation and occupational therapy practice, and deciding on a topic was SO hard. Coming up with an idea is the first challenge, but then you also need to go to the literature and see what kind of evidence there is to support your brain child! It took me fully researching three different ideas in order to find one that fit the assignment's criteria and that was a topic I would be interested in writing about. Rejected ideas included: looking at suicide risk factors (environmental) and the legal practice context of patient rights/therapist obligations; rehabilitation with women in conflict with the law and the corrections practice context as an occupationally impoverished environment. Both I think would be interesting to explore, but the suicide one was rejected (maybe I just didn't present it well) and the other seemed kind of big and challenging, so I decided to go another way. I'm happy to report that my approved topic is about the meaning of place and the affect of later life transitions from independent to supported living on psychoemotional wellbeing. I still have some refining to do, but at least it's a start! This paper is worth 40% of my course grade. :s Eek!
In other news, my group presented today on Social Role Theory and I think it went very well. Our group worked well together, and thankfully so because our process in getting the finished product together was not linear lol. That said, I think we did a bang up job of taking a very conceptual model and showing how it could be applied to practice. Go team! I'm also really grateful to our classmates who generated and participated in discussion. It's the worst when you get blank silent stares, so I'm glad we didn't have to face that! :)
And on that note, it's nap time for me. And yes... Napping IS an occupation! ;)
SweetPea