Department of Occupational Therapy
Special Programs for
Jefferson Occupational Therapy Students
Community Service
|
Unique Fieldwork Settings
|
International Opportunities
|
Scholarship Opportunities
|
Intradepartmental Opportunities
|
Student Advocacy
Community Service Opportunities
Bridging the Gaps
What: An interdisciplinary service learning program for health professions students. Students are paid to engage in a service opportunity such as camps, homeless shelters, senior programs and a variety of other populations at various locations across Philadelphia.
Client Population: Underserved groups.
Student role: Leadership, varies with placement.
Outcomes: The occupational therapy students bring a unique, creative perspective to this program and to the healthcare team. This experience helps the students build new skills interacting with community members and community agencies.
When: 7 weeks in the summer after the first year.
More information: caryn.johnson@jefferson.edu or http://www.med.upenn.edu/btg/index.htm
Jewish Community Center (JCC) Open Hearts/Open Doors Inclusionary Summer Camp
What: An eight-week inclusionary summer day camping program. Jefferson students make a difference at this camp by collaborating with campers, counselors and parents to create a successful camping experience.
Client Population: Children ages 3 to 14 from different backgrounds.
Student role: Students work as advocates for children with challenges, to create a positive camping experience through adapting the environment. Working cooperatively with the family, students communicate through daily written documentation and a home visit. Students move with the campers throughout the day to facilitate their inclusion into the program.
Outcomes: Campers participate in community experiences in a fun environment. Students work with (paid) staff and children as they experience a typical day for a child with a disability.
When: Eight weeks each summer
More information: www.jcccampsatmedford.org
Brain Awareness Week
What: Since 2005 students and researchers in the neuroscience community organize and implement brain-related learning activities for the public at the Franklin Institute. Occupational therapists provide a unique approach to neuroscience in rehabilitation by bridging the structures and systems of the brain and nervous system with participation in life activities.
Client Population: Visitors to the Franklin Institute
Student role: Interact with visitors: teach reflexes, draw the lobes of the brain on swim caps, play games and view cadaver specimens in the Brain Bar. Students advocate for occupational therapy in a neuroscience background setting.
Outcomes: The public increases its awareness of occupational therapy by learning how the brain functions and ultimately impacts movement and participation in daily activities.
When: Two days of the second week of Brain Awareness Month (March) each year.
More information: http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=baw_home
Unique Fieldwork Settings
Riverview Home
What: A city-operated assisted living facility in Philadelphia that provides safe, stable housing and basic health services for adults with cognitive, psychosocial and physical chronic conditions and disabilities
Client Population: Adults ages 45 to 90
Student role: Help residents to become as independent as possible in their daily living by providing individual and group occupational therapy services to enhance performance of occupations in daily living, productive, leisure and socially-based activities. Jefferson students have created groups for cooking, artistic expression, fall prevention, leisure exploration, wheelchair exercise, health promotion and community reentry planning.
Outcomes: Students find this experience in independent practice valuable in helping their skills as entry-level practitioners.
When: During Level II fieldwork
More information: Arlene.lorch@jefferson.edu
Resources for Human Development
What: This progressive mental health provider within the Philadelphia provides services to clients in various community-based settings. Some of these settings include group homes for adults with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and residential programs for adults who are medically fragile and have a psychiatric diagnosis.
Client Population: depends on setting
Student role: Work in pairs to help people to become better integrated into the community, live independently and apply for employment.
Outcomes: Students have found that this environment provides a distinctive experience with valuable opportunities for creativity, autonomy and occupation-based practice.
When: during Level II fieldwork
More information: caryn.johnson@jefferson.edu or www.rhd.org.
International Opportunities
Kitasato University Partnership
What: Students from Jefferson and Kitasato University in Sagamihara, Japan, visit each other’s university programs and exchange ideas, knowledge, and fun as they learn about occupational therapy practice in a different culture.
Client Population: Depends on setting.
Student role: Depends on setting – whether students are traveling to Japan or hosting Japanese students at Jefferson.
Outcomes: Gain cross-cultural professional experience.
When: One week, usually during spring break
More information: Students apply to participate in the exchange program on a competitive basis when traveling to Japan. Visits are scheduled for Kitasato University students to visit Jefferson in March 2011 and for Jefferson students to visit Kitasato in March 2012. Students serve as hosts for group activities and visits to various clinical and cultural sites when Kitasato students visit Jefferson. All students are invited to participate in hosting the Kitasato students when they visit Jefferson.
Scholarship Opportunities
Graduate Education Merit (GEM)
What: A professional development opportunity for full-time graduate students who have demonstrated financial need. Students participate in activities that support the Department of Occupational Therapy’s commitment to practice, research and community service. GEM students support OT faculty in programming, research and teaching activities. Sometimes they assist faculty in implementing OT into new community-based practice arenas.
Client Population: Depends on setting.
Student role: Depends on setting.
Outcomes: Students find this experience valuable in helping to increase their skills as entry-level practitioners and researchers.
When: During school term, designated number of hours (5-18hr/week) based upon award amount
More information: http://www.jefferson.edu/financialaid/
Albert Schweitzer Fellowship
What: A one-year interdisciplinary fellowship program focused on community service, leadership development, and reflection, which serves as the entry year in becoming a Fellow For Life. It is based on Albert Schweitzer's philosophy of Reverence for Life, which challenges students to act on their idealism by serving needy individuals and communities. Fellows receive a stipend of $2,000 during the course of the Fellowship year.
Client Population: Depends on student’s project.
Student role: Design & implement an innovative 200 hour service project addressing a community’s unmet health and/or human service needs.
Outcomes: Develop a unique project to improve the quality of life and health of community members in need. In addition, students become a lifelong fellow in a prestigious group of healthcare individuals and obtain opportunities for networking with a variety of professionals.
When: Applications accepted each winter.
More information: http://www.schweitzerfellowship.org/features/us/gp/ or for additional inquires please contact the Program Director at (215) 955-9995 or nicole.cobb@jefferson.edu
Intradepartmental Opportunities
Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA)
What: Promote the development of leadership and cooperation among student occupational therapists and to promote the profession of occupational therapy through public relations, education and social events.
Student role: The annual dues are $15.00
When: Meetings are held monthly and events are held periodically, approximately one event per semester.
More information: Contact Kimberly Mollo, Faculty Advisor, at Kimberly.Mollo@jefferson.edu
Student Advocacy
brOT Movement
What: Our mission is to increase the male presence within the occupational therapy profession while creating a more powerful, diverse and widely recognized workforce.
Target Population: Males who are pursuing degrees at universities across the country and are undecided regarding a career path.
Services: Distribution of promotional materials, including apparel, pens, note pads, tote bags, bracelets, decals and stress balls with the brOT logo. Attendance at university career fairs to promote OT and raise awareness of its in-demand status in the current job market.
Outcomes: The brOT movement expects to increase enrollment of males in OT programs as a result of increased awareness of occupational therapy combined and master’s programs and the profession as a whole.
