I became interested in the field of occupational therapy years ago.

It started when a
friend, who was in the MSOT program at San Jose State University, mentioned she thought Id
make a great therapist. The idea was planted, although it took about four more years to come to
fruition. At that time, I had just undergone my second knee surgery and began looking for a new
career. After shadowing various locations in Vegas Valley, I concluded that an occupational
therapist was someone who taught you how to get in and out of a shower after a knee or hip
surgery, or someone who used a table sander to increase your endurance. Overall, I learned that
an occupational therapist is someone who helps people, and that was enough for me to begin my
journey toward becoming one myself.
Thankfully, though my work at Touro University Nevada, my understanding of
occupation-based practice has grown immensely. This is important because the world needs
occupational therapists that can help bridge the gap between therapy components and the
occupations or activates that our clients need, want, or have to do. We are there to make therapy
meaningful and to find out what motivates our clients. Occupation-based interventions that are
truly client-centered will elicit buy-in and increased compliance from our patients.
I was able to put the lessons taught in the classroom into action while at my level II
fieldwork. In my particular setting, occupation-based interventions are a rarity; however as a
pillar of our profession, I challenged myself to make therapy more occupation based. There was
one patient, who had undergone a reverse shoulder arthroplasty, and she hated staking cones and
clipping clothespins. These activities were part of her therapy to increase her shoulder ROM,
however, every time we would begin the activity she would voice her dislike for it and disengage
from therapy. Understanding that her discontent with the activity was my responsibility, I utilized
the skills learned during our coursework with activity analysis to find suitable replacements that

continued to work on shoulder ROM. After clearing the ideas with my FE, and receiving input
from the client, we decided that drinking from a cup and turning on and off a light switch were
meaningful tasks that client would like to resume performing. Allowing for client input from a
thorough occupational profile increased the clients overall mood and motivation to engage in
treatment.
In addition, through another project completed during our curriculum, I was able to create
a device that serves to combine the patients therapeutic goals with the meaningful activity of
gardening. The device is a stand-up garden that provides both walk-up and wheelchair access.
The unit can be used for multiple therapeutic purposes including increased functional activity
tolerance, ROM, strength, and sequencing to name just a few. In addition, for those patients that
enjoy gardening, it allows therapeutic goals to be embedded in a meaningful activity.
In conclusion, my understanding of occupation-based practice has evolved through my
time in the MSOT program at Touro University Nevada. I can dissect an activity and clearly see
how therapeutic goals can be reached by embedding them into the patients desired occupations.
Furthermore, I understand the benefits, like increased motivation, that occupation-based
interventions offer.