This summer I was able to complete my internship at Pediatric Therapy Partners located just outside of Columbus. This was an out-patient clinic that provided Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy.
The clinic was responsible in seeing numerous children each day to help aid in improving the daily habits of the children through evaluations and treatment. As for myself, I spent a great deal of time observing multiple different therapists. This allowed me to learn different techniques and skills that are used by different therapists. As well, in some sessions standardized measurement tests were used with the children, which was eye-opening to see. I learned as well how important documentation of sessions were and how the different therapists chose to write their documents. The therapists as well were great at explaining some of the important things to pay attention to during sessions that are key in measuring the progress of clients. I feel that even from my short time spent there, I have learned so much that will be beneficial heading into a hopeful future career as an Occupational Therapist.
The therapists were all extremely considerate and made me feel comfortable at all times while I was there. They were always encouraging questions and providing adequate answers to questions that I asked. As well, they always did a great job at explaining the goals of different children before I viewed a session, which allowed me to make sense of why certain activities were being pursued. Sometimes though, they would sort of reverse roles and allow myself to come up with conclusions as to why they did something and have me then explain to them. This was always confidence boosting and reassuring that I was really gaining value and learning from my experience there.
This has been one of the greatest learning experiences that I could have imagined, and my time spent there was extremely rewarding. Although I know it was just a short amount of time spent there, but I feel as if I have an entire new wealth of knowledge. I have been inspired and am eager to continue learning about Occupational Therapy and what the career all has to offer beyond pediatrics.
-Bailey Winner