Wednesday, March 23, 2016

UofA OT Alumni Event

Our department will be hosting a UofA OT Alumni Event on Thursday, April 21 in Banff, Alberta as part of the 2016 CAOT Conference. All UofA OT alumni are encouraged to attend! 

Details below. Please RSVP by clicking here.


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Friday, March 18, 2016

Our UofA MScOT Introductory Fieldwork Placement 'Takes Off'

ACOTUP recently published an article profiling our Introductory Fieldwork Placement which now occurs annually for one week, during fall term, for our Year 1 students:

An Early Exposure to OT Practice: Our UofA MScOT Introductory Fieldwork Placement Takes Off

Follow this link and see pages 6-7 ...

http://www.acotup-acpue.ca/Newsletters/Winter2016/index.html

A big THANK YOU to our AB & SK clinical communities for being enthusiastic and supportive of this valuable new fieldwork initiative and schedule!

Monday, March 14, 2016

In the News

It is exciting when an OT graduate in a new position assists clients in developing a program initiative and it then gets showcased on the news.  Such is the case with Sylvia Tsang and members of Potential Place in Calgary that were highlighted on Global television for using broadcast news to help people with mental illness.

See this link for the news story that aired in mid February:

...But what relationship does this have to fieldwork?

Sylvia and a student partner were placed at Potential Place clubhouse for their 3rd fieldwork experience, OCCTH 527.  As there is no Occupational Therapist on site, this setting is considered a role-emerging placement or, as we at the University of Alberta (U of A) term them, an Independent Community Placement (ICP).  Daily on-site supervision is provided by one of the professional staff there and weekly OT supervision is provided by one of the clinical educators from the U of A.  The benefits of using ICPs as a placement is that they foster opportunities for reflection, independence, self-direction, personal growth and professional growth of students. To date, Potential Place has partnered with the U of A in having 3 sets of students complete their OT placements.  The role of OT is so appreciated that Sylvia was able to be hired as a Mental Health Worker following her graduation from the program.  She continues to use her OT skills and lens to support the members of Potential Place to meet their goals for a productive life.  As well, she is striving to create an official OT position with the clubhouse.

Who knows what opportunities may be developed and highlighted when offering placements!

Friday, March 4, 2016

the end of OCCTH 526

A huge THANK YOU to all of you in AB, SK and beyond who were involved in the mentorship and supervision of our Year 2 students during January and February!

OCCTH 526 has wrapped up for all of our Year 2 students and they are back with us in the classrooms of Corbett Hall and Calgary Campus sharing stories of their placements with us and each other.

We appreciate this significant investment that you have personally made in the education of our MScOT students. We could, literally, not run our fieldwork program without your dedication and contribution to these future OTs!

Spring seems to be arriving early this year on the prairies (perhaps because winter never really took hold) ... enjoy it! And stay tuned for more fieldwork news and postings in the months to come.

Next up:

OCCTH 525 (Year 1/Level 1) from May 16 - June 30, 2016

OCCTH 527 (Year 2/Level 3a) in July/August 2016 (flexible dates)

Keep in touch!

Cori and the MScOT Fieldwork Team