Happy Holidays from the UofA MScOT Fieldwork Team

 

Thank you for having done so much over so many pandemic months to support our OT students!

Wishing you rest and calm and connection over the holidays.

Calgary-based MScOT Sessional Instructor Named Top 40 Under 40

Samantha Lowe is a sessional instructor within our MScOT program and, for many years, has supervised multiple fieldwork placements at The Mustard Seed in Calgary.

Earlier this year, Samantha was awarded the CAOT 2020 Fieldwork Educator of the Year for our University of Alberta catchment area. 

Now she has been named a Avenue Magazine Calgary Top 40 Under 40 for 2021!

Read the article about Samantha Lowe here.

Congratulations, Samantha! Thank you for teaching and mentoring so many MScOT students! 

Halloween Antics & Year 3 Students in the Home Stretch

October is over and November is upon us!

It was a necessarily subdued Halloween celebration around Corbett Hall here in Edmonton but a number of students and staff still dressed up, including our hard-working but fun-loving FRM Clinical Education Administration staff ...

Then this encouraging coach (Brett Y1) showed up at my office door ...

Before joining his team (Y1 classmates) in front of Corbett Hall ...

And at our FRM Calgary satellite campus the faculty/staff coordinated yet another impressive team effort ...

FYI Inside Out is a fun, and surprisingly informative, resource that is often referenced during our in-class MScOT discussions re: therapeutic use of self! And Ted Lasso ... well, it's just a lovely show.

OCCTH 528 begins this month with our Year 3 students in the 'home stretch' for the final placement within their pandemic-extended MScOT program. They are excited to be with you 'in the field' across AB and SK and complete this final educational step toward becoming an OT! 

THANK YOU for supporting their learning!

Happy World OT Day 2021!

 

World OT Day Resources are available online.

Thanks to the hard-working, dedicated, passionate OTs in our Alberta, Saskatchewan and NWT communities for doing what you do and helping to educate future OTs too!

Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth & Reconciliation - September 30 2021

Second year occupational therapy students enrolled in our UofA MScOT Indigenous Focus prepared this short video as well as a link to an editable resource document where you can learn more, take action and add additional resources.

National Day for Truth & Reconciliation (UofA) initiatives, stories and events.

'Postcards' From the Field

We encouraged our Level 2 students to share some of the experiences they had during their summer fieldwork placements.

We always enjoy seeing their diverse practice areas and locations and also hearing how excited they are to apply their knowledge and skills in the real world! 

Here are a few of the 'postcards' we received ...

Amanda celebrating the place-making project that she co-created in collaboration with Recreation Therapy during her placement with Transition Housing & Recovery (Kentwood) in Red Deer.

Maxine demonstrating splint making skills during her hand therapy placement with Community Accessible Rehabilitation (North) in Calgary.

Annelies actually standing 'in the field' during her rural pediatric placement with Children's Allied Health Services in Lethbridge and area.

River playing with her favourite therapeutic toys during her pediatric placement at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton.

It's now September and this same cohort of students have begun their first of two back-to-back Level 3 placements. 

Thank you to all the OTs have supervised and supported fieldwork placements in recent months!

Pandemic Perseverance & the End of Summer Placements

Most summer fieldwork placements are wrapping up this week.

Our enormous gratitude and awe goes out to all the OTs who've stepped up and supervised students during the 18 months of this pandemic!

I have now returned to my UofA office and this collection on my door ...

Keep Calm and Place [or Supervise!] Students

It's Chaos. Be Kind. 

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

We thank you.

Summertime & OCCTH 526

Welcome to summertime!

Our Year 2 students are currently in the field with many of you across Alberta and Saskatchewan completing their Level 2 placement. Thank you for hosting and mentoring their practical learning!

We are in the final stages of recruiting fall 2021 placements and are so appreciative of all the effort and commitment demonstrated by AB and SK OTs over the lengthy pandemic period to 'pivot' and find a way to continue supervising OT students, in person or virtually!

We hope the summer re-openings give everyone a chance to reconnect with those who matter most!

With gratitude,

Your MScOT Fieldwork Team

https://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-summer-summer-solstice#

OTPDC Virtual Conference 2021

Fall 2021 Fieldwork Placement Recruitment

Thank you to all the OTs in Alberta, Saskatchewan and beyond who have continued to supervise our students amidst ongoing pandemic circumstances! 

We greatly appreciate the number of offers that we received for OCCTH 526/Level 2 set to begin in mid-June. Students have now been matched to those offers and are appreciative, keen and very excited to be joining you across a remarkably diverse 'field' of OT practice!

We have necessarily adjusted our UofA MScOT fieldwork schedule for 2021 to cope with ongoing pandemic realities.

Please consider offering fieldwork placements for the 2021 fall placement sessions:

OCCTH 527, Level 3a:  September 7 - October 22, 2021 (or alternatively September 13 - October 29)

OCCTH 528, Level 3b/FINAL:  November 1 - December 17, 2021 (7 weeks)

Please send us your placement offers by June 1 for either session but especially for the Sept/Oct session.

You can do this by contacting our Clinical Education Administrator directly or via the typical process used by your site/practice (HSPnet, etc).

otclined@ualberta.ca

We really appreciate your contribution to OT student education!

End of OCCTH 525 & Preceptor Appreciation

Spring is just starting to show herself and OCCTH 525 has wrapped up for most Year 2/Level 1 students.

Thank you to ALL the OTs in Alberta and Saskatchewan who have continued to supervise students amidst ongoing pandemic circumstances. Every placement counts and you were each a part of the solution as we necessarily juggled placement periods in recent months!

Formal appreciation letters have been sent directly via email to the OTs who supervised students between June-Dec 2020. 

By the end of March, appreciation letters will also be sent directly via email to OTs who have supervised students since the beginning of 2021.

Please check your inboxes (including junk mail) and let us know if you should have received an appreciation letter and have not!

otclined@ualberta.ca

Each letter is personalized in PDF format so it can be saved and/or printed for your professional record. These letters can also be submitted as evidence of continuing competency activity should you choose to make student supervision a practice goal from year to year.

We really appreciate your contribution to MScOT fieldwork!

Happy New Year & Update re: 2021 Fieldwork Schedule

The UofA Department of OT respects and greatly appreciates the ongoing commitment and effort being demonstrated by individuals and agencies in order to provide occupational therapy services, including student placements, during these unprecedented circumstances.

Since June 2020, we have been proceeding with OT fieldwork placements in AB and SK where/whenever possible. With COVID-19 realities and responses escalating again recently, we have continued to consult with fieldwork sites/partners throughout our catchment area (AB, SK and the NWT) and have decided to proactively cancel the 2021 spring fieldwork session (for first year students) but continue with the 2021 summer fieldwork session.

By focusing our recruiting efforts on the placement needs of our second year cohort, who are approaching graduation, we are intentionally removing some pressure from the OT community who have ‘rallied’ to support us for many months straight during 2020.

Given these changes, the OT fieldwork schedule for 2021 is anticipated be as follows:

• OCCTH 525, Level 1 (Year 2 students): January 4 - February 19, 2021 (or any 7 weeks between January 4 - April 2)

• OCCTH 526, Level 2 (Year 2 students): June 28 - August 13, 2021 (or any 7 weeks between June 14 and August 27)

• OCCTH 527, Level 3a (Year 3 students): September 7 - October 22, 2021 (or September 13 - October 29)

• OCCTH 528, Level 3b (Year 3 students): November 1 - December 17, 2021

In January OCCTH 525 will be underway and we will be focused on recruiting placement offers for OCCTH 526 to occur during Summer 2021.

We recognize that each site continues to have their own realities, challenges and protocols/procedures in relation to this pandemic. The safety of therapists and students and the safety of clients served by occupational therapy in our AB, SK and NWT communities continues to be our top priority. We continue to revise and use our FRM Guidelines for Clinical/Fieldwork Placements During COVID-19 Pandemic to guide the process of site-screening, student screening and student preparation re: the completion of fieldwork during a pandemic.

If your OT practice is ready, and you are willing to support fieldwork placements during the pandemic, please contact the Department of OT:

otclined@ualberta.ca

We are very grateful for your ongoing support of our program and our students!

We wish you a happy and healthy new year!