(Pronouns: she/her)
What year did you start the program?
I started the PP-OTD Program in Fall 2020.
What are your prior degrees and at which institutions?
B.S., Occupational Science, University of New Hampshire M.S., Occupational Therapy, University of New Hampshire
What was your favorite course in the program?
Quality Improvement and Program Evaluation in the Health Professions
What was your Innovation Project title?
Stumble Solutions: An Interprofessional Fall Prevention Education Series
Tell us about your Innovation Project.
As an occupational therapist practicing in the Inpatient Rehabilitation setting, I discovered that there was a lack of interprofessional fall prevention discharge education provided to patients and families. Despite much focus on preventing falls within the hospital setting through a variety of strategies and support of all team members, there was no standard for fall prevention discharge education. With the support of a PT colleague and a PA colleague, I decided to develop video-based resources for patients in addition to in-person education to address this gap. I was able to pilot this quality improvement initiative with one patient in my setting and plan to act as a key stakeholder to inform the future development of this series going forward.
What do you think is special about the Post-Professional OTD program here at the MGH Institute?
At the start of this program, it was hard to imagine how a virtual PP-OTD program could create a sense of belonging and support, however this program truly creates a close-knit community of practice of occupational therapists across the country. The colleagues in my cohort (and others that have overlapped) have become some of my biggest supporters as I pursue my next professional goals and I plan to remain close to this amazing group as we all go forward to the next phases in our lives and careers.
Why did you choose to come to this program?
The flexibility that the program allows. I appreciated the asynchronous learning component as well as the focus on one six-week course at a time.
What are your goals for the future after you graduate?
My immediate goals after graduation include transitioning into OT Academia and collaborating with my OT colleague, Mary O’Donnell, to pursue the new Advocacy SIG in MAOT.