The Nurses of Keck Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital annually nominate and select winners for various awards in celebration of National Nurses Week. While previous awardees have been exclusively nurses, non-nursing members of the care team were made eligible to receive this year’s award. Among thousands of USC providers, Nguyen was chosen as the first non-nurse clinician to win the accolade.

“I was definitely surprised by the award,” Nguyen said, “but more importantly I am honored to have been nominated and chosen by my nursing colleagues. I am truly fortunate to be able to work with some of the most amazing patients and health care providers on a daily basis.”

Associate Chair of Occupational Therapy Clinical Services Katie Jordan said, “Having our work as occupational therapists recognized by our colleagues in nursing is a great honor. We are all very proud of Dr. Nguyen and look forward to many more opportunities for interprofessional collaboration with the nurses of USC.”

Occupational therapy also made a strong showing earlier this month at USC’s first Interdisciplinary Poster Symposium during National Hospital Week.

Kimberly Perring, an occupational therapy doctorate resident, won the Evidence-Based Practice Award for her poster entitled “Behavioral Treatment for Urinary Incontinence and Urinary Retention.” In addition, occupational therapy was the profession with the second-most posters selected for display at the symposium.

“Having a poster alongside OT clinical faculty and other health care professionals was an honor in itself,” said Perring. “I hope my recognition will raise more awareness of OT’s unique roles within acute care.”

Added Jordan, “Having our work displayed through the hospital over Hospital Week has improved awareness of ur unique services and sparked new interprofessional collaborations around mutual interests.”

Read the article online at USC News.

The kickoff celebration, scheduled to coincide with the annual conference of the American Occupational Therapy Association, included live entertainment, an inspiring video presentation, and a rousing toast from Associate Dean and Chair Florence Clark.

“USC has an undeniable legacy of leadership to the profession of occupational therapy, and we are the founders of the occupational science discipline,” said Clark. “This Campaign will take USC occupational science and occupational therapy to an even higher level, and I am so excited to have the entire Trojan Family join together in this unprecedented adventure.”

The Division’s $6 million campaign goal is believed to be the largest in the history of occupational therapy higher education. Primary giving objectives include faculty recruitment and retention, research initiatives, student scholarships and fellowships, infrastructure improvements, and patient care programming.

Clark, who completes her term as AOTA President later this year, also recognized Board of Councilors members in the audience, commended them for their investments, and offered examples of USC’s leadership to the profession. U.S. News & World Report currently ranks the Division as the nation’s #1 occupational therapy graduate educational program. USC has held this top spot for more years than all other programs combined.

Clark was welcomed to the stage by occupational therapy doctoral student John Lien Margetis BS ’11, MA ’12, who spoke about his personal experiences of occupational therapy.

“Occupational therapy helped me learn how to talk about my disability in a way that made sense to me, as a child back then,” said Margetis, who was born without hands or feet, and had been a consumer of occupational therapy services throughout his early life. “It helped me seamlessly integrate my disability into my identity as a person, and now, as a clinician.”

The campaign announcement comes as the Division concludes a year of celebrating the 70th anniversary of USC occupational therapy education, which was founded in 1942 in response to the nation’s demand for clinicians to rehabilitate active and veteran military personnel injured during World War II.

“USC has always been about creating leaders, shaping the profession, and building better lives,” said Board of Councilors Chairperson Linda Florey MA ’68, PhD ’98. “It’s amazing to think that now is perhaps the most exciting time in our distinguished history.”

Learn more about the Campaign at ot.usc.edu/campaign

Click to view the full list (PDF).

What does it mean to be an advocate for your future profession? Members of the USC Occupational Therapy Student Council saw the opportunity in the recent American Occupational Therapy Association Assembly of Student Delegate election to increase student voter involvement, while also educating fellow students of the importance of being an active voice as a member of the association. OTSC hosted voting booths on campus at times convenient for their peers to vote online or to ask questions about the election process.

“We noticed that a lot of students didn’t know about the Assembly of Student Delegates,” explained second-year master’s student and OTSC Treasurer Susan Lingelbach. “It is important for the students to elect these people to communicate student concerns.”

Providing voting booths was an obvious way to reach the student population while avoiding the typical barriers of limited time and distraction from other obligations, while also giving students a convenient, accessible location for voting.

As far as those involved are aware, this student initiative is unique to the USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. “USC has always supported student involvement in the national and state association,” described second-year master’s student and OTSC AOTA ASD Representative Sean Sullivan. “The student support was new this year, and is an exciting shift in the student culture.”

This support and representation of the USC student body was felt around campus as students donned “I VOTED for AOTA 2013” pins to remind others to also vote. Faculty also became involved in spreading the word and many also wore pins throughout the voting process. The change in atmosphere was exciting as students became more invested in the role they carry in the association.

“Voting is empowering and creates a connection between you and AOTA,” shared first-year student and OTSC AOTA ASD Representative, Colin Lenington. “This helps students want to remain members and to take ownership of the contributions they can make.”

Students hope to continue to facilitate an atmosphere of empowerment for following classes by establishing annual voting booths for elections. When asked about goals for subsequent elections, Lenington stated he “hopes to educate the incoming class early on and to continue to facilitate this culture of excitement about professional advocacy and involvement in the professional associations.”

Congratulations to Susan Lingelbach who has been elected ASD Chairperson, and to Sean Sullivan who has been elected ASD Communications and Advocacy Chairperson!

The lecture is named in honor of Anne Cronin Mosey, an active and important member of the NYU Steinhardt Department of Occupational Therapy since beginning there as an instructor in 1966. Mosey went on to serve as an assistant, associate, and then full professor, and was Chair of the Department from 1972 to 1980. Her major research and professional interests have been in the philosophies of applied scientific inquiry and science-based professions, and she delivered the 1985 Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

In 2003, the NYU Steinhardt Department of Occupational Therapy established the annual Anne Cronin Mosey Lectureship in recognition of Dr. Mosey’s achievements. The lectureship addresses controversial, timely issues facing the occupational therapy profession.

View Florence Clark’s 2013 lecture in its entirety at Approaching Occupational Therapy’s Silver Anniversary: Perspectives on the Controversial ‘Marriage’ of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy.

The meeting was initiated by AOTA through the leadership of AOTA President Florence Clark, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, who served with Autism Speaks Vice President of State Government Affairs Lorri Unumb on the California Advisory Autism Task Force.

Click to read the full article ‘AOTA and Autism Speaks Collaborate’.

Florence Clark, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, president of The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), was nominated and accepted to serve on the task force, which began its work on February 1, 2012.

Click to read the entire article by AOTA reporter Stephanie Yamkovenko.

Francine Tan, USC occupational therapy doctoral resident at the USC-Eisner Family Medicine Center, explains the value that team-based care offers this vulnerable population. “We are really just trying to bring everything to the table to really come up with an effective treatment plan, and I don’t think one profession really can do it all,” explains Tan. “I think it takes the perspective and the care of a lot of different professions.”

This program is the first of its kind in Los Angeles, and although the task force and the clinic are still collecting outcomes data, they know they are having an impact.

“We are absolutely helping people,” Tan said.

The program is one of several recent initiatives by the Division’s clinical faculty, led by assistant professor of clinical occupational therapy Michelle Farmer, to integrate occupational therapy in primary care settings.

By Kim Hasday

At the 5th annual USC Women’s Conference assistant professor of clinical occupational therapy Camille Dieterle spoke onstage before hundreds of USC alumnae, parents, students, faculty, staff and friends at historic Bovard Auditorium. The March 7th conference, hosted by the USC Alumni Association, included interactive workshops, panel discussions and facilitated networking activities. This year’s theme was about sharing your legacy.

“It was an opportunity for women leaders to share and inspire other professional women,” said Dieterle, who is also director of the USC Occupational Therapy Faculty Practice.

Dieterle was among the distinguished women, including first lady of USC Niki Nikias and provost Elizabeth Garrett, invited to speak at the conference.

In her workshop “Caring for the Caregiver: Wellness for the Sandwich Generation,” Dieterle collaborated with Sherri Snelling, CEO of the Caregiving Club in Newport Beach. Together they addressed dimensions of caregiving for the ‘sandwich generation,’ those middle-aged Americans who simultaneously care for their aging parents and support their own children.

“We targeted the ‘sandwich generation’…the people who are taking care of their kids as well as their parents,” Dieterle said. “They are well, but they’re at high risk for chronic stress, chronic illness and for decreased time and attention to self-care.”

Dieterle focused on six dimensions of wellness—physical, environmental, social, emotional, spiritual and intellectual—and offered strategies for improving each category through occupation and meaningful activities.

“I brought the occupational perspective of what activity can you do, how can you change your environment, or the way you pace yourself to restructure your time,” she said. “It was very occupation-centered.”

The wellness workshop was one of five workshops at the conference designed to empower women to build personal and professional networks, learn new strategies for success in various facets of life and to connect with USC.

“I really wanted to drive home the importance of taking care of yourself,” Dieterle said. “My hope is that people walked away with more knowledge and better self-help tools.”