2
Setting theStage forOngoing
Professional Engagement:
McMaster StudentOccupational
Therapists atConference
C
urrent student occupational
therapists from McMaster
will have a strong presence
at theCAOT conference in Freder-
icton thisyear, alongwitha typically
strong presence of faculty mem-
bers. Two current second year stu-
dents will be presenting at the
conference thisyear,basedonwork
theydid in their first yearof studies.
Stephanie LeBlanc will present a
paper (in collaborationwith faculty
member JoyceTryssenaar andErika
Katzman) exploring the concept of
disability orientation and its impact
on client-centred practice. Sarah
Morrison will present a poster fo-
cusedoncritiquesofcurrentdisabil-
ity models in relation to invisible
disabilities, using Post-Traumatic
StressDisorder asanexampleof an
invisibledisability. In the first yearof
theOccupational TherapyProgram
atMcMaster, students explore the-
oriesof disability. Bothof these stu-
dentswillbesharing insightsgained
through their studies.
A partnershipbetween theMc-
Master Occupational Therapy Pro-
gram and the Rehabilitation
Students' Association (RSA), a stu-
dent-run counsel that promotes ca-
maraderie, interprofessionalism, and
academicexcellence, provides sup-
port for fourMcMaster student oc-
cupational therapists to attend the
CAOT conference. This is a recent
initiative in which the OT and PT
programsmatch funds providedby
the RSA to support students to at-
tend their professions' respective
conferences. Interested students
apply to the RSA, and a blind re-
view process is used to determine
who will be supported. In ex-
change, students who attend the
conference are expected to share
learning experiences with their
peers upon their return. This pres-
ents a wonderful way to support
students toattendconference, and
be introduced to the professional
developmentopportunitiesof con-
ference alongwith the network of
occupational therapists across
Canada.
No doubt, this year’s confer-
ence will be a wonderful learning
opportunity for not only those stu-
dents fromMcMasterwhoareable
to attend and/or present, but also
for their peerswhowill deriveben-
efit through presentations at our
home university afterwards – and
wehope it sets the stage for confer-
enceparticipation forourgraduates
in the future.
T
he clients at SRC also have glow-
ing reviews ofMorgan andNikki,
describing themas cool andhard
working. Oneof the activities that the
studentsdevised for theSRCclients isa
group program calledCircles to teach
them about personal boundaries. Dur-
ing their time in the Cayman Islands,
Morgan andNikki also had the oppor-
tunity to shadow occupational thera-
pistswith theDepartmentofEducation.
Sunrise intends tocontinuedeveloping
their relationshipwith theSchoolofOc-
cupational Therapy, and hopes to host
additional placements in the future.
Dalhousie University’s School of
Occupational Therapy alsooffers inter-
national fieldworkplacements inTanza-
nia and Uganda. The School of
Occupational Therapywould like toac-
knowledge all the time andenergyour
international fieldwork partners con-
tribute to these placements inorder to
provide profound learning opportuni-
ties tostudents. TheSchool isalsograte-
ful to International FieldworkEducation
CoordinatorsacrossCanadianuniversi-
tieswho areworking together to share
experiences and resources to further
strengthen these learningopportunities.
Dalhousie in
Caymans
Continued fromPage1...
