Preferred Future Setting at the Moment

Throughout my journey as an aspiring occupational therapist, I have been very conflicted on which setting I prefer the most. I have spent the majority of my observation with geriatric clients, but in my personal and pre-occupational therapy life, I have spent more time working with children through babysitting, nannying, and working in a daycare. Following the completion of my observation, I knew that I would struggle to prefer one client-group over the other. There was one common factor that I found most interesting between the two clients: neurology. My favorite interventions to observe in each age group always centered around a neurological disorder or event such  as stroke. I found the brain and nervous system to be wildly fascinating and found myself researching different pathologies and disabilities associated with them as well as effective interventions.

 As of right now, I am leaning towards working in pediatrics specifically with clients with neurological disorders or disabilities. I find myself excited to spend time working with kids through work and volunteer opportunities and spent the majority of my time between undergrad and OT school working with children. I used this observation as an indicator that I may prefer to work with children over geriatrics. With neurology being a huge interest of mine, I find pediatric neurology to be the ideal setting for myself. I am very excited to continue my coursework into classes centered around the neurological aspects of occupational therapy to explore my interests further and hopefully receive confirmation that this is the route I would prefer to take in my journey in OT.

I am also very interested in early intervention. This interest originally came when I observed OTs at LeBonheur. Previous to that experience, I had never heard of infants receiving OT in the NICU. I worked at a daycare for several years mainly in rooms of children ages 8 weeks to 3 years, so I am most comfortable and experienced in working with children the same age of those receiving early intervention. I enjoy learning about child development and monitoring the development of young children. I could also see myself working in early intervention as an occupational therapist.

I am still a little torn about whether I prefer pediatrics over geriatrics, however, I am planning on exploring as many settings as possible while in school and on fieldwork. I want to keep an open mind throughout the experience in order to give each setting a chance. I know that UTHSC will prepare me and provide many experiences that will help guide me to a setting that suits me best!