Here at OccupationalTherapy.com, we had a fabulous “OT Month” which culminated with an exciting and inspiring annual AOTA Conference held in San Diego! We were fortunate to have a booth in the Expo Hall this year, which gave us the opportunity to meet so many people and see the energy, enthusiasm and passion that makes OTs so unique. We are already looking forward to doing it again next year!
As we welcome the month of May, we start to approach the vacation season. Vacation season can be a stressful time for clinicians when they are called upon to provide cross-coverage for their colleagues. Simply being short-staffed for several months can take a toll on everyone, but the stress can be compounded when a clinician is faced with stepping outside of the comfort zone of their usual clinic setting and client population. I can still recall how overwhelmed and anxious I felt when the only Certified Hand Therapist in our outpatient clinic took her much deserved extended vacation. If OccupationalTherapy.com had existed all those years ago, the courses by Rebecca von der Heyde, Ph.D., OTR/L, CHT and Ann Porretto-Loehrke, DPT, PT, CHT certainly would have helped to boost my confidence so that I could have actually enjoyed the opportunity to further develop my clinical skills.
In a field as broad as ours with practice areas that span the occupational roles across the continuum of life, it is common for a therapist to feel apprehensive and a bit nervous when stepping in to a less familiar practice environment. OccupationalTherapy.com is a great resource for current, best practice approaches in many treatment areas to help clinicians develop competence and feel more confident when providing cross coverage for colleagues. Remember to keep checking our course library because we add new courses every week!
Finally, remember to wish your colleagues in Audiology and Speech Therapy a “Happy Better Hearing and Speech” month!
Sincerely,
Christa Tober, M.S., OTR
Managing Editor
