Desirable OT Setting

Today I was asked what setting I am most interested in working as an occupational therapist practitioner and why. Of course, I haven’t gotten to observe in all possible settings yet, but I could definitely see myself working in the type of setting where I did my senior practicum at Ole Miss. The setting was the outpatient clinic at Baptist Memorial Hospital - North Mississippi, and the OT there primarily works with clients who have had a stroke. Stroke therapy is personal to me because my grandfather had a stroke at age 38 when my mom was just in elementary school. He had to relearn how to write, eat, and talk again, and my Mimi was basically his OT. In this outpatient setting in Oxford, I got to see patients come in on their first day feeling very discouraged, and leave on their last day feeling proud and accomplished. I loved getting to sit next to clients at a table and work on brain puzzles with them, and work on fine motor skills as well. It was amazing to see how the patients would get better and better every single day -- I got so excited when one specific patient could finally master a puzzle that she could barely even touch on the first day. This type of setting would definitely be very rewarding to me knowing that I am giving hope to people who have gone through something terrible like a stroke.