On The air

Jonathan Miller, OTD, OTR/L, holds a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies and Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Arkansas State University. Jonathan has practiced clinically for five years in a variety of setting to include outpatient hand therapy, long-term acute care, skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehab, and acute care. Jonathan began working as an adjunct professor in the Spring of 2023...

On this episode, occupational therapy practitioner Cindy Molnar, COTA/L, talks about the role of occupational therapy (OT) in working with people diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) - also referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Cindy has been a second career OT assistant for over 10 years, primarily working in a sub-acute rehabilitation hospital setting. Her previous career was in Hum...

On this episode, occupational therapist Amberlynn Slavin and her husband Ben Slavin share information about SnapType, an app created based on an idea Amberlynn had on a Level I fieldwork clinical rotation while she was in occupational therapy school at Springfield College. The goal of SnapType is to help students complete their schoolwork even when their handwriting, literacy, or vision holds them...

Liz Grace is the pen name of an occupational therapist living from southwestern Ontario, Canada. She lives and works with a mental illness called schizoaffective disorder. She navigates the OT world despite profound hearing loss and cochlear implants. Liz has been working in homecare since 2015 after graduating from school. Her primary clientele is older adults and adults with severe physical disa...

On Episode 130, Sarah Zera, OTD, OTR/L, shares the story about how she discovered and fell in love with occupational therapy and discusses her work as a mobile- and community-based practitioner and insight about how to bring moxie to one's OT practice. Growing up, two of Sarah’s primary caregivers were people with disabilities. Her background has provided her with first-hand knowledge of what is p...

Occupational therapist Amy Coopersmith, MOT, OTR/L, MAEd, has worked as an educator and OT for more than 25 years. She currently works as a lecturer on topics related to children’s independence and positive mental health. For 17 years, she worked as an OT Supervisor, clinician and evaluator for the NYC Department of Education. Amy is passionate about promoting children’s self-determination through...

Occupational therapy assistant Amy Mahle is passionate about promoting the occupational therapist/occupational therapy assistant (OT/OTA) collaboration, uniting and motivating OT practitioners, advocating for occupational therapy, and finding solutions. She is the founding OTA Program Director at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in Salisbury, NC and co-author/co-editor of the comprehensive textboo...

Vikram Pagpatan, MS, OTRL, ATP, CAS, BCTS, EdDc is a practicing Asian-American occupational therapist from New York City. He is a full time Assistant Professor and Admissions Coordinator at SUNY Downstate’s MSOT program as well as an adjunct lecturer at York College. Prior to beginning his work as an OT, Vikram served the city he loves as a paramedic and found the profession of OT on his graveyard...

Mike Jankowski has been an occupational therapist since 2011 and has spent the majority of his career working with the pediatric population in start-up therapy clinics. In November of 2020 Mike started working at the EMR company SimplePractice as their Occupational Therapy Clinical Specialist. At SimplePractice, Mike brings together his knowledge of OT and private practice and works with SimplePra...

Laura Simmons is the CEO and Founder of Theratrak, a company that offers a digital platform enabling allied health professionals including occupational therapy practitioners to more efficiently track participant progress in between treatment sessions. She is also a passionate pediatric occupational therapist working with families of children living with a range of disabilities in early interventio...

For this interview, I brought back the guest from Episode 119 so we could dig deeper into the topic of time management for clinicians and clinical practice owners and managers. Jamey Schrier, P.T. is an author, former practice owner and founder of Practice Freedom U. PFU solely focuses on helping practice owners work less, earn more, and reignite their passion for patient care. His book, The Pract...

Lydia Cremer Kite is an occupational therapist who has experience in a variety of settings including skilled nursing facilities, subacute rehabilitation, outpatient rehabilitation, long term acute rehabilitation, community based, along with ergonomics, injury and prevention. She has a focus in work rehab and is a certified aging in place specialist. She has been teaching at University of St. Augus...

On this episode, we talk about the importance of the support provided by therapists during rehab and the incredible power of hope. Cindy Kolbe has been a lifelong disability advocate—even before her youngest daughter’s spinal cord injury. In her memoir, Struggling with Serendipity, she shares about her battle with depression and guilt after her daughter's injury. Since the injury, Cindy and her da...

Kimberly Kearney, COTA/L, has been an occupational therapy practitioner since 2003. She has worked in Skilled Nursing, Rehab, Memory Care, Acute Care, Home Health, Community Health, and Early Intervention settings. Most recently, Kim has been working in Home Health in Virginia. She has held licenses in Indiana, Florida, Colorado and now Virginia. Kim has been involved with AOTA serving on the Comm...

Kaitlyn Cremer, OTD, MOT, OTR/L, has been an occupational therapist for over 10 years. She has worked in a variety of settings including geriatrics, pediatrics, acute-care, acute-rehabilitation and in low vision and workplace wellness and ergonomics. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Florida Southern College and Master of Occupational Therapy and then Doctorate of Occupational Therapy...

Jamey Schrier, PT, is an author, former physical therapy practice owner, and founder of Practice Freedom U. PFU solely focuses on helping practice owners work less, earn more, and reignite their passion for patient care. His book, The Practice Freedom Method has been an Amazon best-seller. Jamey is on a mission to help ambitious practice owners achieve their dreams of what is commonly called Pract...

Hailey Scandin is a third-year student in the Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. She is currently in her final semester of OT school and is working on completing her Capstone project with Ability App. Hailey has always had an interest in advocating for individuals with disabilities and is looking forward to continuing to do so as she starts her profession...

Susan Mahipaul is an occupational therapist, an educator, a researcher, and a disability and health naviagator and advocate who completed a PhD from McMaster University in Hamilton, ON in Rehabilitation Science (2015) and a clinical Master’s in Occupational Therapy from the University of Toronto (2004). She identifies as a disabled clinician and a critical disability scholar. Her doctoral work exp...

Karen Park, OTD, OTR/L, BCP, SWC, CLE, is an occupational therapist with extensive experience in pediatric practice in a variety of service settings including early intervention, clinic, school, hospital and outpatient children’s mental health. Dr. Park is Board Certified in Pediatrics by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and holds Advanced Practice certification in Swallowing A...

Jennifer Renker, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist who works as a travel therapist, traveling across the U.S. to provide services to in clinics that are short staffed and in need of assistance. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy in 2017 from Utica College in Utica, NY. Jennifer has extensive experience working with people with a variety of disabilities and challenges in...

Nancy Peters, OTR/L, has been an occupational therapist for over 45 years. She attended the University of Buffalo at a time when there were not many occupational therapy schools in the country and the profession was fairly young. Upon graduation, she was offered a job at one of her fieldworks, the Buffalo VA Hospital, and worked there for 3 years until she left at the birth of her first child. Her...

Danielle Lorenz is a PhD candidate in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta which is located in amiskwaciwâskahikan, which is what is currently called Edmonton, Alberta. Danielle's doctoral research focuses on settler colonialism in Alberta's K-12 education system. She is also an Associate Editor for the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies. Hannah Sullivan Fa...

Charlotte Foley is an occupational therapist living in Alaska, who feels that occupational therapists and physical therapists have a greater role to play than they currently do in working with people with ostomies. She has a passion for supporting fellow therapists in increasing their confidence with this population. Charlotte has worked in the adult inpatient rehab and acute care settings for the...

Arameh Anvarizadeh, OTD, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist and a leader in the occupational therapy profession. An alumna of the University of Southern California (USC), Dr. Anvarizadeh earned her BS, MA, and Doctorate in Occupational Therapy with a minor in Neuroscience and an emphasis in Ambulatory Healthcare. In her role as the Director of Admissions and Associate Professor of Clinical Occupa...

Lindsey Vestal is an occupational therapist and is the founder of The Functional Pelvis, the first in-home pelvic health practice in New York City run by an occupational therapist. She has helped thousands of people overcome chronic pelvic health challenges like incontinence and pelvic pain. Her goal is to empower women and men to listen to the wisdom of their own bodies—without resorting to invas...