On The air

As third-year OT students preparing to graduate from the Master's level program at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN, Chelsea Chandler Holden and Caroline Montague share about a unique experience in the field that both say really helped to shape their learning as future OT practitioners. Both Chelsea and Caroline volunteered at an event called Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM...

Jason Gonzales is an occupational therapist and an innovator with experience in product and software development and production. Jason graduated from The Ohio State University in 2001 with a bachelors degree in Occupational therapy. From a clinical standpoint, most of his experience has been in the school setting with some experience in mental health and SNF. Jason has worked in school districts i...

Have you seen the post making the rounds on social media of the photo of a man in a wheelchair and a baby in an infant carrier in a parking lot with shopping carts blocking the sidewalk between the entrance of the store and the parked vehicles? The post also contains a link to an article on Medium entitled "The Day My Two-Month Old and Husband Blew Up the Internet," which was written by occupation...

Jill Gebhard, MS, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist (OT) who currently practices at Aurora Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee, WI, where she holds the position of Senior Occupational Therapist. Jill's primary areas of concentration in her practice as an OT have been inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation focused on the neurological population. She also has a special interest in stroke, concussio...

Have you heard of the Rock Steady Boxing movement among people with Parkinson's Disease? On this episode, occupational therapy assistant Stephanie Smith Goodman from Kansas City, Missouri, talks about that program as well as other non-traditional, out-of-the-box type of intervention approaches and ideas being used to benefit people with PD. As a coach at The Parkinson's Exercise & Wellness Center...

Allyson Chrystal is an occupational therapist and clinical instructor specializing in pediatrics. Allyson has a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of Georgia, a master's degree in occupational therapy from Midwestern University, and a master's degree in functional medicine and clinical nutrition from the University of Western States. She serves as the clinical director at Westsi...

Andrea Ball is an occupational therapist who owns and runs a pediatric therapy clinic called Play Ball Children's Therapy. Andrea is a 2005 graduate of the OT program at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN, and has experience working in home health, schools, and outpatient settings. One of the areas of expertise she has developed in her role as an OT practitioner cente...

Alexia Rebne, MS, OTR/L, has been a registered occupational therapist since 2008. In clinical settings, she has primarily worked with clients receiving post-acute rehabilitation and home health services. Since 2010, Lexi has been employed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison as the Occupational Therapy Program Admissions Coordinator and an intermittent lecturer. Lexi is also currently enrolled i...

Quinn Tyminski, OTD, OTR/L is an instructor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from Washington University in St. Louis in 2012 and a post-professional occupational therapy doctorate (OTD) from Saint Louis University in 2017. Quinn’s scholarly work focuses on clinical research and assessment development in community-based...

You might have come across a video clip making the rounds on social media that shows an adult daughter using sign language to have a conversation with her mom who has dementia. The two are in a car and the exchange between them is really animated and affectionate. On this episode, the daughter from that video, sign-language interpreter MJ Grant, shares about her experiences growing up as part of t...

In an On The Air first, host Stephanie Lancaster interviews OT student Sarah Caldwell about Sarah's experiences in OT school, including her work as a caregiver for a man with ALS. Sarah is a third-year OT student - she'll graduate in May 2019 - from Memphis, TN. She earned a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Kinesiology from Mississippi College prior to beginning OT school at UTHSC in January of 2...

Two topics in the healthcare field that are rarely discussed are fraud and reporting fraud. In 2015, the guests on this episode, OT practitioners LeeAnn Holt and Kristi Emerson, were faced with a situation in their jobs that resulted in their making a report of fraud leading to a federal lawsuit being file against the company they worked for. Following that, both were terminated from their positio...

Occupational therapist Dr. Lee Williams, who has been practicing as an OT for 24 years, explains the role that occupational therapy plays in vestibular rehabilitation. In addition, he talks about his decision to pursue a post-professional doctorate in OT and his foray into academia. In addition to vestibular rehab, Dr. Williams has clinical experience in speciality areas of practice including adul...

Lauren Jones, MS, OTR/L is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill's Master of Science in Occupational Therapy program. She is currently the Social Media Co-chair and a board member for the North Carolina Occupational Therapy Association (NCOTA), where she uses social media to connect with and educate OT practitioners, educators, and students across the state about issues and opportunities affecting the pro...

Cheryl Lucas is an occupational therapist with over 30 years of experience in the field. She has worked as a clinician and an administrator in the areas of neuro-rehabilitation, orthopedics, home health, and pediatrics and has been working in academia 5 years ago. Since that time, Cheryl has added cultural humility training into the OT curriculum in the program where she teaches, focusing on stude...

On this episode, occupational therapists Kim Solondz and Lily Gullion talk about the ins and outs fellowship opportunities in the field of occupational therapy. Kim is the discipline director and pediatric fellowship director of occupational therapy at the Institute on Development & Disability at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, OR, and Lily is a new grad OT and the current pediatric o...

Courney Sasse, PhD, MA EDL, MS, OTR/L, MA DPS, CDWF, is an occupational therapist specializing in mental health and geriatrics, with specific expertise in hospice and palliative care. A faculty member in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN, Courtney earned a PhD in Depth Psychology with a Specialization in Somatic Studies from...

Christopher Nahrwold, OTR/L, graduated from the University of Indianapolis in 2001and has worked as an occupational therapist at St. Vincent Health since 2002. His main interests include neurological rehabilitation, fieldwork education, and learning how to apply modern research into everyday OT practice. On this episode of On The air, Chris explains how having open heart surgery has impacted his c...

Kaitlyn Jones is a recent graduate of the University of Scranton with a Master's Degree in occupational therapy. She is passionate about research and accessible technology, specifically adapted video gaming for veterans with limb loss and the impact that re-engagement in game play has on one's quality of life after traumatic injury. She serves as the Director of Clinical Outreach for Warfighter En...

As an occupational therapist in the U.S. Army for more than ten years, Major Erik Johnson was instrumental in the care for service members who had sustained devastating physical, cognitive and mental health injuries during combat operations. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his work with brain injuries while deployed to Afghanistan. Erik currently serves as an occupational therapist workin...

Occupational therapist Lenin C. Grajo, PhD, EdM, OTR/L, talks about his work in the area of Occupational Adaptation, the role of OT in literacy, and his efforts to promote diversity and cultural competence in the occupational therapy profession. Dr. Grajo serves in several leadership positions including as the Chairperson of AOTA's Education Special Interest Section and Director of the post-profes...

Debora Davidson, an occupational therapist whose career spans 4 decades as an OT practitioner, academic educator, and consultant, is the founder of a website called Authentic Occupational Therapy, Inc. She currently lives in a suburb of Chicago, IL and enjoys caring for her young granddaughter, kayaking and going to rock, jazz and blues performances with her husband, Ken. On this episode of On the...

Angela Box, an occupational therapist who works for the school district in Oxford, MS, runs a nonprofit organization called Oxford Special Needs Creations. On this episode, Angie shares about how she got the idea behind that organization, how she created the group, and what the group is doing in the community where she lives and works.

Occupational therapist Guili Krug is the founding program director and a professor in the Program in Occupational Therapy at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, TX. She has been an OT for 29 years and has worked across many practice settings with varied populations, but her clinical passion is in adult neurorehabilitation. Guili has been an OT educator for over 20 years. On this episod...

Karen Frank Barney, an occupational therapist with over 50 years of experience in practice and higher education, is the guest on this episode entitled "Full Circle" because Dr. Barney was one of the OT educators who taught Stephanie Lancaster, the host of this podcast, when Stephanie was in OT school. Dr. Barney has worked in a variety of medical and community settings in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Miss...