The document summarizes the student's 180-hour internship at The Care Center occupational therapy clinic. The Care Center treats children with various diagnoses using occupational, physical, speech, and aquatic therapies. As an intern, the student's duties included assisting therapists, preparing materials, filing paperwork, and completing projects like a case study and presentation. The internship experience confirmed the student's interest in pursuing a career in occupational therapy.
2. Introduction
• This fall semester I completed an internship at
The Care Center and spent 180 hours in a
clinical occupational therapy setting
• This PowerPoint provides information about my
internship site, my roles and duties as an intern,
the projects I completed, and my overall
internship experience.
3. The Care Center
The Care Center is an
individual owned facility.
They offer physical,
occupational, speech, and
aquatic therapies to children
birth to eighteen years old.
4. The Care Center Cont’d
• The Care Center experienced continued growth
since the 1990s, and has emerged into a cutting
edge therapy facility. Their facility focuses on the
entire needs of the children and their family.
• The Care Center distinguished itself as a therapy
practice that works with the entire family.
• They seek to educate the family on the child’s
diagnosis and assist in guiding to medical
professionals who will enhance their child’s road to
success.
5. Staff and commonly seen diagnosis
For Halloween the staff of The Care
Center dressed up as the cast from
ToyStory.
Commonly seen diagnosis:
Cerebral palsy
Developmental Delay
Autism
Down Syndrome
Spinal cord Injuries
Muscular Dystrophies
Genetic and Chromosomal Disorders
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Sensory Disorders
Torticollis
6. Occupational Therapy Mission
Statement & Goals
“Through careful evaluation by qualified practitioners,
our occupational therapists and their assistants
develop a plan for your child’s individual needs and
goals for higher functioning and independence for
occupational therapy disciplines.”
7. Occupational Therapy Department
The Occupational Therapy
services provide individualized
treatment of children with a
variety of diagnoses. The
Occupational Therapists and
Occupational Therapy Assistants
work to improve performance
and development of fine motor
and visual motor skills, improve
independence with activities of
daily living, address feeding
difficulties, improve sensory
processing skills, and adapt and
modify activities to improve
participation.
Benefits:
Improved focus, attention, and behavior
Increasing fine motor and upper body
strength
Improved skills for school and self-care
Encouraging development of social skills
Increasing self-esteem and
independence
Normalizing sensory
integration/processing
8. The Gym
The gym houses a trampoline, foam pit, treadmill, and
numerous other pieces of equipment.
9. Sensory Room
The Care Center has developed a multi-
sensory environment for relaxation, choice
making, use of switches, improving focus and
attention, and promoting interaction with others
and the environment through the planned use
of sensory stimulation.
10. Aquatic therapy
Aquatic services consist of a
therapeutic program that is
performed in the water to
enhance motor, sensory,
cognitive, and social
development. It is used for a
variety of medical conditions
and each program is
developed for the child’s
individual needs.
11. My internship experience
I interned at The Care Center every Tuesday/Thursday during
the fall semester of 2015. I worked specifically in the Occupational
Therapy department but would help out where ever needed when the
Occupational Therapist did not have a job for me. Some of the skills the
Occupational Therapist worked with patients on included: social skills,
sensory stimulus play, handwriting, arm strengthening exercises, and
visual scanning skills. Social skills ranged from learning to share and
take turns to understanding to ask for something not just grab it. While
sensory play can be anything from hand over activities, such as doing
a puzzle together, to going into the sensory room to interact with the
colored lights. Thursday afternoons one of the Occupational Therapists
was in the pool for aquatic therapy.
12. Internship Duties
Here are some of the duties I was responsible for as an intern:
• Assisting the therapists with treatments
• Pulling daily activity sheets for each patient
• Filing daily notes for the therapist
• Filing paperwork in charts
• Shredding old daily notes
I have gone into more detail about several of these duties on the
following slides.
13. Internship Duties: Assisting the
Therapist
Setting up and putting away materials
Including setting up and cleaning up
equipment used during therapy
sessions to allow the therapist more
time with the patient
Assisting the therapist with treatments
I was able to demonstrate for the
patient how activities and exercises
were suppose to be completed and
offer encouragement.
Cleaning equipment
After each therapy session I sanitized
the equipment to prevent germs from
being spread and to allow the therapist
to prepare for the next patient.
14. Internship Duties: Assisting
with Paperwork
Paperwork is a big part of Occupational Therapy. To
assist the Occupational Therapist, I completed the
following:
• Pulling daily activity sheets for each patient
• Filing daily notes for the therapist
• Shredding old daily notes
15. Projects
I completed several projects during my internship.
Case Study
I completed a case study on one of the patients I observed throughout my
internship. I was able to see the progress she made from week to week,
helping me better understand Spina Bifida.
Oral Presentation on playground equipment
I researched different types of playground equipment to present to the
staff. The other Clemson intern and I worked on applying for a grant from
Tim Tebow. We designed a playground based on the choices and
suggestions from the staff.
Assisted in writing Dabo Swinney Grant
I assisted in writing the Dabo Swinney Grant, which applied for $10,000 to
be used towards an awning. This would benefit the patients and their
families. The awning would allow parents to drive up and drop off patients.
16. Outcomes
Through my internship I…
Gained an understanding of the equipment and tools
commonly used in occupational therapy
Learned age appropriate skills for children birth to
eighteen
Improved my communication skills
Confirmed that I want to pursue a career in
occupational therapy
17. Conclusion
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed interning at The Care
Center. Everyday was a new experience at The Care
Center, which taught me that not every case is the same.
I learned to adapt to different needs and to cater to
different disabilities. For example, a patient with Spina
Bifida usually has a latex allergy. Even if they have never
had a reaction to latex, it is a good idea not to have latex
around them. I was able to see what a day in the life of
an occupational therapist can look like in a pediatric
setting. I learned that professionalism is about being
able to interact with both colleagues and patients. . I
learned valuable experience that will help me once I
enter the field of occupational therapy
