>> One of the things that was really helpful for me was to be able to volunteer in a setting
where occupational therapy was key to working
with that population in that particular environment.
And I got to experience watching different therapists that had different approaches,
and I learned a lot in that environment before I even got
into my curriculum for occupational therapy.
Once I was here, Temple's program was very practical and experiential.
So it wasn't just the matter of reading a book, and going to class, and having someone explain
to you what this looks like on paper.
We had opportunities to go out to different facilities
and observe populations working with occupational therapists.
We had physicians come in and show us videotapes of actual clients,
patients that they were working with so that we could look, and analyze,
and decide what would we do in that situation.
And we also had therapists who were our instructors at a time who were working
in clinical settings, who could bring in some of their patients to talk
to us about what their experience was.
So I would encourage people to go out and observe and see what the profession is all
about so that when you actually get into your coursework and your curriculum,
you have some experiences to draw from.