Brianna Jones

Senior Synthesis - Dr. Laouere

September 14, 2023

To look further into possible career options, I chose to observe and interview an

occupational therapist. Occupational therapy has always been a choice in the back of my mind

throughout my undergraduate program, so I decided that hearing more specific details about this

career could help me to determine if it is the right fit. I chose to contact Amy Taylor, OTR/C. She

has worked at UPMC McKeesport Hospital for the past 10 years. Since working there, Amy has

worked on acute care as well as the rehabilitation/skilled nursing unit. While working on acute

nursing care, her list of patients changed daily. A lot of patients were deemed unfit for

occupational therapy after their first consultation or because the patient was simply too medically

complex. No patient in acute care was able to be seen without a doctor’s written request for a

consultation. The age range of the acute care units was very large. Although there were no

pediatric patients, it ranged from young adults to geriatrics. This was very different from her time

spent in the rehabilitation/skilled nursing unit. During this time, the list of patients stayed

relatively constant on a day to day basis. Other than the occasional discharge, patients spent

about two weeks at a time on this unit. On this unit, Amy had patients that were a lot more

medically stable and were placed on the unit to regain strength. The main cause of admission to

the rehabilitation unit was deconditioning or falls. Most of the patients in the skilled nursing or

rehabilitation units were geriatric patients who needed strengthening in order for them to be

placed in a skilled nursing facility or to go home. Between these two areas in the hospital, Amy

preferred working on the acute care units.

After observing occupational therapy more deeply, I think I would enjoy working in this

career. It is rewarding to see patients regain enough strength to begin daily tasks after an injury.
 My interview with Amy was very insightful into the field of occupational therapy in an

in-patient setting. A typical day for her begins by creating and reviewing a list of possible

patients from all units of the hospital. She reviews their charts, marks any important details, and

then starts making her way around the units to conduct patient consultations and treatments. This

continues until she reaches the end of her list, or until the end of her scheduled day comes.

Consultations often consist of assessing grip strength, ability to dress and bathe themselves, and

questions about their home environment. Once her patient list is complete, she charts her notes

about her visits that day. Amy’s favorite part of her job, as well as my favorite part, is seeing

patient’s grow and get better to the point where they are able to leave the hospital and become

significantly more independent. Although, her least favorite part of her job is the insurance

barriers. A lot of insurance companies do not approve a patient’s request for a therapy program,

and therefore, it can sometimes be difficult for patients to get the level of care that they need to

regain their strength. On a typical day, Amy works from 7:30am to 4pm. However, on the

weekends, she only has to be at work from 7am to 3pm. An entry level salary for her position at

UPMC McKeesport is currently $28 an hour. She says that this has increased significantly since

she began working there - it was only $22 an hour then.

In terms of career advancement, Amy was hesitant to report that there is not much

opportunity for it. In the occupational therapy field, especially at this particular location, the

career ladder is very limited. The department has a main supervisor, but it is very hard to reach

that position. There is not very much room to grow.

Amy had a slightly unconventional educational background. Although she has a masters

degree in occupational therapy, her bachelor’s degree is in graphic design. Her reasoning was

that she did not notice her interest in occupational therapy until she was about to graduate with
her bachelor’s degree. She completed all her basic courses, including anatomy, biology, and

psychology, all in one summer. According to her, though, her undergraduate degree does not

cause a decrease in salary because she still obtained her masters in occupational therapy.

When asked about diversity within the clientele, Amy claimed that she sees a wide range

of diverse individuals. From age to culture, there is a large scope of patients that are admitted

into UPMC McKeesport. She believes the hospital is located in an undereducated area, which

leads a lot of patients to be health illiterate. This means they struggle to grasp the seriousness of

their diagnoses which can lengthen their recovery time.

The question I chose to ask Amy was “If you could do it all over again, what would you

do differently?”. She had a very quick response to this - start younger. She was 27 when she

graduated with her masters degree. She wishes she would have started earlier so she could begin

her career earlier. To do so, she wishes she would have chosen a health-related program for her

bachelor’s degree.

Overall, I think occupational therapy is a very interesting field. I have always been

interested in it because I can empathize with the patients who struggle to complete daily tasks. I

can only imagine how frustrating it is to struggle with something that was once second nature. I

believe that I will look into a few occupational therapy programs and see if there are any that are

a good fit for me.