Learning the Hand, Hands-On
The occupational therapy students pass skeletal hand forms back and forth along the table top counters in the science lab room. Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy Holly Preston quizzes them on the bones, joints and muscles that connect each intricate part of the fingers, thumb, palm and wrist.
As part of Preston’s pop quiz, the students palpate their palms and observe the innate response of their fingers to the change in pressure. In addition to the natural study their own bodies provide for the class – Applied Anatomy – Preston passes out iPads for students to share and instructs them to open up an app called “Muscle and Bone Anatomy 3D.”
Sophomore Caleigh Alterio uses her fingertips to scroll from a muscular view of the body to a 360-degree rotation of the skeleton. Across the table, sophomore Nick Scherer scrolls through a similar screen image on his personal iPad, pointing out how it lets the viewer see multiple layers of muscle and bone, all of which can be rotated in 3-D. The download was just $7, he says.
Nick Scherer works with the iPad app in anatomy class
“It’s so cool just being able to actually see what we’re feeling,” sophomore Mackenzie Berger says as she mimics the movements of the arm, wrist and hand onscreen with her own appendage.
“I didn’t know the answer to [labeling] pictures on the lab exam, so this helps,” adds sophomore Taylor Szwec. Indeed, the iPad app boasts video and even has an online quiz feature that Preston encourages students to work through. (more…)
College Well Represented at Graduate Student Research Conference
OT grad students Megan McGowan (left) and Melissa Schlegel.
Three alumni of Keuka College’s Master of Science degree program in criminal justice administration and two students pursuing master’s degrees in occupational therapy (OT) were selected to present papers at the SUNY Brockport Graduate Student Research Conference Saturday, April 14.
Class of 2011 members Danielle T. Harrington and Sherry L. Hunter will present their Action Research Projects (ARP) at the conference, which will showcase the work of master’s level students from colleges and universities in Upstate New York and southern Ontario, Canada. Another member of the Class of 2011, Stephanie Caloren, was selected to present but is unable to attend. Also scheduled to present papers are fifth-year OT students Melissa Schlegel and Megan McGowan.
Keuka College Establishes Desiree Marsh Memorial Scholarship
A year-and-half ago, Keuka College junior Desiree Marsh, an occupational therapy (OT) major from DeRuyter, was killed in an automobile accident.
Desiree Marsh
Now, members of Marsh’s class have helped create a scholarship in her name to assist Keuka students enrolled in the OT master’s program with some of their financial costs.
“Pi Theta Epsilon (PTE), the OT honor society, wanted to establish the Desiree Marsh Memorial Scholarship to honor Desiree because she had such an impact on our whole class, and we wanted to commemorate her in some way,” said Emily Conrad, a senior OT major from Geneva, who serves as PTE president.
Beyond the Hospital Walls
In the world of higher education, the niche Keuka has carved with its occupational sciences program is virtually unparalleled for a small, private, liberal arts college.
Studying anatomy of the body is part of Keuka's OT program.
In 2010, three state-of-the-art occupational therapy (OT) labs opened where students are taught cutting-edge OT techniques. Keuka boasts a pediatric play lab, a clinical care lab and a community living skills lab, set up much like a small apartment, where some 95 upperclass and graduate students take classes in occupational science. Nearly all students in Keuka’s OT program go on to a fifth year of study at the graduate level, in order to qualify for the certification exam that must be passed to obtain a permanent license as an occupational therapist.
A unique change to the program is that while Keuka’s OT students are building diverse, hands-on skills, it’s not all happening inside the walls of hospitals or schools. Traditional placements like a hospital are now supplemented by non-traditional placements, said Jean Wannall, Ph.D., who coordinates field work placements for OT students and is a full professor in the program.
“We’re seeing fewer jobs in traditional settings because of the changes in Medicare and Medicaid,” said Wannall.”A lot of agencies are downsizing and letting therapists go, so we are training therapists to be entrepreneurs, to go out and seek places where there could be a niche. At hospitals, the length of stay is shorter and shorter these days as people are being pushed out into the community quicker and quicker. More care is happening out in the community.”
Toys are part of therapy for children in the OT program.
In addition, OTs may find more work with assisted living communities or home health care as more members of the aging population try to stay in their own homes as long as possible, Wannall said. Keuka lies in Yates County, one of the poorest counties in the state, and other opportunities for non-traditional OT support may lie in areas with migrant workers, those who are illiterate, or other needy individuals, she said.
(more…)
What’s New: Student Trustee
Reis Cunningham ’13 has always been interested in getting a behind-the-scenes look at how Keuka College “works” because, as he puts it, “I’m paying for it.”
Fortunately for Cunningham, the College offers that opportunity to two students each year. Keuka is one of the few schools in the country where students serve on the governing board and Cunningham took part in his first Board meeting Sept. 30.
Cunningham was elected by his peers to the Board of Trustees and is serving the first of a two-year term. Senior Molly Flanagan is the other student representative.
Flanagan, in her second year as a trustee, told Cunningham that student trustees are expected to contribute; it’s not a ceremonial position where they sit and observe as others make recommendations and decisions.
(more…)
What’s New: Traditional Faculty
An interest in teaching smaller classes in order to foster greater student interaction is part of what brought Ithaca resident Laurel Hester to a new post at Keuka College this fall.
The small-college feel got in the assistant professor of biology’s veins during her own undergraduate studies at Swarthmore College, where she double-majored in biology and history. As a graduate student, Hester discovered she had a love of teaching, especially teaching biology, and as she worked toward her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, she began putting that passion into play. She went on to teach at the University of South Carolina, and later Cornell, where she taught as many as 400 students at a time in large lecture halls.
“The chance to teach smaller classes where I can really get to know the students and teach a wider variety of classes in a more interactive way is really what drew me here,” Hester said.
(more…)
Mighty Mito Stroll
Story by Ryan J. Nichols ’12, Photos by Sarah Marquart ’14
Sophomore Emily Wilson, an occupational studies major from Binghamton, organized a walk on campus Saturday, Oct. 22, to raise awareness of mitochondrial diseases.
Wilson is acutely aware of mitochondrial diseases; her younger brother Tyler was diagnosed with “mito” when he was 18 months old.
Mito results from failures of the mitochondria, specialized compartments present in every cell of the body except red blood cells. Mitochondria are responsible for creating more than 90 percent of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. When they fail, less and less energy is generated within the cell. There are many different forms of mito, and they can affect different parts of the body. People who suffer from mito do not all share the same symptoms and some people may be affected more severely than others. In Tyler’s case, it is not know what form of mito he has.
Wilson said Tyler has difficulty walking and talking. He uses a machine to help him communicate better, but when he is at home, he uses sign language to talk with his family. Emily said mito is progressive and affects people differently.
Getting Down and Derby
Photo by Peter Korolov
During the week, Alicia Wimmer is a mild-mannered, senior occupational therapy major at Keuka College.
On weekends, she becomes Rainbow Might, a hard-charging, take-no-crap roller derby jammer/blocker for the Ithaca BlueStockings of the Ithaca League of Women Rollers (ILWR).
“The team aspect of roller derby is great and my teammates are like sisters to me,” said Wimmer. “Joining roller derby has helped boost my confidence and I believe I am more assertive.” (more…)
Meet New Faculty: Lisa McGowan
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a series of profiles on new, full-time faculty members.
Lisa McGowan plans to share more than her occupational therapy (OT) acumen with Keuka students.
McGowan, a 2000 graduate of Keuka’s OT program, brings knowledge of Keuka and what it takes to succeed in the OT program. She has sat in some of the same seats that her students are sitting in now, so she knows exactly what they are going through and what they need.
“As a student here, I cried, laughed, learned, was challenged and made friends and I hope that I can share those experiences with my students now,” said McGowan.
McGowan, whose primary therapy focus is children, teaches the pediatric-level courses, including Occupational Development in Childhood and Occupational and Assessment Intervention in Childhood I. She has worked in school districts and BOCES, and earned her master’s degree in education from Alfred University.
“It wasn’t hard,” she says of her decision to return to Keuka. “I knew where things were, I was comfortable and I knew some of the professors.”
She encourages her students to utilize examples from their Field Periods in class discussion to get them to understand the experiences that occupational therapists face every day.
“I have them draw from Field Periods; their experiences are unique, and I try to get them to convey what they have learned,” says McGowan. “Some of the examples are positive and some are negative, but they are all part of the profession.”
In Your Face – For a Good Cause
Anne Marie Guthrie, dean for the Center for Experiential Learning, throws a pie into the face of College Chaplain Rev. Eric Detar.
Keuka College’s Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA) Club found a way to raise funds in a short period of time.
On April 12, the club staged a pie-throwing event and raised more than $75 in an hour.
Maybe the federal government should take this approach to reduce the budget deficit.
For $1 members of the College community could throw a whipped cream pie at Diane Trickey-Rokenbrod; assistant professor of occupational therapy; Margeaux DePrez, Space Hall residence director; Eric Detar, College chaplain; or Tim White, Byley and Harrington Hall residence director.
According to club member Alicia Wimmer, the fund-raiser didn’t appeal only to SOTA members, but other students as well.
“The club chose pie-throwing because we thought it would be a fun way to involve a variety of people on campus,” she said. “It was a good way to get our club’s name out on campus and a good way to let people de-stress.”
Half of the proceeds will be given to aid breast cancer research, while the other half will go into the SOTA account. Wimmer said the club will use the money raised to help meet some of SOTA’s goals, including bringing more speakers to the campus, and sending club members to the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) conference next year.
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