The One Question To Ask Yourself As A New Therapist

By Kelsey Swope, MOT, OTR/L

Mentor Services OT Coordinator

As occupational therapy students, we spend six years going through school, and after all these years pass, in just one day, we graduate.

This can bring with it a contrast of emotions.

We feel excitement that all of this hard work has paid off. At the same time, we can feel intimidated by the responsibility of carrying those credentials, OTR/L. We can feel anticipation for fully being in the field, not just in books.

One of the big question OT students ask: “Where will I work first?”

When I initiated my career, I asked myself, “What am I motivated by?”

Answering this question helped me successfully initiate my career when I was graduating.

At the time, I was motivated to find a practice that mirrored my goals.

Almost four years ago now, I was lucky enough to find FOX Rehabilitation. After researching and talking with multiple FOX clinicians, I made the exciting decision to start my career here.

This was it!

FOX clinicians exude the passion for our profession, geriatrics, and making a difference in our patients’ lives. I wanted to be a part of this great culture and start my career-long journey to help older adults achieve optimal function in their lives.

FOX Founder and CEO, Dr. Tim Fox, PT, DPT, GCS, developed, and is currently practicing, a unique method of delivery that allows older adults to access medically-necessary therapies on a consistent basis that produce functional results at home.

By working with older adults in their homes under an outpatient model, I am able to help my patients achieve what they once thought impossible. With having the ability to address functional and purposeful activities each and every session, I not only see their progress but also their motivation.

Through FOX, I have been able to grow as an individual – not only in a clinical sense but also in a personal sense.

Starting with FOX as a new graduate, I had the opportunity to participate in our Emerging Professionals Mentor Program. This is a six-month structured program to ensure success in an environment that promotes patient-centered care, evidence-based practice, and lifelong learning. It helped me improve my clinical knowledge and judgement.

With assistance from my mentor, my regional director, and the rest of my team, I was given more motivation than I could have ever hoped for or imagined. They made me feel confident and comfortable as a new OT and helped me learn to truly connect with my patients.

During the mentor program, I was in contact with my mentor every day and always had support that exceeded my expectations.

Throughout my first six months, I learned and executed ways to build rapport with my patients to learn what motivates them, what their goals are, and how to achieve those goals by using a patient-centered approach.

Because of my motivation to do the best work possible and find my patients’ motivation, I can confidently say that I have made a difference within many of my patients and their families’ lives.

Being motivated to also grow professionally and give back to the OT profession, I first pursued becoming a mentor and fieldwork supervisor. Now, I’m the Mentor Services Occupational Therapy Coordinator within our private practice, overseeing the OT mentor program.

With FOX, we pride ourselves in clinical excellence. With the help of the Professional, Academic, and Clinical Excellence program, or PACE, I am able to continue to consistently motivate myself, improve my clinical skills, and get extra compensation.

We have all chosen this profession to promote the health, productivity, and quality-of-life in individuals and society through the therapeutic application of occupation.

I challenge you to first: Find your passion and make concrete goals.

Then: Find a place that promotes similar ideas.

Next: Never forget your motivation. Wake up every morning excited to have the opportunity to change someone’s life for the better. Continue to remember why you chose this profession.

Finally: Find your patients’ motivation and help be their motivation.

The people featured in the photo are real FOX clinicians. Though, these are not the people mentioned in this article.