2- FOXcast OT: Jennifer Ruoff on the BCG

Jimmy: This is FOXcast OT a podcast for clinician’s made by clinician’s. It’s brought to you by Fox Rehabilitation. Find out more at foxrehab.org Talk to me about the BCG. Give me the 30,000 foot view of what it is and then I want you to talk about why you took your time and effort and focus and went ahead and made that decision and went and got that.

Jenn: Yes. So within AOTA, they have board certifications in specific areas or populations. BCG is the board certification in gerontology, and it focuses on your advanced clinical learning related to the population of gerontology and the topic of gerontology.

The reason that I went forth: I had thought about it for a while. I had made the decision to start with FOX 10 years ago, right out of school. I started within our new grad program. I was a student with FOX.

I loved what this practice had to offer with doing house calls with the geriatric population and getting out to older people’s homes and really providing them with a service that they probably would have missed because occupational therapy is not typically in outpatient clinics unless someone has a hand issue or a functional deficit related to hand function.

So when I first started to get involved, I was, and still am, somewhat of a Type A planner and organizer. I need to know what the future holds for me. So I made a three–year, five–year, 10 year plan.

My 10-year plan was to get my BCG, be able to build all of the opportunities that I’ve had over the 10 years and I’ve taken advantage of. And very early on, I was told to say yes to every opportunity because even though it might be really hard at that time it will pay off for me in the end. And if I hadn’t had said yes to those opportunities, I would not have had the amount of time and activities that lead towards getting your board certification in gerontology.

So for OT, the board certification is a 13-criterion portfolio that you reflect on different topics within that criterion and what they’re looking to get at.

So, one of the criterion is knowledge, knowledge within evaluation or intervention or program development or even looking within leadership.

So, you pick a topic and then you have to reflect on a specific activity that lended towards achieving that criterion. You have to have 5,000 hours of direct patient care in order to even apply or five years’ experience within the realm of providing geriatric care. So I did not feel that I could lead such a large group of OTs in a practice that specializes in geriatric care if I did not have my board certification.

Jimmy: That’s a good way to look at it.

Jenn: I didn’t think I could be viewed as an effective leader. If people didn’t see that I kind of went through the trenches to go through the process and see all that it entailed and all the hard work to be able to also build that affinity with people to say, “Listen, I know it’s hard but I did it. I have a family at home. I have a really intense job that I’m super passionate about and I love. But, I made time because it was important to me. And if it’s important to you, I will help you through the process we’ll kind of do it together.”

So actually at FOX, we’re doing almost like a study group. If someone is interested in getting their board certification, I’d do a strategic plan for them to do a realistic timeline. We have follow-up conference calls and we’re kind of using it as an opportunity for us to work together to: number one, increase the amount of board certifications in gerontology within the OT profession. Currently, there’s only 33 in the nation.

Jimmy: And how many work here at FOX Rehabilitation?

Jenn: 5. The only 4 OTs that are board certified in New Jersey are FOX therapists.

It just shows the level of professional development that kind of standard and support that we get from the practice. But then also, too, there are so many clinicians that I talked to at orientation or just even out in the field or at conference know like, “Oh, I’ve always thought about doing that. I just don’t because it’s hard.”

And, that really shouldn’t be the reason. You have to really investigate to see what is the time what is the commitment. What does it look like and maybe that’s something that’s hard but you do it over three years.

So again, I felt that I wanted to do it for our profession. I wanted to do it for the population of older adults who, I feel at times, don’t get the services they need at the specialty level that is required within rehabilitation and then being able to excel, really, the practice of OTs and support them and lead them effectively.

Jimmy: If somebody out there was listening and thinking about going forth and getting the certification – they’re an OT and they’re thinking there a tipping point, what’s one thing you’d say and that maybe would make them decide to do it?

Jenn: I would say print out the application.

You would be surprised that all of the things that you do on a daily basis regarding patient care and dealing with difficult clients or engaging in a volunteer opportunity or getting involved in your state association all lends towards their certification. That’s really all of the specialty areas, not just in gerontology. But, I would say print out the application that’s kind of the first step.

Jimmy: You might be closer than you think.

Jenn: Absolutely, absolutely.

Jimmy: Jennifer Ruoff, Director of Occupational Therapy here at FOX Rehabilitation, I appreciate your time and congratulations. It’s a big deal and it shows your commitment to the ultimate boss which is the patients.

Jenn: Thanks for listening to FOXcast OT a clinically excellent podcast. It’s brought to you by FOX Rehabilitation. Listen to other episodes or read articles and position papers at foxrehab.org.