8- FOXcast OT: Jennifer Ruoff And Rachel Read At AOTA 18

Jimmy: This is FOXcast OT, a podcast for clinicians made by clinicians. It’s brought to you by FOX Rehabilitation. Find out more at foxrehab.org.

Welcome to FOXcast OT. I’m your host, Jimmy McKay, and I’m here with my colleagues from FOX Rehabilitation.

Jenn: I am Jennifer Ruoff, the Director of OT clinical services.

Jimmy: With?

Rachel: Rachel Read, I’m The EHR Clinical Director.

Jimmy: And I literally just put you guys in the spot. I was like: “Listen, we’re here AOTA, Salt Lake City, surrounded by OTs as far as the eye can see…”

Jenn: Yes.

Jimmy: What do you want to talk about?

Rachel: Jenn and I went back for our OTD, so our Doctor in Occupational Therapy.

Jenn: The process we’ve gone through, and supporting each other and, uh, I really didn’t give Rachel an option. I kinda…

Jimmy: Yeah.

Jenn: I kinda made her apply.

Rachel: Peer pressure works!

Jimmy: Yeah, no – it’s great, yeah!

Jenn: Inspirational peer…

Jimmy: Inspiration. Peer inspiration. So give background. It’s not required. You don’t have to do it. Why would someone decide to go through that process and then peer pressure their colleague into it?

Jenn: I think initially it was, I talked about this a little bit in my um, board certification podcast, about how can you really be a leader or thought of as a leader if you don’t lead by example? And there were a lot of students and new graduates coming out into the field with their doctorate. And here we are providing them with coaching and mentoring and they know more about evidence and research than I do. I can work really, really hard to find the evidence but am I really doing the profession a service by not going back

Jimmy: And trying to do that.

Rachel: Absolutely.

Jimmy: I will say, do not discount experience

Jenn: Yes.

Jimmy: Clinical experience.

Rachel: Absolutely.

Jenn: Right.

Jimmy: But you’re saying there’s an option out there. How can I be looked at or consider myself a leader unless I at least take a shot at this? How was the process?

Rachel: The process honestly was really easy.

Jimmy: Yeah.

Rachel: All of the the stuff’s out there, the information’s out there on where to search for schools, how to search for it. I wanted something, I’m someone, like, I want it to be fast and furious. I don’t want it to be a two or three year program. I want to like, be all in, know my expectations and get it done.

Jimmy: How long was it for you?

Jenn: It’s 16 months.

Jimmy: Wow.

Jenn: So fingers crossed we graduate in December.

Jenn: So I applied.

Jimmy: Right.

Jenn: Had an interview, texted Rachel the picture and said: “I just applied, got in, your turn.” And she had like, I don’t know, eight days…

Rachel: Yeah.

Jenn: Maybe?

Rachel: It really gave me no opportunity to say no.

Jimmy: Good!

Rachel: Because, I was like, you have…

Jimmy: Sometimes that’s the best way, right? Leap and a net shall appear!

Jenn: Right!

Jenn: And honestly, I don’t think I could have gone through this without having someone else to push me along.

Jimmy: And then so you jumped in as well,

Rachel: Yeah.

Jimmy: And then you guys in the same program, which is through where?

Jenn: Chatham University.

Jimmy: Alright, So when did it start? Let’s give some background for the audience.

Rachel: It started in September.

Jenn: Yup.

Rachel: So we started the program in September of 2017.

Jimmy: And right now as we record, I just want to give background – it’s April of 2018.

Rachel: Yup.

Jenn: So we’ve got seven more months.

Jimmy: What have you seen in the first half, almost, of that?

Jenn: A good insight into information that, I always thought I was an evidence-based practitioner, I always thought that I treated my clients per the the evidence. Um, little did I know there’s a huge difference between evidence and research! And just being, again, as a practice we say that we’re an evidence-based practice. Are we really using all of the literature out there? And then hopefully, as a group we’re able to take this information and start to get published and start to really do clinical evidence. And just an appreciation for the whole research process.

Jimmy: Even to get there!

Jenn: It’s opened my eyes to, like, doing my project, thinking of the question, researching all of the steps. There are times that I just want to back out and quit, and it kind of goes in line with like the welcome, the keynote address.

Jimmy: Killer keynote address, by the way.

Jenn: Yeah! Seriously – of not, not to give up when things are hard and things have been, there have been times I’m like: “Yeah, Rachel, I’m done. I’m done.” And she was like: “No, you can’t be done because…

Rachel: Because you got me in this mess!

Jimmy: Because if you’re done I’m a loner, right, yeah.

Jenn: Right! And that’s kind of motivation too.

Jimmy: So Rachel first half:.

Rachel: So first half, um, it was, it was a challenge adjusting to being back in school and that work life and school balance. You know work-life is hard as it is.

Jimmy: Right.

Rachel: And then you at school into it. So, that was definitely a challenge. And learning online platform I think was a challenge, but we dove right into it. The way that Chatham’s program is set up you start your capstone project right from the beginning.

Jimmy: Wow.

Rachel: It’s like, all in, and you start working on it first semester. You got a chapter down and..

Jimmy: Well, are you guys able to work together? Individual capstone projects? Or how’s that work?

Jenn: Individual.

Jimmy: And what is yours on?

Jenn: So mine is on formal education to Occupational Therapists for utilizing occupation-based interventions for clients with dementia. Pretty long!

Jimmy: Yeah, but I’ve heard in evidence, the longer the title most people just assume it’s smarter.

Jenn: And it can, I can capture so many different things.

Jimmy: Just keep saying words!

Jenn: So if one thing doesn’t work out, maybe I’ll figure it out on the other end!

Jimmy: Rachel- length of title, what do you got for us?

Rachel: Oh, I gotta good one! So it’s enhancing the confidence and competence of Occupational Therapists using educational modules to see if they’re effective in helping them to increase their evidence-based practice.

Jimmy: And starting the capstone from the get go? That’s a bit different, right?

Rachel: Yeah, It’s fun. But we have an amazing chort, so they are all, like, super supportive of each other and I think that’s what gets you through these kind of programs.

Jimmy: Right.

Rachel: It’s having an amazing cohorts and classmates to kind of get you through it and support each other.

Jimmy: So let’s go Monday morning applicable, right? That’s the term we use when you take a continuing education course or anything. Can you apply it? What have you taken out of it and been able to apply right away?

Rachel: Definitely analyzing research and reading articles. I read them with a different…

Jenn: Yes.

Rachel: Set of eyes now.

Jimmy: Good.

Rachel: I understand, like, what’s good evidence and what’s bad evidence, then how to communicate that out to the field and to the clinicians out there.

Jimmy: Because look where we are right now, right? We’re a Twitter and a Facebook headline world.

Jenn: Yeah!

Jimmy: Right? And if a study says that something, something, something – a lot of people who aren’t educated in how to sort the bad from the good or the strong from the weak will just buy it.

Jenn: Yeah! I think really taking the information and, like she said, really analyzing all of the articles that we read, and then now sharing it with clinicians, sharing it with our practice, to share the wealth of knowledge that we’ve learned.

Jimmy: I love it. All right. So we’re capturing this in April 2018. When you guys are done, I would like to talk to you either before your done or then after and I’d like to kind of compare where you are.

Jenn: Yeah!

Jenn: It’ll be like a little study!

Jenn: Hopefully we’re getting published…

Rachel: Yeah, right? Or presenting here next year.

Jenn: Yes, absolutely!

Rachel: On our capstones.

Jimmy: Oooh – that would be a cool circle moment.

Rachel: Right?

Jimmy: So we have a tradition here I’m a show called Your FOXtale. So what’s one thing you’d say to someone who is thinking, on the fence, about going back to get their OTD.

Jenn: Figure out your plan. Life happened for us in a very sequential way in the sense that if we had not done our BCG before this process and had gone through writing the criterion and organizing the portfolio, I think school would have been so much scarier…

Jimmy: Really? Ok.

Jenn: In that first semester. So, if you have a plan and you have that, you know, one year, five year, 10 year goals, make sure they align with each other. And just know that we have a lot of clinicians in our cohort that have 20 years experience, and they said this has been the hardest thing they’ve ever done…

Jimmy: Wow.

Jenn: Because it’s so different. Being a clinician, the academia.

Rachel: I would say definitely do it with somebody else and make sure that you, if you don’t have the opportunity to do it with somebody else to establish that relationship with the cohort right from the beginning. Exchange e-mails, text message, and rely on each other for support. Because I mean, it’s a process and you need that, you need that motivation and the support to get you through it.

Jimmy: Well, no matter what aspect of this profession you’re in, you’re a social profession, so get by with little help from your friends!

Jenn: Yes!

Rachel: Of course! Yeah.

Jimmy: Rachel and Jen, I appreciate you guys stopping by on FOXcast OT!

Rachel: Thank you!

Jenn: Happy to be here!

Jimmy: 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.