Karen Falcicchio, erg., OT Clinical Coordinator and Faculty Lecturer, is an alumna of the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy and previously worked at the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Montreal Neurological Institute in the areas of General Medicine and Neurology. As part of our Question-and-Answer series to showcase the 91社区 Occupational Therapy program and illustrate the diversity of the profession, Karen recently answered these questions for us.
Why did you decide on OT as a career?
I always wanted to work in healthcare and use my skills of empathy, active listening, and patience. I was completing my undergrad in Physiology with a minor in Psychology and was unsure what profession would be the best fit for me, so I started shadowing different health care professionals; nurse, family doctor, physiotherapist and more, but I fell in love when shadowing the OT. The OT was evaluating the patient鈥檚 level of independence to do a cooking task after a stroke. Throughout the task, she analyzed the person鈥檚 physical, cognitive, perceptual, and psychosocial skills all of which either led to the person鈥檚 success or challenges in completing this task. As I began to research the profession, I realized it would allow me to use my skills of creativity, observation, and teamwork daily. I learned that the OT is so diverse (hospital vs community settings, infants to adults to older adults) and I felt this could be a profession that would challenge me throughout my career and would always allow me to grow.
What do you find rewarding as an OT?
I always believed that as an OT you get to know your patient on a much deeper and personal level. When we are discovering a person鈥檚 occupations, roles, and environment; we are learning about what they value most, how they view themselves and what they dream of doing. This is a very privileged relationship to have with a patient and it is what I find the most rewarding. As we learn about a patient on a personal level, we can have an insight into what inspires their motivation and how we can help them discover hope.聽In a healthcare system where patients can often feel lost in a system, OTs strive to find the humanity of someone through their diagnosis or illness.
What advice would you give someone considering the profession of OT?
If you dream of a career that is dynamic, diverse, and energizing, where you can use your passion for human anatomy and physiology as well as your creativity and generosity for others; then this is the profession for you.聽This is one of the healthcare professions that encourages you to spend time with patients creating a special therapeutic rapport.
OTs also value autonomy so our profession allows you to shape it into what you are most excited by. For example, if you love kids, you can work in pediatrics at MAB-Mackay using play as a therapeutic technique to help the child reach a developmental milestone. If you love Neurology, you can work at the Montreal Neurological Hospital assessing dysphagia in patients post-brain tumour. If you love geriatrics, you can work at St-Anne鈥檚 Hospital helping a resident use an iPad to call their grandchild in another country.聽
There is so much possibility within this profession and your clinical courses in the OT program at 91社区 can help you find out what you are most passionate about for your future career.
Why did you choose 91社区?
I grew up in the west island of Montreal, however I wasn鈥檛 sure that I wanted to come to 91社区 until I reviewed all the Canadian programs. It has the advantage of the Qualifying Year entry rather than completing a 5-year program in other Quebec programs. The faculty consists of clinicians and researchers with a diverse student population. The program values hands-on learning in university and clinical-based courses and we learn in a state-of-the-art simulation center.聽 It's such a privilege to learn and do stages in a bilingual and multicultural environment like Montreal where I can practice my English, French and occasionally some Italian!
When you reflect on your career, could you provide a patient success story?
I worked with a patient who had a diagnosis of Guillain-Barr茅 syndrome (GBS), a condition where a person experiences sudden full paralysis (ventilator dependent) before they start to improve with a combination of medication and OT/PT rehabilitation. The patient and family were very fearful when I met them.
The patient, his wife, and I worked together daily for months to go from muscle twitches in his right arm to being able to feed himself with help from his wife, to being able to feed himself alone with an adapted spoon.
His goal was that he wanted to get out of the hospital to be able to attend one of his son鈥檚 hockey games at the local arena. To do this, he needed to be able to get dressed, transfer to a wheelchair and stay sitting for at least 3 hours, use the bathroom independently, and transfer into a car safely. We worked on all these goals with daily activities to improve his independence in these areas, and after about 4 months, he was able to go to that hockey game.
What I鈥檓 reminded of the most when I think back on this experience are the major goals achieved, but also the small moments. Discussing the score of the Montreal Canadians game the night before, celebrating Halloween on the hospital floor, using an adapted hockey game to work on sitting balance and the first meal he could eat that wasn鈥檛 puree. This therapeutic relationship and others are the reason I continue to love being an OT.
