Terri Roberts – OTD, MS, OTR/L, CLT – OT Faculty Profiles, USAHS
To Terri Roberts, OTD, MS, OTR/L, CLT, occupational therapy means helping people become their best selves, whether they face a physical impairment, an emotional struggle or a cognitive disability. Terri teaches OT at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) campus in San Marcos, California, and values moving between neuro, orthopedic and mental health needs in a single day.
Terri started in acute care at three level one trauma hospitals, drawn to the intensity and complexity of patients at their lowest point, before moving into outpatient hand therapy, oncology and lymphedema. In the classroom, that range feeds simulation and immersive hands-on learning experiences.
Transcript
Terri Roberts – OTD, MS, OTR_L, CLT – OT Faculty Profiles, USAHS
[00:00:00] Terri Roberts (OT Faculty): To me, occupational therapy is helping others become their best self. Whether it’s a physical impairment, emotional struggle, cognitive disability that they’re having, OT can come into so many different areas of recovery, and that’s what I like about it, that as a practitioner, there’s so many areas to go. It’s very rewarding to be able to jump from three different patients that are, one is there for neuro, another is there for orthopedic problems, and another is maybe having some emotional struggles, or a combination therein. So I, I love the variety. [00:00:37] So I started out wanting to go into hand therapy, but before I did that, I started in acute care, level one trauma. I’ve worked in three different level one trauma hospital settings, and I really enjoy that intensity and complexity that we see with those types of patients that are just, you know, at their lowest point. I’ve worked in outpatient for hand therapy, oncology, lymphedema, hand therapy, so a variety of different settings. [00:01:07] Gosh, I love our students. Our students just fuel the fire. You know, they’re so engaging. They love to have that enrichment. They love the innovation of what we do here at the university with our hospital setting, our hospital wing. I love simulation and role play. I think that that really helps the students feel that they’re in it to win it when they’re learning that way. I like to have fun when I’m teaching and see the joy that that brings to students when they, you know, feel like they’ve jumped a hurdle and they’ve got the concept. [00:01:43] What USA does differently than other institutions is involve the faculty in very active learning. So there are a lot of opportunities to shadow seasoned faculty members here. There’s a lot of resources to learn about new ways of teaching, and I think that active learning, hands-on part of our program is what we hear back from students and faculty that they love about our university. They’re not just lecturing, but they’re in it with the students to win. They’re demonstrating, and then they’re also challenging. So demonstrate one time how it’s supposed to be, but then come around and challenge them to bring, you know, all their levels up a little bit. That’s what I love.
Enrollment Services – The Journey to Clinical Excellence, USAHS Occupational Therapy Programs
Students and staff discuss the enrollment process and student services.
Center for Innovative Clinical Practice (CICP)—University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences
Students and faculty discuss learning in state-of-the-art simulation facilities.
Testimonial – Kaylee Saenz, Post-Professional OT Student
Hear from a student in the USAHS PPOTD program.