Innovation at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences – 3D Printer
An athlete recovering from a spinal cord injury was struggling to pull up long sports socks, and students at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) set out to help. Working with local middle school STEM students and the athlete, occupational therapy student Luz designed and 3D-printed a sock aid for people who can’t use their fingers.
It was Luz’s first time using a 3D printer, and the experience sparked an interest in advocating for 3D printers at future workplaces. For Elisabeth McGee, the printer is one of the most impactful innovations the university has adopted. Students design a solution in software, then print it for a client whose functional need isn’t met by available equipment.
It’s a small device with a clear lesson for future occupational therapists: when the right tool doesn’t exist yet, they can create it.
Transcript
Innovation at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences – 3D Printer
[00:00:00] Elisabeth McGee (USAHS): We had a student that was working with an individual after a spinal cord injury. This individual was an athlete and the athlete was having a hard time pulling up their, their socks, their sports socks. [00:00:23] Wynnet Sinclair (USAHS): What could we possibly design for you using a 3D printer that would make either your sports life or your personal life a little bit easier? [00:00:32] Elisabeth McGee (USAHS): So students collaborated with some local middle school students STEM students, and collaborated with the, the athlete as well, and developed a, a piece of equipment. [00:00:44] Luz (OT Student): It is a type of sock aid. The purpose of it is to help pull longer socks up if you don’t have the ability to use your fingers, and it’s 3D printed, and I designed it myself. I’ve never experienced a 3D printer before, and this is my first time with it. I think it’s great that the university has that option for us and even just this one experience, like I said, I could take it further and maybe advocate for 3D printers in facilities that I work in in the future. So I think it’s very innovative, and I think all universities should have it. [00:01:19] Elisabeth McGee (USAHS): The 3D printer is really one of the most impactful innovations that we’ve adopted at the university. It really allows students to take on a creative and inventive mindset, to come up with ideas for our clients, and once they have that idea in their mind, they can utilize software to develop it and then use the 3D printer to make that idea come to life. So for a client that has any kind of functional need where a piece of equipment isn’t readily available, they can create that piece of equipment and using the 3D printer, develop it for their patient.
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