Gabriela Perez – OTD, MS, OTR/L – OT Faculty Profiles, USAHS
Physical therapy came first for Gabriela Perez, OTD, MS, OTR/L, who later moved into occupational therapy and now teaches OT at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) campus in Dallas, Texas. That gives Gabriela a feel for both professions. Clinical work started in geriatrics and moved into neurology, including Parkinson’s disease, stroke and traumatic brain injury.
One case stands out. A young woman came out of a craniotomy with half her head shaved. Working with her husband, the team gave her a full buzz cut, did her nails and makeup and helped her dress, and when her husband walked in, the change was emotional for everyone. OT, in that moment, meant bringing a person back to who she was.
Gabriela also values how students see things for the first time, a perspective that keeps teaching effective and engaging.
Transcript
Gabriela Perez – OTD, MS, OTR_L – OT Faculty Profiles, USAHS
[00:00:00] Gabriela Perez (OT Profiles): I started off as a physical therapist and then transitioned into occupational therapy. So I can speak to both professions, which I love both equally. But definitely I started with geriatrics. Then I went into the neurological population, Parkinson’s, and then towards the tail end, definitely neurolog- like, heavy neurological, stroke, traumatic brain injury. [00:00:23] I think one thing that I do love learning about or working with students is just their novelty and their approach to things. It’s very different because they don’t know. So if I work with a faculty member, if I work with somebody in the same field, we kinda speak the same language. But it’s so, it’s so interesting to see a student see things for the first time and their interpretation of it. So I think I really enjoy that, and that also helps me with my teaching to make sure I’m being effective and also ultimately engaging. [00:00:54] Definitely one case rings a bell, and it was one young woman, and she had a craniotomy. And so surgeons pretty much, they shave off half the head, and they leave the other head of hair without regard for the person. So I spoke to her husband, and we gave her a beautiful buzz cut, a very nice G.I. Jane, and made her, like, do her nails, her hair, and just pretty much brought her back to who she was. So I guess the moment that I would say was pretty much the ahh moment was when we finally finished doing her hair, her makeup, and we got her dressed when her husband came in and saw her and just, um… I mean, it was a very emotional moment, but it was pretty much, like I said, bringing that person back to who she was and her husband being able to see that.
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