Launch Your OT Career – The Journey to Clinical Excellence, USAHS Occupational Therapy Programs
Graduates of the Occupational Therapy program at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) reflect on graduation day, a moment of pride, relief, and celebration after years of hard work, surrounded by family who traveled to share in the milestone. Students describe feeling genuinely prepared for the transition from student to practicing clinician, crediting the program’s hands-on, real-world training for building both their clinical skills and their confidence.
Several graduates highlight how the program’s emphasis on experiential learning helped them feel the pressures of real clinical practice in a safe, supported environment before ever stepping into fieldwork or a professional role. Many leave USAHS with job offers already in hand, ready to begin careers in settings like pediatric outpatient clinics.
This sense of readiness reflects USAHS’s broader mission: preparing graduates not just to enter the workforce, but to become confident, skilled, and compassionate occupational therapy practitioners equipped to serve diverse communities and advance the profession.
Transcript
Launch Your OT Career – The Journey to Clinical Excellence, USAHS Occupational Therapy Programs
[00:00:00] Alana (OT Student): Today is graduation day. [00:00:02] Erin Schwier (OT Programs): Graduation is always a really exciting time for me. [00:00:04] Elena C. (OT Student): My family’s coming. I have a bunch of friends traveling. My mom traveled all the way from New York. [00:00:09] USAHS Student: And it’s a lot of excitement knowing that we’re done and we’re moving into the workforce now. [00:00:13] Elena C. (OT Student): I’m super proud of myself. I’m feeling just over the moon. [00:00:16] Elena C. (OT Student): This is a huge accomplishment, and when you get there, you’re like, “Whoa, Dr. Corsair, that is me.” You know? And it’s just, I, it’s hard to explain the feeling. [00:00:25] Alana (OT Student): I do feel very prepared. [00:00:27] Donovan (OT Student): It was a great experience. I learned a lot. [00:00:28] Brianna (OT Student): I’m ready for it. I’m ready. [00:00:30] Mariah (OT Student): I feel like the university gave me all the tools. [00:00:32] Julia (OT Student): I loved how the school had a lot of great things in place for us for training. You would feel the pressure as if you were in the field for the first time, so I am glad that we experienced that in a safe learning environment before going out into field work and then now professionally. [00:00:47] Brianna (OT Student): Just to get in there and get hands-on experience, that’s the way I learn the best, and to be able to apply knowledge to that, oh, it was awesome. [00:00:54] Erin Schwier (OT Programs): When they come back to graduation, they just seem different. They seem ready. They seem prepared. I love to hear that they already have job offers. [00:01:01] Elena C. (OT Student): I actually have a job lined up. [00:01:03] Alana (OT Student): I’ll be working at a outpatient pediatric clinic, um, in Georgia. [00:01:07] Mariah (OT Student): I recently accepted a job in a pediatric outpatient. I’m really excited to work with children and pursue my career after all this hard work. [00:01:15] Elena C. (OT Student): I had already started doing interviews before I even turned in my final paper. I think it was last week, I accepted a job offer. So I feel very excited. I feel nervous. It’s new. It’s the first steps into this new phase of my life. Going into occupational therapy, it’s exhilarating, but it’s also like, “Oh, man, next challenge,” you know? But I’m ready for it. [00:01:39] Erin Schwier (OT Programs): I can’t wait to see what they continue to do with their lives. [00:01:41] Mariah (OT Student): So it’s just such a happy day. And I’m excited to see how I will grow as a professional and what I will continue to do and learn and grow in my professional career. [00:01:50] Elena C. (OT Student): If you’re going to do it, go all the way. Like, don’t be afraid. [00:01:54] Elena C. (OT Student): You can do it. You’re a leader. You’re capable. You have the heart. Don’t run away from your future. Follow your path, follow your dreams, and anything is possible.
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