Nichel Brunder-Allen – OTD, MOT, OTR/L, CLT – OT Faculty Profiles, USAHS
Get to know Nichel Brunder-Allen, an occupational therapy faculty member at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, as she shares her perspective on the profession, her clinical experience, and what inspires her as an educator. Nichel discusses the importance of taking a whole-person approach to occupational therapy, building meaningful relationships with patients, and helping individuals achieve the activities and experiences that bring value to their lives.
She also reflects on her clinical specialty in oncology and lymphedema, the impact of teaching and mentoring future occupational therapists, and the role faculty play in developing well-rounded clinicians. Through her experiences, Nichel shares what makes occupational therapy meaningful to her and what she values about being part of the USAHS community.
Transcript
Nichel Brunder-Allen – OTD, MOT, OTR_L, CLT – OT Faculty Profiles, USAHS
[00:00:00] Nichel Brunder-Allen (OT Faculty): Considering the whole person. When I first started OT, I was really focused on, like, the cookbook approach, thinking about this is the functional deficit, this is what I’m gonna do to improve. But over time, my definition of OT has changed and how I think about the person. I like to build relationships, and I think OT is about building relationships and helping someone feel whole, whatever that means to them. Whether it’s being able to play on the ground with their kid, being able to golf with their friends, or being able to sit on the sofa and watch trash TV. Whatever makes them happy, I think that’s OT and helping them get to that point. [00:00:35] My passion is oncology and lymphedema. That’s my specialty. It has personal value to me, but it’s also made me the best OT. It refueled my passion. I went to school, I became an OT, and I was like, “Oh, I can’t believe that’s what I went to school for.” But when I found where I was supposed to be, I was like, “This is it.” So I love working with patients post-mastectomy, post-lymph node transfers, and seeing the shift from right before surgery to after, and how their life improves drastically. [00:01:03] It’s great to see them take a concept that they might have been struggling with, and when they get it and they know they’ve got it, they get excited and it makes me excited, too. [00:01:13] The personalities. Although it’s been a challenge for me learning new personalities, seeing the growth in myself, seeing the growth in students, and also making me want to be a better OT. When I see them learn, it keeps me current and wanting to take that out into the world, too. [00:01:28] Using your moral compass and ethical compass to improve others’ lives. Just doing what you can as an individual to make an impact, and it just happens to be through OT. [00:01:40] I would definitely say faculty that care. I didn’t come here for OT school, but I’m fortunate to work here and I see the shift in not just the coursework. Yes, knowledge is important. You have to have those skills. But here at the university, they really help develop the clinician or the person, and that’s not something a book can teach you. But we have a variety of faculty members here with different specialties and who students blend with differently, and I think that adds strength to our program.
