Raquel Guarino – MS, CHT, OTR/L – OT Faculty Profiles, USAHS
Raquel Guarino, MS, CHT, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist and certified hand therapist on the faculty at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) campus in St. Augustine, Florida. Most of Raquel’s career has been in outpatient hand therapy, with earlier work in sensory integration and inpatient care.
Raquel leads an OT pro bono clinic, which gives students direct experience with clients, and teaches a methods course where students fabricate orthotics by hand. Both produce the moment Raquel enjoys most: students connecting the dots near the end of a term and realizing that they have made an impact on the lives of their clients.
Raquel also values the connection between faculty and students at USAHS.
Transcript
Raquel Guarino – MS, CHT, OTR_L – OT Faculty Profiles, USAHS
[00:00:00] Raquel Guarino (OT Faculty): I’m an occupational therapist and certified hand therapist, so essentially I’ve worked mostly in outpatient hand therapy, but I have also trickled into some sensory integration and inpatient care early on in my career. [00:00:12] I love to see the light in their eyes, like, the sense of fulfillment, and I get to be a part of their professional growth, so that’s, like, the best gift of all. [00:00:22] I do lead pro bono, and I think that gives the students the most hands-on experience with the patients, and I love to see that excitement and that accomplishment in their eyes when they finally feel like they’re connecting the dots a little bit, which is always nice. It’s always a good feeling at the end of their term that they finally are kind of getting everything together. As well as I teach methods too, which is when they get to fabricate orthotics. And again, essentially, they get to make things with their hands for patients, and they finally start to see that, that sense of achievement, which is always nice. They’re always surprised with themselves that they’ve accomplished something so cool. [00:01:07] To me, I think USA offers that connection to their students and staff. I have worked, I have gone to other universities before, and I didn’t have that connection with the faculty like the USA staff has with the students. I think we tend to put their lives essentially first or keep it balanced. I think that we are very empathetic as a staff, and we try to understand that, you know, it’s student first and life first, and we try to find that balance for them.
