Elizabethtown College Occupational Therapy Faculty and Alumni Present Research at Conference

Elizabethtown College Occupational Therapy faculty and alumni recently presented research at the annual Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association (POTA) Conference in Pittsburgh from September 29 through 30.

“Conducting research with students is a wonderful way to mentor them into the scholarly process, and this eventually helps our profession,” Elizabethtown College Associate Professor and Occupational Therapy BS/MS Program Director, Debbie Waltermire said. “The mentoring of professional presentations is helpful for them to gain confidence in their skills with writing conference proposals and developing presentation skills.”

Etown Occupational Therapy Lecturer Gina Fox, OTD, OTR/L, BCPR, Taylor Allen MSOT ’23, Jaime McNabb MSOT ’23, Jillian Meitzler MSOT ’23, and Veronica Martonik MSOT ’23 presented, “Exploring the Impact of Musculoskeletal Pain in Mothers.”  The group studied the prevalence and perceived impacts of musculoskeletal pain on a new mother’s occupational performance, while also exploring future preventative education and intervention for musculoskeletal pain in mothers.

Fox also presented with Jillian Benedetti MSOT ’23, Morgan Gibau MSOT ’23, Robin Hill MSOT ’23, and Natalie Shearer MSOT ’23 on “The Occupational Therapy Educational Splinting Tool: A Case Study.” The group examined the occupational therapy educational splinting tool (OTEST), which is a decision tree designed to help new practitioners make clinical decisions after a client acquires brain injury.

“Both student groups did an amazing job presenting and fielding questions, and both presentations were well received by conference attendees,” Fox said.

Additionally, Etown Associate Professor and Director for Post Professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate Kerri Hample, OTR/L, NBV-HWC, co-presented, “State Board of Education and Licensure: How to Lose your License to Practice,” providing an overview of the legal aspects of licensure in occupational therapy.

Current Occupational Therapy majors and members of Etown’s Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA), Bella Mendez ’24 and Elizabeth Petlick ’25, attended the conference as part of the People Power Volunteer Program, sponsored by POTA. Two students from each higher education institution represented at the conference were selected for the program.

Students in the program volunteered for one day of the conference, helping moderate research presentations, setting up and tearing down presentations and working the registration table. In exchange, they were able to attend the other day of the conference for free.

“Seeing Etown professors and students present at the conference inspired me to try and present in my future,” Mendez said. “My OT classes have provided me with so many opportunities to apply foundational knowledge and get hands-on experience with my professors, classmates, and the local community.”