Description
As a student organization, Diverse-OT strives to create pathways for underrepresented students to pursue a career in occupational therapy (OT). In working towards this goal, we host interactive OT workshops for high school students across the state of WI. Through these workshops, Diverse-OT members share their journey through higher education, provide an introduction to the OT profession, and share OT adaptive equipment for a hands-on student experience. We also present the workshop in Spanish when more beneficial for the given audience. By reaching students earlier in their academic trajectory, we are able to encourage career exploration, serve as role models for pursuing higher education, and spark interest in the field of OT.
Outcomes
Over the past year, Diverse-OT served over 350 high school students across 6 schools and 3 cities within WI. We visited 2 Milwaukee schools (Rufus King International High School and Messmer High School), 1 Darlington school (Darlington High School), and 3 Madison-area schools (Memorial High School, East High School, and Wright Middle School). Feedback surveys from the students found that our workshops continue to have high educational impact. Students were excited to learn about OT, as most of them had never heard of the profession before. They felt that the hands-on component of the workshop best helped them to understand the purpose of OT. Many of the students even reported gaining an interest in pursuing OT as a future career path.