Dana Skelton...
... is a student in SVSU’s five-year Occupational Therapy program, and is about to begin a large research project on amputee patients, under the direction of her faculty advisor.
“I chose occupational therapy because the career options are so broad. For me there is real meaning and purpose in helping people to regain their independence after an injury. If you like caring for people and seeking creative solutions to problems that effect people’s lives, then OT is the perfect occupation for you!”
“SVSU has the best Occupational Therapy program in the state, and the faculty are wonderful. They are passionate about the profession and experienced as therapists and as researchers. Most important, they are dedicated to ensuring that students become the best possible occupational therapists.”
“SVSU’s OT Program emphasizes the real-life clinical situation. As occupational therapists, it is our job to help these individuals learn how to use their prosthetics (if they choose to have one) and adapt to their environments. Congenital amputation means the individual was born with the amputated limb whereas acquired means the amputation happened later in life or shortly after birth due to some kind of trauma (i.e. gain green from chronic infection, burns, or tumors).”
Dana is about to begin working on a long-term research project under the direction of a faculty advisor. The purpose of this study is to better understand the lived experiences of individuals with acquired and congenital amputations.
“The program is hard work; there are many presentations and papers and exams, sometimes long ones! But in the end, everyone in the program has no doubt that the hard work will pay off in the end.”