Volunteering with the wheelchair rugby team brought her future into focus
Erin Kissel is getting valuable experience working with athletes that will make her a better occupational therapist.
When Erin Kissel began volunteering with a wheelchair rugby team, her future came into focus.
Helping players with their equipment and wheelchair transfers sparked her interest in working with adults rehabilitating from spinal cord injuries.
Not only has she made a lot of great friends on the team, but she’s also getting valuable experience that will make her a better occupational therapist.
“I love working with (the team) and learning about them as individuals,” says Kissel. “But I also get to learn about their injuries and where they are in life that got them to this point.”
Kissel was led to this opportunity by TU lecturer Lori Patria and says it is typical of the many chances offered within the Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science for real-world experience.
“ We are given so many opportunities to experience all aspects of occupational therapy. ”
By the time Kissel, who is president of Towson’s Student Occupational Therapy Association, graduates with a master’s degree in occupational therapy, she will have had five required field experiences under her belt on top of volunteering.
“In the program, we are given so many opportunities to experience all aspects of occupational therapy,” says the Lancaster, Pennsylvania native.
Already she has interned at TU’s Institute for Well-Being and at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital in Salisbury, Maryland, as well as participating in four national occupational therapy conferences.
I’ve met people from all over the country, I’ve seen lectures about all different occupational therapy topics,” says Kissel. “I’ve experienced it all first-hand.”
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