OTD News Volume VII, Issue 2

96th Annual AOTA Conference April 6-10 By: Emil Methipara, Jordan Powers, and Amanda Unruh From April 7-10 , 2016, we attended the American Occupational Therapy Associa- tion’s national conference in Chicago, IL. It was a great opportunity to network with students and occupational therapy practitioners across the United States of America. We attended numerous short courses that were pertinent to our areas of interest. Some of these included:  The Sensational Hand: The Role of Neurorehabilitation in the Management of the Orthopedic Upper Extremity  Service Dog Training: An Experiential Learning Treatment Modal- ity for Patients with Post Traumatic Stress  Engaging in Sexual Activity  Intimacy Post-Polytrauma Combat Injury: An Occupational Thera- py Perspective  Focusing on Fathers within Family-Centered Care We chose to attend these courses because we wanted to further understand the role of occupational therapy in these practice areas and the skills needed to work in these settings. The keynote speakers really stood out and gave us a newfound passion through their heartfelt appreciation for occupational therapy. The Presi- dential farewell speech, the inaugural Presidential address, and the Eleanor Clarke Slagle lecture were all eye opening, empowering, and motivating for us, this solidi- fied our decision that we were pursuing the right profession. It was a great experi- ence and way to acknowledge our profession and how important occupational therapy services are to our future clients. We advise any student who is interested in attending the centennial conference in Philadelphia, PA, to apply for the subsidy because it is a fantastic learning experience. Overall, this was a wonderful oppor- tunity that we sincerely cherish. Page 4 OTD News, Volume VII, Issue 2 Emil Methipara, OTD-S Jordan Powers, OTD-S Amanda Unruh, OTD-S OTD program faculty and students at NSU alumni reception.