OTD Student Connects Research With Practice at AOTA Future Scientist Institute
Published March 28, 2024
By Darlene Muguiro
UTEP College of Health Sciences
Natalie Pravinkumar, a second-year Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) student, recently returned from an intensive, two-day Future Scientist Institute offered by the American Occupational Therapy Association, in conjunction with the American Occupational Therapy Foundation. Pravinkumar is one of only 30 student fellows selected nationally for the program – and is the sole representative from the state of Texas. The Institute is designed to support future researchers in the field of occupational therapy.
Pravinkumar says that she felt driven to apply due to the lack of research in the field being done by actual licensed occupational therapists and published in OT journals, something she feels is necessary for future therapists who should be providing evidence-based care.
“OT science is one of the newer focuses in the field, and I was interested in getting to know more about how to be a clinician and a researcher, and how to make that transition to become a science-based practitioner,” she said.
The Institute was held in conjunction with the AOTA conference, and fellows attended specific sessions geared toward science in OT, featuring practitioners who have received national awards for their research. While there, Pravinkumar learned best practices about transitioning into research from the clinical profession.
“There were a lot of discussions around pursuing a PhD after receiving the OTD degree, and feelings were mixed. All of the researchers who had received awards had a PhD,” she said. “We also heard from people who were doing clinical research with their OTD, and they suggested going into clinical practice first and assessing what the gaps are, and then assisting OT scientists who are doing research full time.”
Despite the experience being very fast-paced, Pravinkumar says she enjoyed the opportunity to network with her peers, and was pleasantly surprised to see the depth of research topics in OT. Her own interests include diversity, equality and inclusion in the profession, as well as trauma-informed care, specifically in the area of curriculum development.
“Occupational therapy is such a broad field in general, but each time I heard someone speak about their research, or heard one of my classmates talk about something they were doing, I was just struck by the potential in the field to reach people,” she said. “Something that really blew my mind was a project where a researcher used the devices typically used by car insurance companies to monitor drivers. He collected data on older drivers, and over the course of many years, based on the data that was collected, the team could predict pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease.”
As part of the program, Pravinkumar will be connected with mentors in her areas of specialization and will complete period check-ins regarding any research that she has conducted. She encourages any student in a clinical professional degree to consider participating in research when given the opportunity.
“When you get to hear about what’s actually going on currently in the research world, instead of just reading about it in class, it’s really inspiring,” she said. “All of my institute classmates have this personal connection to the field, and I just see the future of OT being very bright. I would encourage anyone to be open to the idea of incorporating research into their career as a clinician, even if it’s just through a class or a project, because it can help you build that evidence base for your practice, and you’ll benefit from it.”
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Go Miners!
For more information about the UTEP Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program, please visit: www.utep.edu/chs/ot/.
Photo courtesy of Natalie Pravinkumar