Occupational Therapist

• May 2022 - Present

Community Team Leader - Occupational Therapist

• Nov 2020 - Apr 2022

Occupational Therapist

• Jul 2020 - Nov 2020

Occupational Therapist - Site Lead

• Dec 2018 - Jul 2020

Project Manager

• Jun 2013 - Jan 2019

Employed as a project manager for Risk Aware and Deakin Psychology Virtual Clinic. These projects were undertaken by the School of Psychology at Deakin University and funded by the Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) and Health Workforce Australia (HWA). My responsibilities in this position are independently liaising with key stakeholders in industry, education, website development, film production, legal, marketing and funding personnel.Production of simulated educational content to increase student learning Management of all project team members and training simulated patients Collaboration with team members in developing and reviewing educational content Risk Aware Independently conducting interviews and data collecting from key industry stakeholders to inform article publication with vast experienced in researching and referencing data for grant applications and literature reviews Providing high level support to the chief investigators and partnering universities Administration responsibilities not limited to but including managing budgets, producing progress and final reports to funding body, user enrolments and collating progress data for partnering universities. Recipient of the inaugural Metropolitan Educator Award for outstanding contribution Ito the education and training of current and/or future health workers and a recipient of the WJC Banks Award for distinguished contributions to teaching.

Occupational Therapy nine week clinical placement

• Aug 2018 - Sep 2018

Whilst on placement at the Kingston Centre I had the opportunity to work with a variety of conditions: Stroke, Brain tumours, Brain cancer and Functional Neurological Disorder (FND). The inpatients were of multiple culturally diverse backgrounds and ages ranged between 27 to 90 years. This setting enabled opportunities to work along side interpreters, various disciplines within the multidisciplinary team and patients and their families. The types of occupational performance issues were multifarious ranging from self-care (dressing, showering, toileting), domestic (meal preparation, laundry) to community access. The types of assessments completed whilst in this setting were shower assessments, light meal preparation, dressing practice, upper limb, motor assessment scale, ROM, MMT, 9 hole peg test, perceptual (confrontation), cognitive (MOCA. functional cognitive screen). Skills and further experience I have obtain on this placement: Independently completed neurological initial assessments with patientsAble to complete all documentation independently to a high standardDemonstrated competence in discharge planning with very little input from supervisors Demonstrated outstanding patient centred care by always involving patients and families in the goal developing process and discharge planning stage. Independently carrying caseload of four patients + three complex neurological patients with support from supervisor.Independently able to seek feedback from supervisors, other occupational therapists and disciplines regarding complex patients and effectively modifies practice accordingly. Independently planning weekly timetable and patient sessions. Independently able to liaise with team members informally and formally during case conference to discuss patient progress and discharge plans. Independently developing and implementing UL programs for patients and completing outcome measures.

Participatory Community Practice (PCP) Placement

• Jul 2017 - May 2018

For my research project I was fortunate enough to be appointed to Willum Warrain an Aboriginal gathering place in Hastings. This was the second project in collaboration with Monash University for the organisation.This project was an enlightening experience for me and the cultural awareness that I have obtained from this placement has provided me with a great opportunity to educate other health professionals in clinical practice on Aboriginal culture and give back to the community. This experience enabled me to utilise my occupational therapy skills at a population and community level by creating awareness to local schools, local businesses and community members. Providing my administration skills to develop processes for the staff to ensure sustainability after the project was completed. By participating in the daily operations and group programs I was able to improve occupation engagement and performance in a culturally respectful way by cooking a healthy meal for the mothers group allowing for social interaction and support in a holistic environment. Another example is my assistance in the instillation of breeding boxes in the trees to bring the native wildlife back to the area and providing an sense of connection to country for the Aboriginal community.

Occupational Therapy six week clinical placement

• Jun 2017 - Jul 2017

My third year placement was at Dandenong Community Rehabilitation Centre (CRC), This was an outpatient rehab and the type of clients that attended in this community setting were clients that had cardiac surgery or an event, stroke, hip and knee replacements and Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). Whilst on this placement I Independently managed a caseload of eight clients and I was able to always conduct myself in a respectful and professional manner with a diverse number of clients and disciplines in the community environment, as well as demonstrating excellent time management and communications skills with clients. My strengths were demonstrating effective time management skills when preparing for client sessions, good leadership skills and able to offer support to peers, actively seeking feedback and modifying therapy accordingly, gathering appropriate information from recommended sources to assist in development of intervention and discharge plans for clients in a community rehabilitation setting. e.g. public transport plans, support groups.

Occupational Therapy Three week clinical placement

• May 2016 - May 2016

My second year placement was at Dandenong hospital in the acute mental health unit 1, the type of patients that presented were predominantly schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and substance use disorders with a varying age range between 26 years to 64 years. Whilst at this placement I demonstrated efficient time management and organisational skills, proficient communication skills with other disciplines and patients and at all times demonstrated a professional manner whilst also providing a high level of patient centred care. Whilst I was at this placement I successfully completed to a high standard the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and began to develop competent skills in managing and running a group in a acute mental health setting. Throughout placement I showed excellent observational skills and effectively followed hospital policies and procedures. I began to develop good and appropriate documentation skills with minimal assistance from supervisor.

Occupational Therapy first year placement

• Jun 2015 - Jun 2015

In first year of my degree I commenced a 2 day observational placement at Biala in Mornington, this is a early intervention centre for children with disabilities or developmental delays from birth to 12 years old. The main disabilities I encountered were Down Syndrome, Autism and ADHD. During my 2 day placement I assisted in the set up and involvement of an early childhood intervention group with parents and therapists, 1:1 play therapy, report writing for the centre using the Victorian Early Youth Framework model, accompanying supervisor to a home visit and completing handwriting tasks with child whilst supervisor spoke with parent and attending a school visit with a child with ADHD where i observed my supervisor conducting many interventions during the visit to initiate participation.

Project Officer

• Jan 2013 - Jun 2014

Employed as a project officer for the National Drug and Alcohol Mapping Project (NDAMP). This project was undertaken by the Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice at Monash University in collaboration with Turning Point Drug and Alcohol Centre and the Department of Health.For this project my role entailed the following responsibilities:Liaison with key stakeholders from national drug and alcohol servicesResearching, analysing data and database entryDissemination of the completed project at the RACGP conference in Lancefield Providing support to the project manager and supervising summer scholars Communicating with project manager regarding operational issues and input into problem solving processes and implement solutionsAdministrative responsibilities including formulating reports and competent with Microsoft office software and co-ordination of Public Steering Committee meetings including preparation and distribution of agenda and meeting minutes