As I start to prepare for the National Exam and get ready to say goodbye to school for the time being, I find myself thinking about what a great experience being at SMR was. I really wanted to take the opportunity to thank you all for contributing in such big ways to my education as an Occupational Therapist. In the moment I never took the time to say it, but I think of many of you as role models, and aspire to be as passionate and knowledgeable in the field as you all are. I think you all do such a fantastic job of conveying your knowledge to students and seem to constantly try and find new and exciting ways to teach. This is truly inspiring. Since being out of school I have heard twice people say that grads from the U of M program are well rounded and come with a lot of knowledge. I am proud to come from a program that has such a good reputation around the country.
So, thanks again for a great two years! I won't forget it.”
(Excerpt from a thank you letter written by Marietta Schoenau (Grad 2009) to the Department of Occupational Therapy.)
The alternating blocks of classroom-based learning with practice-based fieldwork allowed me to get a background and base in the knowledge and skills that I would then get to go out and try in fieldwork. This helped to solidify my newly learned knowledge and skills, understand their importance and expand on these in the subsequent academic and fieldwork blocks.
Throughout the two years of the MOT program, the faculty provided me with so much support and were there to offer their assistance. During the first week of the program, I remember one of the faculty members saying we were their new colleagues and they wanted to treat us as such. They did treat me as their colleague and provided valuable mentorship. They were not there to see me fail but to succeed and excel. The work is tough, the hours are long, but the MOT program at the University of Manitoba is a wonderful hands-on graduate program which leads to a very meaningful career in occupational therapy.
Rachel Clark, Class of 2010
October, 2018
College of Rehabilitation Sciences
R106 - 771 McDermot Ave.
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T6 Canada
204-789-3897
Fax: 204-789-3927
CORS.info@umanitoba.ca