New Occupational Therapy Clinic opens on Concorde Memphis Campus

Memphis campus this winter. This is Concorde's first occupational clinic among its campus with a focus to provide quality therapy services to the community while enhancing student learning opportunities.

The clinic officially opened December 15th, 2017, but the first patient was not until February of 2018. A ribbon-cutting was held on May 15th, 2018 with members of the Chamber of Commerce and staff present for the ceremony.

Why open an Occupational Therapy Clinic?

In talking with Leslie Nicole Hood, MSHS, OTR/L, Director of Concorde's Occupational Therapy Assistant Program in Memphis, she shared, "we noticed a gap in our (occupational therapist assistant) students' performance from their classroom skills to their ability to perform hands-on skills during their clinical rotations to meet the expectations of their clinical instructors".

In order for students to be successful, they are expected to carry a full caseload and also perform as an entry-level practitioner during their clinical rotations. "The students were having difficulty merging what they had learned with what they were able to do. We utilize the clinic to demonstrate hands-on skills in a controlled environment that allows the students to increase their knowledge and understanding while learning from their instructors", explains Hood.>

What does the Clinic mean for the campus?

The OTC serves as a bridge between the campus and community through a service-learning project. This allows the campus to open its doors to the public and show what is going on in the program, along with a display of what the profession includes.

"The clinic allows the instructors to stay up on their patient care skills while teaching the students in the best-simulated environment possible. The Students gain different respect for their instructors by seeing them in light of a practitioner instead of just an instructor" Hood says.

With the OTC, our occupational therapy assistant students have an opportunity to practice their hands-on skills with direct supervision before they go on clinical rotations, where they are expected to perform at a high level of productivity with limited supervision. This makes the students' overall program that much stronger and gets them job-ready faster.

How to Make an Appointment

To set up an appointment at the OTC, call 901-202-5428 or visit our Concorde services page. To set up an appointment, you must have a physicians order or evaluation and treatment of OT services.

"The clinic has had a slow start which allows our staff time to slowly integrate the requirements of running a clinic by putting the patient's needs first and teaching the students the skills required to learn", states Hood, "We continue to run the clinic in between terms so we are always available to offer OT services to the public and we teach around the clinic needs".

The clinic currently focuses on adult rehabilitation with a pediatric skills camp offered twice a year. The pediatric camp will run this coming December for the first time.

Becoming an Occupational Therapy Assistant

How To Become an Occupational Therapy Assistant

If you have an interest in becoming an occupational therapy assistant or would like to learn more about the other health care services offered at Concorde, contact our admissions office today!