Check out this video about the human thumb featuring Professor of Occupational Therapy Peter Talty.

The full store, including Prof. Talty’s bio, can be found here.

Jillian Grenier ’11, assists Mark Levin of Bioness in demonstrating the NESS H200 Hand Rehabilitation System.

The Keuka College Occupational Therapy (OT) program is proud to prepare clinical leaders of tomorrow. Part of this preparation is the development of skills in life-long learning which reinforces the professions requirements for continuing education beyond entry level certification. The OT program recognizes that life-long learning can be achieved in a large variety of ways from volunteering to specialized education. This honors program is designed to recognize individuals and their individual style of enhancing their professional skills.

All Keuka College OT students are eligible to participate in this program. Students receiving 10 Professional Development Units (PDUs) in a minimum of 3 different professional development activity areas per semester will have Honoring OT Leaders of Tomorrow on their co-curricular transcript. Activities from the summer may be applied. Students receiving 5 PDUs per semester attended will receive divisional honors upon graduation with their Bachelors of Science degree in Occupational Science.

There are various ways to earn PDUs through attending events, volunteering, mentoring and memberships. Activities may be on or off campus. For example, attending a review of the National Board of Certification for Occupational Therapists exam by division chair, Dr. Vicki Smith, counted as 1 PDU. Dr. Dickenson, professor of OT and natural sciences, will have a few juniors accompany the sophomores to the New York Chiropractic College for anatomy lab which is worth 1 PDU. The Division of OT has held two seminars for Brain Gym for working with neurologically involved clients and a demonstration from Bioness, mild electrical stimulation equipment. The Division of Social Work held a discussion group on Alzheimer’s with a visiting case worker and a care giving daughter worth 1 PDU.

Other ways to earn PDUs is attending conferences, being a member of national, regional or local professional organizations, present a learning experience, develop instruction materials, professor guided learning or having an article published.

She has a full-time job lined up a year-and-a-half before she earns her master’s degree in occupational therapy (OT) from Keuka College.

Campbell received a New York City Department of Education scholarship that will cover one year of undergraduate or graduate school tuition. In return, Campbell committed to working in the New York City school system for two years.

“I have always wanted to live in New York City,” said Campbell, a senior from Troy, Pa. “Being from a small town, city life sounds great, and there will always be something to do.”

Campbell expects to work in the Bronx or Brooklyn.

“I am looking forward to the challenge this position will bring,” she said.

“The New York City school system is looking for qualified people and occupational and physical therapists are lacking,” said Rod Terminello, director of grants.

According to Professor and Chair of OT Vicki Smith, the scholarship is “an excellent reflection on our 20-year history of training future OT professionals. We are excited to provide this scholarship opportunity for our OT students in order to meet the need for OT services in the New York City school system.”

Campbell has been interested in OT since she was a child and helped her mother, a special education teacher, set up her classroom.

“I played with the kids and because I was close to their age, I could relate to them,” she explained. “Now, when I work [at my mom’s school], I see that it is still playing, but is more structured play.

“I believe this experience prepared me to be an OT professional because it showed me how to interact with children and not to treat them as though they have a disability,” she added. “Also, my mom helped me by always being positive through the hard times when she was at work and [by showing me] that most things can be overcome with faith and strength.”

Jonel’s OT areas of practice include acute care, early intervention as an independent provider, home health, long term care and clinical coordinator in a long term care setting.  Jonel has completed special studies in sensory integration and dementia care.

Jonel has provided presentations for school systems on autism, and the national MS society regarding occupational therapy and adaptive equipment for the individual with MS. She serves as a committee member for the national MS Walk.

Across these settings Dianne has developed management expertise by operating multidisciplinary rehabilitation programs, developing and operating hospital-based nursing homes, and offering management consulting to healthcare agencies in trouble.

Dianne received her bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and an MBA from Alfred University. Dianne has taught courses at higher education institutions including Alfred University, Alfred State College of Technology and Keuka College as an adjunct professor prior to joining the faculty full time.

Part of her role includes making site visits to the many facilities that provide educational experiences for our OT students. Jean works collaboratively with the Central N.Y. Fieldwork Consortium to provide continuing education credit as well to the FW educators.

Here at Keuka she has just completed a three-year term on the Professional Standard’s Committee where she served as the chair during the last year. Outside of Keuka, Jean serves on the G.I.F.T.S. board that provides camping experiences for children with disabilities and their families. This opportunity provides experiential hands on learning for interdisciplinary students here at the college.

She has worked with diverse teams in hospitals, long term care and outpatient environments.  Ms. Teter joined the faculty on a full-time basis in January 2008 and looks forward to integrating her work experiences into the academic experience.

His practicing of OT has often been combined with teaching. Prior to joining Keuka in 1987, he taught at the University at Buffalo, and has served as an adjunct professor at D’Youville College in Buffalo. Until 1997, he was also the owner and President of OT Works, PC a private OT practice serving numerous agencies in the Western New York area.

Now he concentrates all of his energy on his academic post and strives to actively engage all students at all times in all of his classes.  His effectiveness in teaching is evident in his receiving the Outstanding Teacher Award for the School of Health Related Professions at the University at Buffalo in 1980, and the Professor of the Year award at Keuka College.

His present teaching responsibilities are focused on intervention courses where students are given ample opportunities to practice clinical skills prior to working with actual clients.  He is constantly seeking to create learning experiences that build knowledge and skills with an emphasis on “real world” applications, but that also build the confidence in each student.

Dr. Dickinson holds degrees from Syracuse University (B.S., Biology), Barry University (M.S., Biomedical Science), and Penn State University (Ph.D., Neuroscience).

He teaches several “background” courses for the OT program, including Anatomy & Physiology, and Applied Anatomy and Neuroanatomy.

Dr. Dickinson works closely with the New York State Chiropractic College to provide OT students with a gross anatomy experience.

Dr. Battaglia earned degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo (B.S., Occupational Therapy), the State University College at Buffalo (M.S., Exceptional Education); and the University of Pittsburgh (Ph.D., Epidemiology).

She joined the OT faculty at Keuka after teaching at the University of Pittsburgh for the 18 years.  She received the Academic Educator Award in 1999 from the Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association.  Her area of practice is pediatrics, specializing in rehabilitation and school-based practice.

As a trained Literacy Volunteer, she provides literacy training to adults.  She also serves as a board member for the Literacy Volunteers of Ontario County and is on the tutor training team.