OTD Student Elected to Texas Occupational Therapy Association Board
Published July 10, 2023 By Darlene Muguiro UTEP College of Health Sciences
Natalie Pravinkumar, a third-semester student in the Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) Program, has been nominated to the board of the Texas Occupational Therapy Association (TOTA). In her role, Pravinkumar will represent OTD students from member institutions across the state of Texas. Pravinkumar’s one-year term began June 27th, when TOTA board members officially voted her into the organization.
Pravinkumar says that she first learned about the student representative position during class with Dr. Kaleigh Stevens, UTEP OTD clinical assistant professor and chairperson for TOTA’s Rio Grande district. Pravinkumar says her personal curiosity to learn more about the inner workings of the profession and TOTA motivated her to continue with the competitive application process.
“I think that as a student, there’s a little bit of disconnect with understanding what benefits organizations like TOTA can provide to students when we’re not really practicing yet,” she said. “I also thought it would be exciting to be involved at the student level with an organization like TOTA that is statewide.”
While Pravinkumar says she’s still learning about all of the benefits of being a TOTA member, she does know that the organization provides much-needed support for students and new graduates in the relatively small OTD field in Texas, including a mentor-mentee program for newly-minted occupational therapists, opportunities for students to present and receive feedback on research at statewide conferences, and a referral system to help answer any questions that professionals may encounter.
Pravinkumar’s first official duty as a board member will be to lead student discussion groups at the upcoming TOTA conference in November. She will also attend a networking event for new members of the TOTA board in January 2024. In the interim, she’ll attend TOTA board meetings via Zoom, where she will provide input on topics that directly affect OTD students.
"Student representatives are an important bridge between OT students at the member institutions and TOTA,” she said. “The board asks for our input on things like how to reach out to OT students, what kind of social media platforms work best, and what kinds of events or programs would be most helpful to them. So, we communicate via email with other student representatives from the member organizations and pass along what we’ve learned to the board.”
Pravinkumar said she’s particularly excited about her term coinciding with changes across academic institutions in Texas which are moving from offering master’s degrees in occupational therapy to doctoral degrees. Among the many curricular changes is the addition of a capstone project, which Pravinkumar predicts will greatly affect how OT students interact with TOTA. Prior to her graduation in 2025, Pravinkumar will also complete a capstone. She plans to focus on creating an educational program for OT students and providers in trauma-based care for survivors of human trafficking. The topic is close to the native Houstonian’s heart, with the city's unfortunate status as the human trafficking capital of the United States.
“I hope to create something that is not only applicable to UTEP, but which can also be used by TOTA as a continuing education program for professionals,” she said. “So, when I learned that I had received this position, I was really excited because I knew that this was a perfect opportunity to network with professionals I wouldn’t otherwise have contact with...and in my first meeting, I met a lady who is interested in the same topic, at the national level, and she offered to be my mentor.”
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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