2008 Occupational Therapy Class 
Members of the Class of 2008
On May 12, the majority of the 2008 Occupational Therapy class started their summer fieldwork clinical experiences. We are proud of this group of students that have maintained high grade point averages and successfully completed master’s projects. On April 29th, these students presented their projects to the occupational therapy community at the Monroe Conference Center. Each project contributed the knowledge base of occupational therapy with the assistance of doctoral level faculty members. These can be viewed at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/ot/mastersprojects2008.cfm. The students will graduate this December and be eligible for the certification exam as soon as their grades are complete. Congratulations! 
A fun look at the members of the Class of 2008
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 New Faculty Member! The Department of Occupational Therapy welcomes Denise K. Donica, DHS, OTR as a new assistant professor! She started on May 5, 2008 and will be teaching this summer with the professional master’s degree students in one of the intervention courses. Dr. Donica earned her Doctor of Health Science in December 2007 from the University of Indianapolis. Her occupational therapy degree is from Indiana University (1999) and she also has a bachelor's degree from Indiana University in psychology and criminal justice. Before coming to Greenville, Dr. Donica was an instructor at the University of Indianapolis in the professional master’s degree program in occupational therapy as well as a staff therapist at Ball Memorial Hospital. Dr. Donica's focus of clinical practice has been with the pediatric population, although she also has extensive experience with adult clients in a variety of settings. She is Level 1 certified in Handwriting Without Tears® and is currently a consultant and workshop presenter for Handwriting Without Tears®. She has implemented community-based programs to facilitate handwriting development in children from low-income families and worked with children individually and in small group settings. Her current research includes the completion of a historical research study on the development of handwriting instruction and a current outcomes research study on a handwriting enhancement program she developed at a local public school. Dr. Donica is married and has one daughter. We welcome Denise Donica to the Department and to Greenville!!
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 Dr. Jane Painter, Leading in Falls Prevention Dr. Jane Painter has become one of the leaders in Fall Prevention, especially in terms of community education. In October, Dr. Painter, along with Dr. Leslie Allison from the ECU Physical Therapy Department and Eastern Area Health Education Center received a $25,000 federal block grant with Carolina Geriatric Education Center. It is the only grant in North Carolina to focus on fall prevention and intervention to train rural primary care providers on how to assess an older person’s susceptibility for falls. The first phase, already underway, are surveys to determine the current standard of practice for area primary care physicians regarding screening seniors for fall risk. Dr. Painter and Dr. Allison were also identified as strategic leaders in planning a statewide falls prevention initiative - the North Carolina Falls Prevention Coalition by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. These faculty members will provide the leadership for this coalition. Additionally, Dr. Painter has also been invited to serve on the: - Carolina Geriatric Education Center Consortium through the UNC Center for Aging, and
- Become an AARP Health Specialist for CarFit and trained in the Powerful Tools for Caregivers.
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 Advancing Occupational Therapy: Linking Research to Practice On Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 twenty students presented their master’s degree projects to the community. This annual symposium provides an opportunity for occupational therapy personnel, consumers of occupational therapy services, and others to gather ideas and information o current and future practice trends and professionals issues in occupational therapy. This year, the Department was honored to have Sharon Elliott, Chair of the AOTA Geronotology Special Interest Section, give the key note address. Her presentation on A Kaleidoscope of Leadership Opportunities addressed the emerging practice areas and need for leaders to drive change in the occupational therapy field. Sharon is an alumni of the occupational therapy post-professional program and continues to practice in Greenville, NC.
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AOTA Conference Attended by Students and Faculty 
ECU Students Emily Parker, Joni Long, Megan Terrio, and Cherie Newton flank Wendy Wood, one of our leading occupational therapy scientists right before the Eleanor Slagle Lecture.
The 88th Annual Conference and Expo of the American Occupational Therapy Association in Long Beach, CA, was well represented by faculty of the Department of Occupational Therapy! Five faculty members attended the conference and most of those presented at the conference. (See faculty presentations). Five fortunate students also attended the conference. Their enthusiasm for the presentations and thrill to meet leaders in the field was clear. Our hope is more students will present and attend conferences in the future – both at national and state level. 
ECU Students also got to meet Dr. Barbara Schell, one of the editors of Willard and Spackman - their classic textbook.
Faculty Recognition Awards 
Anne and Tim show their awards for authorship this past year.
On April 2, 2008 Dr. Timothy Reistetter and Dr. Anne Dickerson joined others in the College of Allied Health Sciences to be honored by the Division of Health Sciences at the 3rd Annual Faculty Author Recognition Awards. This year, there was a luncheon that both attended and received recognition for authorships over the last year.
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 NIH Grant for Tim Reistetter The Occupational Therapy Department is very proud to announce that Dr. Timothy Reistetter has been selected as Scholar for the Rehabilitation Research Career Development Program, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This very select group of scholar recipients will be mentored by the leading researchers in the fields of occupational therapy and physical therapy. NIH’s goal with the career development program is to attract and support a broad cohort of basic and clinical investigators for research on improving the lives of people with chronic physical disabilities. Tim will be mentored by Dr. Kenneth Ottenbacher, the Director of the RRCD Program in the Division of Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. Tim will be primarily working in Galveston for the next 18 months with the plan to return to ECU to fully mobilize his motion analysis lab. ECU will get funding form NIH to hire faculty during the time Tim will be gone.
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North American License Policies Workshop 
Dennis McCarthy (OT), Anne Dickerson (OT), Lisa Molnar, David Eby, Sherrilene Claussen (OT), Elin Schold-Davis (OT), Occupational Therapists and Leaders of UMTRI at the AAA Foundation workshop
Dr. Anne Dickerson was selected as one of the participants of a panel of experts in traffic safety research. The workshop was sponsored by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety with two facilitators from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. The objective was to develop a robust long-term research agenda for traffic safety research, specifically the issues that licensing agencies must deal with in relation to aging drivers: accurate identification of high-risk drivers and implementation of appropriate and effective interventions. The participants included four occupational therapists and other leading researchers from United States, Great Britain, Australia, and Canada.
Senior Health Fairs
Daryl Bourgeois, one of our second year students, was highlighted in the Daily Reflector as one of the service providers at the senior health fair at the Greenville Aquatics and Fitness Center on November 7, 2007. Daryl was testing seniors on their brake reaction time in addition to educating them about safe driving practices. This activity is part of his master’s project for the occupational therapy program. Other students also participated in CarFit outside the Aquatics Center, educating seniors about the “fit” of their car. Senior drivers drive into the parking lot, review how their auto components function (like lights and seats), and review safety issues with the student CarFit technician. This also is a master’s project for Iesha Hernandez, Courtney Cosentino, and Kimberly Hocking. They are interviewing CarFit participants 2 -3 weeks later to evaluate what they remember from the CarFit event.
ECU’s Occupational Therapy Department’s Distinguished Alumni! On Homecoming Weekend, the College of Allied Health Sciences celebrated its 40th Anniversary by honoring 40 distinguished alumni. On Saturday, October 27, 2007, all four of the Occupational Therapy Department’s distinguished alumni attended. Most of the faculty members were on hand to celebrate with our four alumni! Below is a short bio on our distinguished alumni! Tony Bright is an alumnus from 1974, the second graduating class. Tony is from Pitt County, was a faculty member for ten years building a strong clinical education program with our fieldwork sites, and an avid Pirates fan. Tony attended the event with his family and currently working at the Caswell Center as an administrator. 
Tony Bright (in back) with (from left) father,
sister, niece, and wife Judy on the far right
Dr. Randy Strickland is the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Spalding University. He graduated in 1975 and was also a faculty member in the Department for 5 years. Randy is widely published and well known in the national community. He has held state and national positions in the professional associations as well as President of the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy for three years. He attended the event with his wife Laura, who is also an occupational therapist. 
Randy and Laura Strickland were welcomed
by Pat Frede (center), the College’s Director
of Development.
Wanda Bennett is the administrator of outpatient rehabilitation services at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. She was honored for her long time commitment to student education and mentoring, particularly minority students. She was a graduate of the program in 1980 and also has a master’s degree in rehabilitation studies. Wanda completed surveyor training and mentorship with the Commission on Accreditation for Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) Currently, Wanda is an adjunct professor teaching the Leadership/Management course for our graduate students. Wanda attended with her husband. 
Wanda and Randy Bennett
Sharon Elliot is one of our distinguished post-professional students! She was an occupational therapist working at Pitt Community College and in private practice. Since completing her master’s degree in 2001, Sharon has contributed much to the American Occupational Therapy Association, currently serving as the Chair of the Geronotology Special Interest Section. She has been in Greenville for many years and has assisted in grooming many occupational therapy assistants. She attended the event with her husband. 
Sharon and Bob Elliot
East Carolina University’s Occupational Therapy Department participated in the 50th Anniversary celebration at the North Carolina Occupational Therapy Conference in Greensboro on September 28, 2007. In preparation, the Department had a notebook with all the class pictures of the classes since 1997. We are missing some early class pictures and would love if those graduates could “dig” up one for our archives. Two early graduates Deborah Dunn and Kathy Matthews shared many memories with other alumni at the event. Drs. Beth Velde, Tim Reistetter, Anne Dickerson, and new faculty member Mike Bradley attended the conference over the weekend. Also, please check out our alumni page and send us an update about you! 
Alumni Deborah Dunn and Kathy Matthews from
the Classes of 1973 and 1974 reminisce about
the “good old days” at the NCOTA conference.
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After 12 years as Chair of the Occupational Therapy Department, Dr. Anne Dickerson stepped down in September to assume the Directorship of the Research for Older Adult Driver Initiative (ROADI). In the last twelve years, Anne has accomplished much in the Department including: development of a post-professional master’s degree program; transition from an undergraduate to a entry-level master’s degree program; establishment of the Graduate Certificate in Assistive Technology with the College of Education; growth of faculty membership from 5 members to 8; lead two successful accreditation visits in 1995 and 2005; helped establish lines of research for faculty members; and brought national attention to East Carolina University’s Department of Occupational Therapy through publication, editorship of Occupational Therapy in Health Care, and her educational leadership at the national level at the American Occupational Therapy Association. Anne looks forward to continuing her new passion of older driver research, working individually with graduate students, and mentoring new assistant professors in the Department.
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On September 21st, a CarFit event was held a the Cypress Glen Retirement Community. The event was planned by Dr. Jane Painter, ECU faculty, and Loretta Bartz, occupational therapist at Cypress Glen. Other members of the community supporting senior activities helped with the event. Six of the second year graduate occupational therapy students participated in this, their second or third Carfit, also training fellow classmates for future events. The event was planned specifically for Cypress Glen residents who scheduled appointments, but a future event is planned for a Carfit event for both Cypress Glen residents and the community on October 26th. |
The CarFit "technicians" and checkout occupational therapists | |
Iesha Hernandez, OTS, speaks with a CarFit participant. | |
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Emily Parker and Courtney Cosentina work with a CarFit participant. | |
ECU OT Students get ready for the CarFit Event! | |
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 On August 23, 2007, the first and second year graduate students gathered for an informal “meet and greet.” We had a beautiful afternoon to enjoy hot dogs and other treats. The yearly event is sponsored by the faculty members of the department to help students get to know each other and faculty members. Left: New faculty member Mike Bradley was initiated by cooking the hot dogs! | |
First and second year students socialize. | | | |
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Welcome Mike Bradley! Mike is our newest faculty member in the Occupational Therapy Department. He started on July 1, 2007. Mike is from Houston, Texas and this will be the first time he has lived outside of Texas. He has been a clinician for the last 14 years working in long term care, inpatient rehabilitation, and work evaluation. He has been a doctoral student at Texas Women’s University and will be finishing his doctoral work over the next year. Mike will be teaching much of our physical disabilities content in the program and recently attended the AMPS workshop here in April. Please welcome Mike when you visit the Department!
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Dr. Tim Reistetter has been awarded an East Carolina University Faculty Senates Research and Creative Grants award for $10,000. This internal competitive grant is significant accomplishment for a first time applicant and new faculty member. Tim will be working on the grant this summer. The title of the grant is: Upper Extremity Movement Smoothness Following Brain Injury and Stroke: Examination of Kinematic Variables with Rehabilitation Outcome Measures. Several graduate students will be working along with Tim to accomplish the goals of the grant.
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CarFit On May 18, 2007, seven occupational therapy students traveled to Norfolk, Virginia to get trained as CarFit technicians. CarFit is an educational program created by the American Society on Aging and developed in collaboration with AAA (American Automobile Association), AARP and the American Occupational Therapy Association. CarFit offers older adults 1) the opportunity to check out how well their personal vehicles "fit" them and 2) information and materials for community-specific resources and activities that could make their personal vehicles "fit" better, enhance their safety as drivers, or increase their mobility in the community. Dr. Anne Dickerson did the training under the GrandDriver Program of the Department of Aging in Virginia. On May 19, a CarFit was held for the public at a local Norfolk Chrysler dealership. Below are photos of the event on Saturday. |
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The first step is to check into a CarFit event, Corinne Burns and
Rachel Hill are manning the table. |
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Megan Terrio starts the checkoff with a participant. |
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Kim Hocking and Kelly Grayburn are ready for the next participant. |
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Courtney Cosentino looks on while Megan checks out “the fit”. |
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The participating students pose with Mabel, Flo, and Ruth – the GrandDriver models for Virginia!
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On May 10, 2007, we had a wonderful visit from “Itchy” Popkin, owner of Furniture Fair. Mr. Popkin donated all the furniture and contents of our “Skills for the Job of Living” Apartment laboratory. Anne Dickerson will tell you how much fun it was to pick out the furniture from the Greenville store and to go shopping at Target for everything else. Itchy was impressed with our occupational therapy work and was sincere in his offer to come back again to meet with students. If you have not seen our apartment, you must make a trip to visit it. We are very grateful for Itchy’s generosity in that the apartment is ready to move in with all the amenities of home. | |
 Anne Dickerson describes the use of the apartment with Itchy Popkin while Dean Stephen Thomas looks on. | |
 Stephen Thomas, Itchy Popkin, Anne Dickerson, Leonard Trujillo
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On May 2, the Occupational Therapy Department sponsored their annual research symposium at the Monroe Center. The Department was honored to have alumni and former faculty member Dr. Randy Strickland present the keynote address. Randy is now Vice President of Spalding University. He presented a keynote address titled: Enhanced Occupational Relevance: Utilizing Talent, Technology, and Tolerance in Virtual Context. It was an outstanding talk how occupational therapy will be impacted by the future and how occupational therapy can impact the future. After the presentation, the Department sponsored a wine and cheese reception for Randy, special friends, and the graduate students presenting their research. | |
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Dr. Stephen Thomas introduced Randy at the reception and “pinned” him with School of Allied Health Sciences pin. |
2007 Occupational Therapy Class |
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On May 5, 2007, the Graduate Class ceremony was held in Minges with the School of Allied Health Sciences ceremony. All the students attended and were recognized for their accomplishments. We have another wonderful group of students complete their course requirements except for one more fieldwork experience. After the ceremony, we gathered in our new labs for a reception hosted by the Department. A power point slide show was the highlight of the reception – showing that indeed, it was not all work! They did have time to play! It has been a great group of young people who will be terrific therapists in only a few short months. A fun picture of the group below! |
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 Ms. Amy Wentz was recognized by the Occupational Therapy Faculty as Outstanding Occupational Therapy Graduate Student. Amy was also honored by giving the Farewell Greeting to all graduates at the ceremony. Here is a PDF file of her farewell greeting. | |
On May 2, 2007, the 2007 Graduate Class presented their research projects at the Annual Research Symposium. Check the student presentation website for a specific description of their presentations.
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On April 24th, Dr. Anne Dickerson went to dinner with the North Carolina Congressional members and their staff. She was one of several other ECU faculty members who were given the opportunity to present their research projects for federal funding. Anne presented on ROADI (Research for the Older Adult Driver Initiative), asking for funding to support the development of a screening tool for older adult driving evaluations. ROADI is one of East Carolina University’s identified federal priorities.
Pictured above: Dr. Anne Dickerson with Walter Jones, NC Representative in Washington. | |
The week of April 23-27, 2007, the Department sponsored the second Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) workshop for the second year graduate students. As part of the requirements for the OCCT 6545 Application of Occupational Therapy Theory to Practice students learn how to use this assessment tool, founded in one of our models of practice taught at ECU. The students enjoyed the course, most stating that the observation skills learned during the week were invaluable. The students are required to assessment 10 more individuals and send their scores into AMPS International. If they are show to be reliable raters, they will become certified in the AMPS, a great addition to their resume. The Department had five additional certified occupational therapists attend the course from out of town. We were fortunate to have Fran Oakley from the National Institutes of Health and Leslie Duran, a therapist from Canada do the workshop. |
The AMPS workshop was held in our new building, using one of the library’s classrooms. | |
Fran Oakley, AMPS faculty | |
Leslie Duran, AMPS Faculty | |
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 Dr. Anne Dickerson was named one of this year’s 10 Centennial Women of Distinction by the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Women and the Ledonia Wright Cultural Center. The celebratory event was Friday, March 23rd with Maya Angelou as the speaker. Women of distinction are recognized leaders in their fields or professions. The ECU community nominated women whose work had furthered women’s empowerment, multiculturalism, social justice, and equity. After careful review of the nominations, ten were selected as Women of Distinction.
The Falls Free Coalition has selected the SPICE for Life program as one of the ten most creative programs nationally that focuses on home assessment and modification. The program was recognized in a joint conference of the American Society on Aging and National Council on Aging earlier this month. The SPICE for Life program focuses on fall prevention and intervention in Pitt County for the last 7 years. The program is multi-disciplinary and includes the Pitt County Council on Aging, Therapeutic Life Center, and Dr. Jane Painter. | |
On February 9, 2007 the School of Allied Health Professions sponsored the 3rd Annual Mills Symposium. The first day was presentations by leaders of the area and keynote speakers. The Keynote speaker was Dr. James Johnson, William Rand Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The second day's community outreach is titled "Practicing What You Preach: Developing Healthy Habits." The public is invited 10 a.m.-2 p.m. for free demonstrations, screenings and education. On this day occupational Therapy students manned a table to promote safe driver and the ROADI project. The students tested brake reaction time with a new brake reaction time device. |
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Courtney Cosentino and Corinne Burns test and record the brake reaction times of a volunteer. |
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Corinne explains the results of the timer. |
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In December, a loyal alumni, Kay Bright Bollinger, donated three wonderful paintings to adorn our walls in the office area. She came to our office and offered our choice of paintings and it was difficult to choose! Although I have the pictures below of the three paintings donated, please come by the office and look at the originals. I am sure you will be as enthralled with her work as we are. Here is her site if you are interested at looking at others: www.pearlakay.etsy.com |
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 The Department was very fortunate this past academic year to have one of its alumni teach OCCT 6500 Managing Occupational Therapy Services! Wanda Bennett, administrator of outpatient rehabilitation services at Pitt County Memorial Hospital taught the 3-credit course this fall. The graduate students were overwhelming positive about the course and proclaimed that Wanda did an outstanding job presenting real life management and leadership issues to them. Their recommendation is to retain Wanda as a permanent adjunct to the program! Wanda has been a employee of PCMH for many years and recently completed surveyor training and mentorship with the Commission on Accreditation for Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). We are proud to say that Wanda is an ECU occupational therapy alumni, a solid supporter of our occupational therapy program, and now an adjunct instructor.
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 In October, Dr. Anne Dickerson attended the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles Driver Training School in Greensboro. It was a two-week training course that included in-class lectures and behind-the-wheel training. As a result of the training, Anne would be able to do driving evaluations at and licensed commercial driving school. The intention of the training was to forward the goals of ROADI through collaboration with Pitt County Memorial Hospital’s InRoads program. Pictured above: Anne Dickerson with Wavy Williams, the BTW driver trainer. | |
Ribbon Cutting Event On September 22, 2006, our new building was dedicated! It was a well attended event by the media, members of congress, members from the University of North Carolina system, Pitt County Memorial Hospital representatives, alumni, and many members of East Carolina University. Go Pirates! Below are photos of the event! |
 Deborah Dunn from the first class of ECU’s Occupational Therapy Department is here with Scott Worley, one of the first faculty members! They were touring our simulated apartment when this picture was taken. | |
 The representatives of the University and the School of Allied Health cut the ribbon in front of the School of Allied Health Sciences. | |
 Anne Dickerson and Deborah Dunn chatted and enjoyed the event. | |
Donation from Furniture Fair “Itchy” Popkin of Furniture Fair donated the furniture and household items for the simulated apartment in the Department of Occupational Therapy in the new Health Sciences Building. The donation was very generous and will allow students to sue the apartment for learning how to evaluate and treat clients more effectively in their home. Faculty will also be using the apartment for research. Below are some pictures of the apartment and its new furnishings! Thank you Itchy! |
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Occupational Therapy Picnic The new entering occupational therapy graduate students and the current second year class met together after the first day of class for a picnic in Jane Painter’s lovely back yard. It is a yearly event sponsored by faculty members for the students in an effort to help students get to know each other and the faculty in a more informal setting. It was a lovely evening and everyone seemed to enjoy the event. |
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Dr. Velde attends National Conference on Rural Health Care On September 7-10, 2006, 40 leaders from across the United States involved in rural, interdisciplinary training of health professional students gathered at the Leadership in Rural Health Inter-professional Education: A Working Conference for Leaders in Rural Health Care in Denver, Colorado to discuss the strengths and challenges of working with rural communities. Dr. Beth Velde was one of the invited participants representing the occupational therapy profession and the Department of Occupational Therapy at East Carolina University.
(In picture above: Participants met in small groups to discuss issues.) | |
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