Welcome everyone to the Summer 2007 newsletter from the School of Rehabilitation Science (SRS), McMaster University.

Since May 2007, the SRS has been involved in several activities in the educational and research areas. We invited approximately 300 OT and 300 PT domestic applicants for an interview over the OT/PT Admissions Interview Weekend, April 25 - 27, 2007. Following the mailing of offers in mid-May, we will welcome approximately 145 new students to the SRS this September. On September 4, 2007, 61 new domestic and 3 new international students will commence their academic journey in the professional master's OT program and 76 new domestic and 3 new international students will begin their academic journey in the professional master's PT program. Read more about the 2007 professional master's first online offer process in the Activities section.

Since the winter of 2007, our research thesis-based master's program added 6 more graduates to its graduate roster, and many of our faculty and associate colleagues received research grants and awards. In September 2007, the SRS will welcome 1 new candidate to the thesis-based master's program and 5 new candidates to the PhD program. Highlights of our research activities are available in the Research Spotlights section.

The Classes of 1992, 1997 and 2002 attended their respective reunions on Saturday, June 9, 2007. Many of the alumni began their celebrations on June 8^th and culminated their visit with former classmates on June 10^th. Read more about the exciting and successful reunion event in the Activities section of the newsletter.

As we approach the fall months, we will continue to work on further expanding the educational and research capacity of rehabilitation science in graduate studies, and playing a key role in mobilizing health care service in the community.

Remember to stay connected and share your recent activities with us.

As always, we welcome your feedback and... stories - send them to collinsh@mcmaster.ca

With warmest regards.

Penny Salvatori, Acting Associate Dean, School of Rehabilitation Science

UPCOMING EVENTS

The McMaster Distinguished H. Lyman Hooker Visiting Professor

The SRS is pleased to announce that Dr. Winifred Dunn has been invited to the SRS as the McMaster Distinguished H. Lyman Hooker Visiting Professor, from October 3 - 12, 2007. During this time, she will be giving a public lecture and providing many opportunities for our students, faculty and the clinical rehabilitation community. Dr. Dunn’s practice expertise is with children and families in community settings, such as public schools, early intervention programs, day care centres, and families’ homes.

An outstanding clinician and educator in her field, Dr. Dunn is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy Education at the University of Kansas. Dr. Dunn has been teaching graduate courses at the University since 1995 and was awarded the W.T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence and the Award of Merit from the American Occupational Therapy Association.

Mark this date down!

9 TH Annual Helen Saarinen Lectureship
and
SRS Awards
Tuesday, October 2, 2007- 4:00 pm
Institute for Applied Health Sciences - Room B102
Reception to Follow

The Helen Saarinen Lectureship was established as a memorial to an outstanding colleague who was dedicated to the advancement of rehabilitation practitioners in general and Physiotherapists in particular.

Helen devoted her professional life to the development of caring and capable clinicians in Canada and around the world. With the Mohawk-McMaster Program, and more recently the School of Rehabilitation Science, her leadership, knowledge and compassion served as a paradigm for two generations of students. Through this lectureship, current clinicians and future generations of rehabilitation professionals continue to benefit from Helen's devotion to her work.

The Helen Saarinen Lectureship Committee is pleased to announce that

Dr. Carol Richards, Director
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in
Rehabilitation and Social Integration
Laval University

is the 2007 Helen Saarinen Lecturer

Dr. Carol Richards is known for her expertise in the evaluation and therapy of persons with movement disorders. She is a Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, at Laval University and Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration (CIRRIS) located at the Quebec Rehabilitation Institute.

Dr. Richards received her MSc from the University of Saskatchewan in 1969 and her PhD in Experimental Surgery from McGill University in 1980. She was the Founding Director of the Quebec Provincial Rehabilitation Research Network (REPAR), and sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Stroke Network and the International Scientific Advisory Boards of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and the Brain Rehabilitation Research Centre, University of Florida at Gainesville. She is one of the premier rehabilitation researchers in the world. Her studies have benefited the health and well-being of children with cerebral palsy and traumatic brain injury as well as adults who are recovering from stroke and those with Parkinson's disease. Dr. Richard's many awards and honors include a Green Visiting Professorship from UBC (2002), the Enid Graham Memorial Lecture from the CPA (2004) and the Jonas Salk Award from the Ontario March of Dimes (2005).

ACTIVITIES

TRI Reunion Celebration, June 9, 2007

Under blue skies and sunny weather, approximately 80 alumni and faculty, staff and student representatives attended various reunion activities on June 9, 2007. Alumni from the Classes of 1992, 1997 and 2002 celebrated their 15-year, 10-year and 5-year anniversary respectively. With their family in tow, alumni returned to their alma mater in high spirits, looking forward to reconnect with their former classmates and instructors. Some of the alumni participated in the Helen Saarinen Fun Run in the morning, whilst others mingled and networked with former instructors, staff organizers and student representatives. Over the course of the morning and over the lunch hour, the backyard of the IAHS was filled with children's laughter and boundless energy, as they played with water balloons, and chased one another around the trees and picnic tables and chairs. Some of the children preferred to demonstrate their creative talent with colourful crayons whilst munching on what else... but candy!

The BBQ lunch served by the university's Hospitality Services was very popular; there were no shortages for a second trip to the “Q queue”. Many of the alumni went on a tour of the IAHS after lunch. The tour included the PT and OT skills labs, the Learning Commons, the OT/PT Student Resource Centre, and the ADL and nursing stations on the second floor.

In the evening, a mix of glamour and comfort completed the ambience of the Reunion Dinner held at the University Club. Ali Faghani, PT'97 did a splendid job as emcee and later as the disc jockey at the dance. Mary Law, Associate Dean (SRS) officially welcomed everyone back to Mac for their class reunion and spoke on the progress of the programs since inception back in 1990. Deb Stewart, Assistant Dean (OT) and Laurie Wishart, Assistant Dean (PT) also welcomed the alumni and noted that they were thrilled to see many former grads. All three deans, thanked the organizing committee for coordinating a wonderful reunion and hoped that the SRS would host many more reunions in the years to come. Class reunion reps from each of the classes came up to thank their classmates for attending the reunion and shared some stories and anecdotes with their former classmates; each speech was cleverly delivered with just enough emphasis on the more notable events!

The SRS would like to thank the following Organizing Committee members for their time and effort in making the Tri Reunion event a major success:

Class Reps:
Nadine Graham PT'92
Lissa Kuzych OT'92
Ali Faghani PT'97
Lori Burton OT'97
Shirley Rodrigues OT'97
Gena Van Rooyen PT'02
Brianna McGuire OT'02

Student Reps:
Swapnil Rege PT'07
Carrie Solomon OT'07
Ross Baker PT'08
Chantal Beaudry OT'08
Fiona Cheung OT'08

Staff Reps:
Helena Collins, OT/PT Program Administrator
Jenny Thomson, Alumni Advancement Officer
Jacqueline Cavalheiro, Alumni Advancement Officer

L - R: Lori Burton, Shirley Rodrigues, Heather MacLeod, Jennifer (Greenwood) Klein, OT'97

Rachel Devitt, OT'97 with husband, Stephane and Son, Brendan

An Alumnus' tribute to her class- Nadine Graham PT'92

“We didn't have the nice building or the fancy labs that exist now but we did have each other, great mentors, instructors and supporters. We faced some skepticism as the first group...how would this group succeed in such a short time and what was this problem-based and self-directed learning anyhow? Well, we survived the bright lights of interrogation and the microscope of those disbelievers.

We felt many growing pains and said many prayers along the way “Oh please God let us get through this” and the faculty “Oh please God get them through this”. But so many memories. Remember before the first OSCE we were waiting to go in, Jill Binkley asked us where we were going after the OSCE (she meant to celebrate) but Hany said, “I think I'll end up working at Petro Canada down the street.” Well that broke the tension and we all survived...that OSCE and the ones following every other week.

If we could survive orienteering in the wilderness in a hurricane, we could do anything and we did (OK it was behind Paul Stratford's place and it was a light drizzle) but what an adventure. Patty Solomon our little “Obi Wan Kanobi” rippin' down the mud slide, one of our fearless leaders.

There was no doubt that the 28 pioneers would succeed and our program would become one of the best in the country with a visionary like dear Helen Saarinen at the helm. I am glad to see old friends here this weekend and our colleagues that couldn't make it extend a great big hello and best wishes. Here is a toast to my PT class of ‘92.”

Nadine, thank you for sharing the tribute with us...we know that alumni, near and far, share pockets of your memories in their own 2-year journey and are proud to be part of the pioneering spirit of the SRS!

The 2007 OT/PT Charity Ball

In the winter of 2007, the OT/PT students hosted the 2007 OT/PT Charity Ball at Michelangelo's Banquet Centre in Hamilton. It was a sparkling evening, well coordinated by Tina Sahota, PT'07, Alishah Jamal, PT'07 and many of their classmates in the OT and PT programs. Julie Herrington, President of the Board of Directors, Cancer Rehab Inc. thanked the coordinators of the Charity Ball, and appreciated the students “for choosing our not-for-profit organization as the recipient of the Charity Ball funds this year. The Charity Ball donated a whopping $6500.00!! That's some amazing fundraising!!” Julie noted that the funds would allow the agency to provide rehabilitation to individuals recovering from cancer treatments.”

A Successful launch - The Online Admission Offers

The SRS was pleased to launch its first online offers to the 2007 successful applicants to the OT and PT programs. In collaboration with the School of Graduate Studies, the SRS sent its first online offers to approximately 170 applicants in each of the OT and PT programs on May 18, 2007 at 12:01 a.m. Caroline Chong, new Year 1 OT student, was one of the successful candidates who received an online offer to the OT program at precisely 5:00 a.m. on the 18th.  She indicated that she was in Malaga, Spain when she received her offer. Caroline said she was thrilled to receive an offer and wrote, “it was so wonderful knowing that I would be able to find out about my admission results online because it meant that no matter where in the world I was going to be on that day, as long as I had access to the internet, I could receive the news instantly”. Former students have indicated that computer technology has revolutionized the process of mailing letters of offer to the electronic age of emailing offers. Special thanks to colleagues in the School of Graduate Studies for developing and implementing the OT/PT online offers of admission: David Liu, technical support; Peter Self, Assistant Registrar; and John Scime, Graduate Registrar. Kudos to members of the SRS team who assisted in the preliminary stages of the development of the online offers of admission: Penny Salvatori, OT/PT Admissions Chair; Nancy Plews, SRS Manager; Helena Collins, OT/PT Program Administrator; Kevin Moniz, Bluewire Inc; and Pamela Potts, OT/PT Admissions Coordinator.

AWARDS

Congratulations and Best wishes to the respective recipients on their achievements!

The 2007 Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Presented to the following recipients:

Michael Lowe, OT ‘08
Saroj Singh, OT'08
Lindsay Guyitt, OT'08
Anne Jamieson, PT'08
Nicole Sullivan, PT'08
Joanna Ball, PT'08
Christina Bear, PT'08

The 2007 SRS Entrance Scholarship. Presented to the following new Year 1 students:

Saadia Amanulla,OT'09
Evelyn DiFrancesco,OT'09
Lara Gysbers,OT'09
Vanessa MacDonald,OT'09
Kendal Musgrave,OT'09
Julia Schiller, OT'09
Kathryn Semple, OT'09
Piotr Sobczak, OT'09
Melissa Webster, OT'09
Rebecca Cruickshank, OT'09
Heather Burridge, PT'09
Sharon Chandra, PT'09
Josephine Citrigno, PT'09
Jennifer Driedger, PT'09
Christina Hallett, PT'09
Heather Hickey, PT'09
Shirin Hosseinpour, PT'09
Margaret Bergeron, PT'09
Erin Sturch, PT'09
Shawna Druchok, PT'09

SCOPE Award. The Supporting Consumer Opportunities for Personal Empowerment award was presented to Sandra Moll for her involvement in the Peer Support and Photovoice Projects from the Mental Health Rights Coalition, a Hamilton-based consumer-survivor initiative.

Peer Support Project Nomination. Alison Lake, Krista Ulmer, Jennifer Holmes and Julie Geronimo, OT'07 were each nominated for an award based on their work with the Peer Support Project. The project was designed to build community capacity for employment of peer support workers in local mental health and addictions programs.

Photovoice Program Nomination. Kara Lee, OT'08, was nominated for her volunteer work in creating a training manual for the Photovoice program. Working on this project outside of her academic work, Kara was able to collaborate with a Photovoice participant and the steering committee in the preparation of the manual.

The Alumni Achievement Award. Presented to Barbara Cooper, Professor Emeritus, SRS, by the University of Toronto Physical and Occupational Therapy Alumni Association, in honour of her significant contributions to the profession.

2007 McMaster Arch Award. Presented to Julie Hard, PT'03 by the Alumni Association at McMaster University to recognize the outstanding achievements of recent graduates. The achievements include success in career endeavors; interesting, unusual and innovative accomplishments; and notable contributions to society, the local communities and McMaster community. As one of the co-founders of the Kenya Working Group (KWG), International Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation based in Toronto, Julie has actively participated in fund-raisers and high teas to raise awareness and develop services to meet the needs of the community in rural Kenya. Further information on the activities of the KWG is available at http://www.kenyaworkinggroup.org/

Ann Collins Whitmore Memorial Award. Presented to Sanga Dorji, international student and a candidate in the MSc thesis-based program. “Ann Collins Whitmore was a dedicated physiotherapist who served her patients in the Canadian Military during the Second World War and continued to practise, though legally blind, through to the end of her career. The award is granted to a physiotherapist enroled in either a PhD or Master's program who must also be involved in a research project as part of the academic requirements for completion of his/her program. Special consideration will be made for blind physiotherapists.” Sanga's thesis focuses on community-based rehabilitation in Bhutan where he worked as a physiotherapist and consulted government on policies related to people living with disabilities.

CIHR-IHSPR Award. Presented to Rebecca Gewurtz by the CIHR-IHSPR sponsored student poster competition at the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research Conference for her poster entitled, “Making Qualitative Research Useful to Decision-makers: The Meta-synthesis Approach”.

The 2007 Award of Distinction from the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario. Presented to Lynne Geddes, Associate Clinical Professor, for her significant contribution as a physiotherapist in meeting the College mandate to protect the public interest and her outstanding dedication to the profession in the areas of education, research and practice.

Details of the award are available here

Lynne Geddes accepting the award from Karen Lee, PT and President, College of Physiotherapists of Ontario.

“Welcome to Work” Award. Presented to the School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University by The Family Alliance Ontario. The award is given to a company or organization that goes out of its way to welcome people with disabilities in its workplace.

Silver Quill for Research Award. Presented by Physiotherapy Canada to team members, Paul Stratford, Susan Barreca and Jeremy Griffiths from the SRS for their study entitled, “Validation of Three Shortened Versions of the Chedoke Arm and Hand Activity Inventory (Volume 58, No. 2)”. Team members also include Lisa Masters, Cynthia Lambert and Catherine McBay.

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHTS!

Congratulations to the following investigators:

Mary Forhan on receiving $21,000 per year over a 3-year term from the Canadian Occupational Therapy Foundation - CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research, Institute of Population and Public Health Doctoral Research program. As a PhD student, Mary's research focuses on how adults who are morbidly obese manage their day to day activities. She is also a member of the Canadian Obesity Network.

Brenda Vrkljan and her McMaster colleagues on receiving $5,500, a cross faculty initiative grant under the “Development Across the Lifespan” theme. This cross-faculty pilot project brings together expertise in cognitive neuroscience and vision science (Allison Sekuler, Pat Bennett, Hong-Jin Sun), motor learning (Tim Lee) and driver rehabilitation (Brenda Vrkljan) to systematically examine how drivers across the lifespan attend, process and respond to visual information in their driving environment.

Brenda Vrkljan and co-investigators, Lori Letts, Lisa Clubb (Saint Elizabeth Health Care), Tim Pauley (West Park Healthcare Centre), Sheila Garrett, Barbara Wood (Hamilton Health Science), and Wendy Stav (Towson University) on receiving the “Critical Literature Review” award of $5000 from COTF. Their review will synthesize available research evidence on driving-related assessments that occupational therapists commonly use to determine a client's fitness to drive.

Cheryl Missiuna and her team members, led by John Hay and John Cairney of Brock University on receiving a CIHR grant of $176,061 per year for 3.5 years for a prospective longitudinal study entitled, “Establishing the Cardiovascular Risk Trajectory of Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder”.

Joy MacDermid, Mary Law, Patty Solomon and Paul Stratford on receiving a CIHR grant of $99,698 per year for 2 years for their study, “Defining the Effect and Mediators of Two Knowledge Translation Strategies designed to alter Knowledge, Intent and Clinical Utilization of Rehabilitation Outcome Measures”. The grant received a rating of 4.5/5.0 and was ranked #1 by the LET Committee at CIHR.

Joy MacDermid, Vickie Galea and alumni: Myriam Ghobrial, Karine Badra-Quirion, Melanie St-Amour, Tanya Tsui, David Humphreys, John McCluskie, and Eddy Shewayhat on receiving acceptance, in principle, the publication of their manuscript “Validation of a New Test that Assesses Functional Performance of the Upper Extremity and Neck (FIT-HaNSA) in Patients with Shoulder Pathology” in the journal, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders.

MEET OUR COMMUNITY PARTNER

Linda Pillinini

Linda Pillinini is a community Occupational therapist currently working at St. Joseph's Healthcare, Centre for Mountain Health Sciences in Mental Health Rehabilitation Services. In her current position at the Meaningful Activities Program in Action (MAPinAC), Linda is responsible for administering assessments, creating plans of care, facilitating and developing individual and group programs. As a graduate and professional associate of McMaster University, School of Rehabilitation Science, Linda enjoys facilitating student learning through tutoring and precepting students in the occupational therapy program. In conjunction with McMaster, Linda has had the opportunity to collaborate on two research projects, “Recovery from the Consumer's perspective” and “Participation in MAPinAC and Its Impact on the Consumer's Occupational Performance”. Linda is a certified Psychosocial Rehabilitation Practitioner and plans to continue to expand her knowledge base through the study of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy this fall.

When not tutoring or precepting, Linda enjoys a variety of extra curricular activities. She enjoys running, cycling, music and fine arts. Linda completed her first marathon in May and is participating in triathlons this summer. Well done Linda! We have watched you cross the finish line in the Helen Saarinen Fun Run, and know that you will capably complete your triathlons. Our special thanks to Linda, for her dedication and contribution to the SRS and occupational therapy program in preparing our students to become outstanding practitioners in the community.

GOOD AND WELFARE

Best wishes and congratulations to…..

Elaine Foster-Seargeant, former PT NSS Coordinator of the Northern Studies Stream at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay who stepped down from her role in June 2007. A graduate of the BHSc Degree Completion Program in Physiotherapy, Elaine did an outstanding job in leading the physiotherapy program in the NSS over the past 10 years. She plans to become involved in clinical and educational opportunities in Northern Ontario, and will remain connected with the SRS in her part-time clinical role. A farewell dinner was held in honour of Elaine at the University Club. Many faculty and staff attended the dinner to wish their colleague and friend much success and happiness, and thank her personally for her tireless devotion to the program. On behalf of everyone in the SRS, our sincere thanks to Elaine for her dedication and excellence with which she carried out her faculty role and wish her the very best as she enters a new phase in her career.

The following MSc thesis-based Master's candidates successfully defended their thesis:

Kim Whibbs, January 23, 2007. Thesis title: “An Exploration of the Impact of Lower Extremity Orthopaedic Surgery on Gross Motor Function in Children with Cerebral Palsy”.

Kirsty McKenzie, March 6, 2007. Thesis title: “Lower Extremity Muscle Activity and Kinematics of Females with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome while Stair Climbing”.

Leah Dix, April 23, 2007. Thesis title: “The Meaning of Mentorships to Occupational Therapists: A Phenomenological Study”.

Danielle Levac, June 20, 2007. Thesis title: “Children and Youth with Acquired Brain Injuries: What is the Relationship Between Intra Individual Variability in Recovery and functional Outcomes?”

Stephen Burnie, June 27, 2007. Thesis title: “The Dosage Effects of Spinal Manipulation and Mobilization for Patients with Mechanical Neck Disorders”.

Leslie Trotter, August 16, 2007. Thesis title: “Impact of Custom-made Foot Orthoses and Prefabricated Shie Inserts on Pain and Economy of Gait in Patients with Lower Leg Musculoskeletal Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial”.

Photovoice Hamilton. Since spring 2007, Photovoice projects have been happening in three different programs: one at the Women's Centre which serves the needs of women with histories of trauma and abuse; one at the Wesley Centre, a drop-in shelter for people who are homeless and often have addictions issues; and the third coordinated by Green Venture with youth in a downtown school. In June 2007, all three projects had a gallery showing of their work: one at City Hall; one at a downtown park outside of Jackson Square; and one at the Skydragon Centre, a community co-op art studio. Photovoice is a unique and exciting project that gives participants cameras and training to people who are marginalized in order to enable them to document their realities and experiences. They then add captions of narratives to their images, and collectively share their work with the intent to educate and impact change. Zita MacDow and Kaelan Marshall, OT'07 participated in the evaluation of Photovoice and Kara Lee OT'08 was involved in developing the project manual.

Some of the OT students attended the gallery showing at the Skydragon Centre and posed for a picture with a member of the steering committee.

L to R: Shawna O'Hearn OT'07, Member of Steering Committee, Amanda Lanno OT'07 and Simrit Dhillon OT'08

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

A new program, “Certificate in Case Management” is offered by the Centre for Continuing Education at McMaster to alumni interested in establishing, refining or updating their case management knowledge and skills. The Certificate in Case Management is designed to develop and/or enhance the ability of health and social service professionals to perform case management functions in a variety of practice settings. This five-course program (plus practicum/independent study or workshop elective) provides students with the opportunity a) to acquire/enhance skills fundamental to client-centred case management; b) understand the models and theories of case management; and c) locate case management within health and social service policy frameworks.

For further information on the certificate program, please consult http://www.mcmastercce.com/

Would you like to Sign up? or Update your email address? Please email rehab@mcmaster.ca indicating your name, program, graduating year, personal email and/or business email.