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What started as a two-week occupational therapy fieldwork placement at Double H Ranch — an organization that provides recreational programs for children with chronic illnesses — turned into an ongoing volunteer commitment for three Russell Sage College Occupational Therapy graduate students.
“Our professor let us know about it,” said Cayla Callan, of the fieldwork opportunity at Double H’s summer camp in New York’s Adirondack Park. Callan, like classmates Marissa Key and Katie Flood, wants to work in pediatric OT. “We heard about it being an adaptive camp for kids with serious diagnoses, and Marissa and I were like, ‘We’re definitely in.’”
During their fieldwork placement at the camp, the OT students supported kids with a range of abilities as they built skills for daily living and enjoyed recreational activities like archery, swimming, horseback riding, and ziplining.
“I ended up going back and working for the rest of the summer,” said Key. She said she was inspired by the opportunities Double H creates for kids who might not be able to fully participate at a traditional summer camp.
Key, Callan, and Flood have now also volunteered for several of Double H’s family weekends and a holiday party.
For Callan, volunteering is a way to stay connected to the kids she met over the summer. She knew she and her classmates were making a difference when former summer campers were so happy to see them at a winter weekend featuring adaptive skiing and snowboarding.
Fieldwork is a required component of occupational therapy master’s and occupational therapy doctorate programs; it’s when future occupational therapists begin to get real-life OT experience with different settings and patient populations.
Russell Sage’s OT curriculum includes more fieldwork placements than other graduate programs do — three Level I placements and two Level II placements. (Level I placements are short, introductory experiences, while Level II placements are full-time, 12-week experiences with responsibilities leading to those of an entry-level occupational therapist.) More fieldwork means more professional preparation.
Callan and Key said that their Level I placement at Double H Ranch allowed them to learn about a wider array of diagnoses in more depth than they otherwise could.
“We had to problem solve and be able to handle all the stuff that came along with their diagnoses,” said Key.
Callan and Key are now completing their final Level I fieldwork placements at elementary schools. Callan also completed a Level I placement at a homeless shelter, and Key, completed another Level I placement at a day program for older adults. They will finish their MSOT in December 2025.
“I’ve always wanted to work in pediatrics, but working at Double H definitely made it more clear that this is a field that I can see myself working in for the rest of my life,” said Key.