Lori Murdock

Interview Project Part 2

Communication 1010-042
9/27/14

Interview Analysis Memo

To: Ann Herron
From: Lori Murdock
Date: September 18, 2014
Subject: Interview Analysis Memo, COMM 1010
I interviewed Cathy, an Occupational Therapy Assistant at the Highland Care Center, about her
career. I went on a job shadow at the Highland Care Center earlier this year and really enjoyed it
so I decided to interview one of their OTAs.
I have been working towards becoming an OTA by taking pre-requisites at SLCC to hopefully
get into the program next fall. I asked her questions about how she got started in the medical
field, what a typical day in the field is like, and its impact on her continuing education and family
life.
This memo summarizes advice Cathy gave me as well as what I learned from the overall
experience.
Summary of Lessons Learned
Getting Started in the Medical Field
I learned that the medical field is a very useful career to go into because there is always a
demand to have medical workers. Our bodies break down and we want them to be fixed or at
least improved so our medical issues dont hinder our lives. Because of this; we are all in need
of doctors, nurses, therapists, and other medical workers at some points in our lives.
A downside to the medical field is that Medicare is always changing. This is hard for the OTAs
because is controls the amount of time they get to spend with a patient. Its hard when you have
a patient that you know could use more care but you cant do anything about it because it wont
be covered.
I learned that there is a pay cap in the medical field so you wont get raises. Medical workers
pay stays the same over time. This can be hard because in most jobs, the longer you work in the
field, the higher your pay gets.

To get into the OTA program, I learned that you have to complete the pre-requisite courses, take
the Pre-Admission Test, be CPR and First Aid certified, be up to date on your immunizations,
have a background check, complete a 25 hour community service project, and submit one letter
of recommendation.
After I complete the 2-year program and pass, I have to take the NBCOT exam and become
board certified. Last of all Ill take the DOPL state license exam. There are quite a few steps in
the process to become an OTA but to me, its worth it.
Some other skills that would be helpful to have as an OTA include, being creative with therapy
activities, knowing how to grade activities from simple to hard according to patients abilities,
being patient, and not taking things personally. Cathy works with geriatric patients and
sometimes they dont censor what they say. She said it can be really discouraging so she had to
learn to not let what they say hurt her feelings.
A Typical Day
Cathy said that on a typical day she first goes to the OT room and looks on a board to see who
shell work with that day. At Highland the PTAs and OTAs work together, so she gets with her
Physical Therapy partner and sees between 5-6 patients. They work between 40-75 minutes per
person (depending on the Medicare plan theyre on). When shes working with a patient, she
usually gives them showers, does a therapeutic activity, and/or helps them exercise. After
working with the patients, she inputs the billing information and writes a note on how the patient
is doing and what they worked on.
I learned that the hardest and simplest tasks you perform as an OTA have to do with the level of
independence the patients have. Its hard to help people that have a hard time helping
themselves. For example, its difficult to do functional transfers with the less independent
people. The simplest tasks are when youre helping high level people that are more independent.
Cathy said that her favorite part of the job had to do with the people she worked with: the staff
and the residents. Shes made strong friendships with them and it makes her job fun. Her least
favorite part is when one of the patients dies. The patients are usually old and have lots of health
problems but its hard once you get attached to them. I learned that its also hard when the
people you work with dont understand the benefits of therapy and dont want help. I never
thought about how those things would affect an OTA practitioner but they would definitely
affect their mood and performance.
Ive been debating what field of OTA I want to work in. I dont know if I would work better
with old people or young. I asked Cathy if she liked working with Geriatric patients and she said
she really enjoys it. The whole reason she started working as an OTA was because she loved her

grandma and the elderly. She has never worked in Pediatrics though, so she doesnt know how
that would be. I asked if she knew of anyone that was an OTA working with Pediatrics and she
said she knew a lady that was working at Highland and hated working with old people. The lady
then transferred to a school where she worked with severely disabled kids and liked it a lot
better. Im still sitting on the fence with which field I want to go in, but I think in order for me to
make a final decision Ill have to try out both and see which I prefer.
Next I learned that OTAs schedules are usually very accommodating to their personal lives.
Cathy said that she comes anywhere between 6-10am, gets her jobs done, and can leave. She
gets 15 vacation days and 6 holidays during a year. She told me that like any job though, it will
cause you to miss things with family like being there when kids get home from school. Cathy is
a little older so she doesnt have to worry about kids but she told me that her co-workers that
have kids sometimes choose to work part time. I was glad to learn that usually the OTs are
pretty flexible with your schedule and will work with you.
Continuing Education
I learned that OTAs are required to take 36 continuing education classes and renew their license
every 3 years. Cathy told me that random audits are made to ensure you are following all the
right procedures. She said that every hour you attend a class, it counts as a credit but if you go to
a presentation, it counts as more. At Highland, when you go to a conference for continuing
education, you dont get paid, although some companies do pay for their employees to do this.
Clearinghouse Question
Cathys advice was for me to become and OT aid before starting into my fieldwork. She said
that thats what she did and it helped her a lot. When youre an aid, you become familiar with
the job and equipment used. It gives you a head start when you begin working there.
Interview Analysis
This interview showed me what becoming an OTA will be like and what Ill expect. I also
learned how to conduct an interview.
Analysis of Occupational Therapy Assistant as my Career Choice
This interview gave me a perspective on OTA that I had never considered before. I was able to
see from someone else the bad and the good of this career. I think Ive decided that I really
would enjoy a job like this where you are helping a person as a whole and changing lives.
Cathys advice will guide me to take the right steps in reaching my goal of being an OTA. I
realized that I need to get started right away to get through all the requirements to enter the
program.

Analysis of my Interviewing Process

I was really nervous to set up an interview with a stranger. I hate talking on the phone so I wrote
out what I would say and to my dismay my call was transferred to 5 or more people so I had to
repeat my message quite a bit. This was probably a good thing though because as I talked with
more and more people, I became less tongue-tied and was able to relay my information without
trouble.
For the interview, I typed up my questions and left lots of space in between questions to jot down
notes. I reviewed what I would say in my during the opening and closing of my interview so that
it sounded clear and business-like. Cathy and I sat across from each other and I kept eye contact
in between writing down notes. She did a good job of making her answers relatable and relative
to what I asked. She was really friendly and gave me lots of useful information from her
personal experience with this career. A few times she answered one of the questions I had before
I asked it, and in those cases I would just skip the question when I happened upon it later.
If I ever conduct an interview again, I think Ill consider recording it. I am a slow writer so it
was hard for me to keep up with what the interviewee said. She would have to pause to allow
me to finish writing and ask her the next question. She was really polite but it did stop the flow
of the conversation and made it kind of awkward because its hard for me to talk and write.
As the interview went on, I felt more and more comfortable. I wasnt as tense as I was to begin
with and started relaxing when I realized how sweet Cathy was. I was expecting to interview
someone that just wanted to get the interview over with so they didnt have to think about it
anymore and could start on their other tasks. Cathy was nothing like that. She could tell I really
cared about the answers and so she did her very best to answer them. At some points she even
asked to leave to go ask another OTA the question so that she could provide me with the best
answer.
In all, this assignment was very valuable to me because it helped me get a personal perspective
on the career I want to go in. I now know how to conduct interviews in the workplace. I plan on
improving my interviewing experience by recording it next time. I received a lot of information
that will aid me in the future as I start applying for the OTA program.