Fresh team makes a big difference

Graduates from USC now make up the entire occupational therapy (OT) team at Cooroy’s major rehabilitation hospital.
2016 graduates Catherine Moyes, Alanah Davies and Elise Wright recently joined 2012 graduate Samantha Storey as OT staff at Cooroy’s Eden Rehabilitation Hospital, where they assist patients recovering from serious accidents and injuries to regain independence.
The foursome works within a wider team of doctors, nurses and allied health specialists at the dedicated rehabilitation facility, which runs both an inpatient service and a day therapy program.
Samantha, who is employed as a senior occupational therapist at the hospital, said the USC graduates were all motivated by the opportunity to make practical differences to their patients’ lives.
“We work with a huge variety of patients here at Eden, including people recovering from neurological conditions like a stroke, Parkinson’s Disease or acquired brain injury,” she said.
“There’s also a focus on orthopaedic conditions, including recovery from spinal surgery and hip and knee replacements.
“Working with other USC graduates is great, because I’m aware of the skills and experience they’ve developed. Eden is a great place for us to progress as clinicians.”
Eden Rehabilitation Hospital general manager Warren Street said the USC graduates had been keen to develop their skills as clinicians from their first days working at the hospital.
“They’re performing extremely well,” he said.
“They’ve built up their core skills very quickly and have achieved every goal they have set for themselves.
“It’s fantastic to have this core group of OTs who support each other to learn and grow.”
USC occupational therapist practice education co-ordinator Penny Taylor said the four graduates had made the most of every opportunity throughout their time at university.
“They were all extremely engaged students and I’m sure that will carry over to how they care for their patients,” she said. “As graduates, I believe they could have gone anywhere, so it’s very satisfying that they’ve chosen to build their careers on the Sunshine Coast.
“We’ve got great local relationships that provide a really diverse range of placement opportunities, so graduates are well prepared to apply for local jobs.”