5 Lessons Learned from Student-Professor Collaboration for Sexual Health OT

Guest Writers:

Danielle Centi, DrOT, OTR/L, FAOTA, CBIS // Asst. Professor, Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program at George Washington University 

Dr. Katie Jewett // George Washington University Capstone Student

Sexual health is a vital part of the human experience, yet is an area that continues to face challenges due to OT clinicians and professors feeling unprepared to address it. One approach to bridging this gap is through student-professor collaboration, so we would like to share our experience with how we used our student-professor relationship to do just that.

Danielle: I am an experienced clinician and academic who specializes in sexual health and decided to use my passion, knowledge, and expertise to design capstone experiences for my students.

Katie: I was drawn to a capstone project in sexual health due to the uniqueness of the topic itself. My interest was piqued when discussing topics of sexual health with Danielle. Her view of sexual health through a social justice lens drew me in immediately because I recognized that passion is why I became interested in the field of occupational therapy in the first place.

Collectively, we spent time digging deeper into Katie’s interests and passions, discussing research, and determining the specific direction Katie’s capstone would go. Throughout the process, we ended up with smaller spin-off projects, multiple conference proposals, and ultimately a completed research-based capstone.  A big part about why this collaboration worked so well was because both of us were not only passionate, but showed up wanting to learn more about the topic and from each other.

Danielle: I was always so impressed with how Katie showed up during this experience and her level of dedication not only to the Capstone project, but to her own learning, growth, and professional development; it truly made it easy for me to mentor Katie. We always had open dialogue about the project and learning opportunities that allowed me to really know how to best support Katie’s growth and help her reach her goals.

Katie: As a younger member of my cohort, I found it hard to find my footing and a sense of belonging in graduate school. I recognize that I did not have the same past experiences and passions within occupational therapy as my peers. I have always believed in and promoted social justice through the niche areas of occupational therapy. Danielle provided the platform and space for me to be creative. She was always open to my communication regarding my needs as a student and professional. I was able to find this sense of belonging through collaboration with another individual as passionate as I am about sexual health. It felt like all the puzzle pieces just came together perfectly.

So if you are a student or educator, here are some helpful tips we would like to share based on our experience working together:

1. View sexual health as Health: Recognize that is is a nature part of the human experience and use an occupational justice lens

2. Educate yourself: Review the literature, know the gaps, perform self-reflection, and find CEUs to take

3. Find your passion areas: Reflect on what drew you to sexual health and remember your “why”.

4. Make and maintain a professional network: Don’t be afraid to be the person in the room who says “sex”, this is how you find your people.

5. Be an advocate and use your voice: speak at conferences, request sexual health content is covered in your curriculum, and bring your knowledge to fieldwork placements.

If you’re a professor looking for more resources, check out our blog, the CSOT Certification, and our Illustrations Library Project exclusively for OT Professors.