Patricia Mortenson is an occupational therapist (OT) at BC Children’s Hospital, a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy (OSOT), an instructor with the Rehabilitation Sciences Online Programs (RSOP) at UBC, and a current PhD student.
What inspired you to return to the Department of OSOT and pursue a PhD following years of clinical practice?
I graduated with my BSc in OT many years ago and immediately started working at BC Children’s Hospital. A small research project I completed with a neurosurgeon colleague inspired a return to complete an MSc in Rehabilitation Sciences earlier in my career. For years, this MSc learning provided strong opportunities for involvement in further clinical projects and instruction with the online program, but recent medical advances in paediatric neuromuscular disease care (my clinical area) and limitations in time and skills to address the resultant new practice opportunities provided my impetus to return for PhD studies.
What are your overarching goals as a clinical researcher?
Formal clinical researcher roles are rare, and my clinical research has almost always been off to the side of my desk. My overall clinical research goal is relatively simple, to provide better evidence-based care to families. Specifically, my current focus is to advance rehabilitation for children living with neuromuscular conditions. The role and impact of OT has great potential in this area and applied research is ultimately the best way of understanding and shaping future practice.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career to date?
I have two lessons. One is to make the most of every position and opportunity you are in rather than longing for a ‘coveted’ position that isn’t currently available. My greatest and most satisfying clinical advances and projects have arisen in bits of positions that no-one else particularly wanted to do. With imagination and an OT lens, these positions often have the largest scope for growth and development. My second lesson is to seek allies and mentors, those who are equally curious and willing to work beyond the parameters of the job. This includes clinical work colleagues and academic connections.
What do you value most in your colleagues?
Working in a paediatric teaching hospital, I work in tight multi-disciplinary teams in which people value each other’s roles and contributions, and everyone brings their ‘A-game’ to do better for the children and families we work with. I admire the dedication and passion my clinical colleagues bring and the willingness to think outside the box when needed.
What is one piece of advice that you would give to future students?
Brush up on your time management strategies, work ahead, and try to have each assignment add to your clinical work or the projects or learning you’ve always wanted to get to. I have also gone back to using a paper agenda with multicoloured erasable pens!