Assistant Professor of Teaching & Academic Fieldwork Coordinator
phone: 604–827–0956
alexis.davis@ubc.ca
Profile
Being an OT is one of the greatest decisions I have ever made. We are truly “healthcare’s best kept secret” and working as a clinical OT since 2003 has provided me with many opportunities to share this incredible secret. I graduated from UBC (when it was an undergraduate program!) and I have proudly watched OSOT grow and evolve from my clinical faculty lens. Supervising and working with students have always been highlights of my career, and now teaching in the classroom and helping on the other end of fieldwork placements are new ones.
For the majority of my career, I have worked in pediatrics at Sunny Hill Health Centre at BC Children’s Hospital, and the connections I’ve made with children and families have been unforgettable. This has included assessments for children with complex developmental and behavioural conditions, and acute rehabilitation for children with neurological conditions. Additionally, I have a strong passion for the growing and critical role for OT in children’s mental health.
My clinical career also included over a decade of managing a volunteer rehabilitation training project in Ladakh, India. This project led to me completing graduate studies in global health and development at UCL in London, England. The MSc program was an interesting learning experience on several levels, and it has complemented my occupational therapy background very well. I believe that Canadian OTs have much to offer in helping to address the inequity of rehabilitation services at home and around the world.
For work-life balance, I enjoy spending time with my young daughter, playing with our hilarious basset hounds (you can never have just one), managing a registered charity, and playing the beautiful game, aka football/soccer.
Research
Although research is not a primary focus of my role with OSOT, I continue to be interested in studying and developing effective methods for providing rehabilitation training in low resource countries.
Teaching
My interest in teaching stems from my years as a clinical supervisor. I am continually impressed by the caliber of students and supervisors who I have had the opportunity to work with. I want to help ensure that our exceptional fieldwork program continues to be well supported as we expand OSOT to the distributed sites.
Graduate and Postdoctoral Research Opportunities
I am not currently supervising any research students.
Affiliations
- College of Occupational Therapists of British Columbia
- Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
- World Federation of Occupational Therapists
- OT Frontiers (UK)
Select Publications
McElroy, T., Davis, A., Stanba, T., Dadul, J. Hunt, C. and Larson, C. (2011)Navigating a way forward: Using focused ethnography and community readiness to study disability issues in Ladakh, India. Disability and Rehabilitation, 33 (1): 17‐27.
Davis, A. & Simpson, D. (2016) Occupational therapy at the top of the world. In Sakellariou, D. and Pollard, N. (editors) Occupational therapy without borders: Integrating justice with practice Elsevier Science & Technology. 513-521.