Wednesday 28 August 2019

cOnnecT with Gina Fernandez



Why did you choose OT as a career?
I wanted a job where I could work alongside individuals and help them achieve their goals. I have a chronic knee injury and as a child/teen, Rehabilitation health care providers were able to provide me with hope and thoughtful ideas to enable me to succeed in the leisure activities that I care about (dance), whereas the physicians and surgeons could not. I was inspired to do the same for others when I graduated from high school.

What is your favourite thing about CAOT-BC?
The awareness campaigns!  I enjoy reading about the various places that CAOT-BC sets up booths to promote awareness of our profession in the community.  I love volunteering at these events and proudly speaking about the ways that OT can enable people.

Where have you worked over your career? Where do you work now?
My very first job was at Abbotsford Hospital for 7 years on the Oncology and Palliative care units. I worked casual at Delta Hospital during these years, and still do so (in addition to Peace Arch Hospital). I spent one year setting up the pilot project for the Early Supported Discharge Program (based out of the Richmond Olympic Oval and Richmond Hospital) during my career.  I also spent one year working in Geriatric Community Mental Health in the Tri-Cities.  I now work at Enable Occupational Therapy (my own private practice clinic) with an amazing OT named Karisa and a fabulous team of Rehabilitation Assistants: Shanice, Tera, Caitlyn and Eileen, and a wonderful Administrative Assistant Denise.  I am so lucky to work beside such compassionate, ethical, hard-working and dedicated women! Oh, and I often help out teaching Parkinson’s boxing classes at Neurofit BC with Naomi Casiro (PT) in Vancouver.

What has been your most interesting job?
Teaching boxing to clients that have Parkinson’s Disease.  Before taking the advanced coursework and teaching Naomi’s classes, I had never taken a boxing class in my life!  Nor had I ever provided remedial exercises to clients with Parkinson’s Disease.  The individuals that attend these classes brighten my day as their drive for life and sense of humor are remarkable.

Tell me about someone who has influenced your OT practice?
Shari Linde (Speech Language Pathologist) who owns Advantage SLP (her own private practice).  She is a phenomenal mentor as her problem solving and clinical reasoning, in addition to her various years of experience with kids, has helped me when I’ve been stuck with a complex case. Her compassion, ability to connect with patients and families is wonderful, and as such, I often call her over for consults! 

What might someone be surprised to know about you? 
Three things!

  1. My mother died 2 weeks before I entered OT school.  The stress of this loss caused me to struggle during my first year of the program. Therefore, I had to return to repeat one course (and an extra year) and finished the Master’s program over 3 years instead of 2 years.
  2. I can barely swim (even though my clinic runs kayaking and swimming camps for clients).
  3. During my Master’s OT program and upon graduation, I swore that I would never work in pediatrics. This is surprising because I own a neurological private practice (adults and kids) and love working with kids so much that I created summer OT camps especially for them!
What do you do when you aren't working and volunteering?
I’m a choreographer and dance instructor (Bollywood Dance). You can often find me performing at Robson Square with my dance team Bollywood Remixed, or teaching dance to a group of high school teens (Richmond High), or teaching a workshop at a dance studio on the Sunshine Coast to adults! I love choreographing Bollywood wedding sequences/dances for couples for their first dance routine!

#OT365

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