Meet your CAOT-BC Advisory Committee: Rosie Higgins

Rosie Higgins is a second year Occupational Therapy student at the University of British Columbia. She graduated in 2007 from Queen’s University with a B.Sc. in Life Sciences. A year after graduating, Rosie embarked on a two year adventure to teach English in Japan. While there, she lived in a small city northwest of Tokyo and had the opportunity to immerse herself in Japanese culture and language.

Upon returning to Canada, Rosie decided to pursue a career in healthcare. Inspired by friends in OT, Rosie began learning more about the profession. She sought opportunities to both shadow and volunteer for OTs in the areas of general rehab, brain injury and mental health.  It was during this time that she realised how dynamic the role of an OT can be. This, along with the profession’s focus on individual function and empowerment, inspired her to pursue a degree in OT.

Since joining the MOT program at UBC in the fall of 2011, Rosie has continued to be inspired and excited about the growing opportunities within the field of OT. While at UBC, she’s had placements in long term care and senior’s mental health. She really enjoyed working with the aging population and found both placements to be valuable learning experiences. Currently, she is in her second year of the program, where she has been given the opportunity to conduct research under the supervision of Dr. Ben Mortensen and VCH community therapists, Richelle Emery and Linda Joyce. For this project, they will be looking to develop a training program for safe and effective use of scooters. Rosie is looking forward to the year ahead and the variety of experiences she will have through coursework, research and fieldwork.