Partnership gives students hands-on learning experience
Since August, ETSU occupational therapy students have been working with
employees at the Jeremiah Cafe, which provides employment opportunities for autistic
people.
Tuesdays inside the Jeremiah Café are busy. In addition to the regular customers who come to support the café and its mission to provide employment opportunities to people with autism, inside you’ll also find a lot of blue and gold worn by people like Makenzie Smith – a second-year student in East Tennessee State University’s occupational therapy program.
Smith is one of the more than two dozen students in the program who have benefitted from an opportunity to receive hands-on, community-engaged learning at the Jeremiah Café, 603 W. Walnut St.
Since it opened in August, students have been able to practice what they learned in the classroom while supporting the restaurant’s autistic and neurodivergent staff as they develop the skills necessary to succeed and thrive in a work environment.
“This has been a wonderful experience that will stay with us during our careers,” said Smith. “I feel like this experience has shown me all that occupational therapists can do and given me an opportunity to apply the knowledge I learned in the classroom.”
Occupational therapists, as the name implies, are trained to help people develop, recover, improve and maintain skills needed for daily living and working. ETSU launched its Doctor of Occupational Therapy program in May 2022, and will see its first graduates in 2025.
Dr. Kathryn Halsted, an assistant professor and academic fieldwork coordinator in the ETSU College of Health Sciences’ Department of Occupational Therapy, said the partnership has been great for both students and staff at the café.
“I just cannot emphasize enough how great of a learning opportunity this is for everyone involved,” said Halsted. “I see this as teaching the students the way we treat as occupational therapists – it’s not just theory, it’s not just slides on a screen, this is real life, and these are real people. This is more realistic, and much closer to what they will experience working in the field as a clinician.”
With 27 students in this cohort, the class is broken up into small groups of three or four, with two working separate two-hour shifts on Tuesday mornings for about three weeks before giving way to another rotation of students.
“Our goal is to aid in the mission of the cafe to enable the neurodivergent staff to be successful in job skill development,” said Halsted. “This collaboration enables our students to develop and practice their skills in a real-world environment, and the engagement with the community enhances the depth of learning and integration of these skills.”
Occupational therapists, as the name implies, are trained to help people develop,
improve and maintain skills needed for daily living and working..
Gabby Rambo and Janki Patel, also second-year students in the program, can certainly attest to that.
“This has been a great experience for me because I feel you don’t get these kinds of experiences everywhere, and ETSU gives you great opportunities to get community-based experiences,” said Patel. “Having an experience like this is very unique, and just getting this hands-on learning helps us prepare for when we are practicing occupational therapists in the future.”
Rambo said being immersed in a real-world setting helps them better understand what it will be like to work as an occupational therapist, highlighting the importance of being able to work in a variety of settings.
“When you’re working with clients, you don’t just want to be seen in the clinic, you want to go out in the community and be immersed in their world to understand their needs and goals better,” said Rambo. “I’ve lived in Johnson City my entire life, and it’s been really rewarding to be able to give back to my community.”
For the Jeremiah Café, the partnership has been just as rewarding.
“We wanted to give these kids, after they finished school, an opportunity to be part of this workplace and learn,” said Jennifer Sweet, owner of the Jeremiah Café. “We wanted this to be a learning environment, and we’re very happy to partner with ETSU to help us with that. This was my vision all along, and to see it come to fruition, it’s hard to put into words.”
Dr. Lynn Williams, interim dean for the ETSU College of Health Sciences, said partnerships like this are a foundational part of the college’s approach to clinical education.
“Hands-on experience is a critical aspect of our educational philosophy in the College of Health Sciences, and it truly provides students with a well-rounded education that allows them to shift seamlessly from the classroom to the workforce,” said Williams.
"Community-engaged learning is a priority for our program, and this partnership with Jeremiah Café illustrates how an academic program and community partner can equally benefit from and contribute to our students' learning process," said Dr. Don Lewis, director of the occupational therapy program and interim director for the School of Clinical Sciences in the College of Health Sciences.
To learn more about the ETSU College of Health Sciences, visit etsu.edu/chs/.
East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.
Stay in Touch
Follow ETSU on Social