Junior Faculty Feature: Caitlyn Foy

Caitlyn Foy, DOT, MOTR/L
Instructor, College of Education and Rehabilitation – Occupational Therapy

Education and impact. That, in short, is why Caitlyn Foy decided to pursue a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy at Temple University in Philadelphia. After obtaining a teaching in higher education certificate and adjunct teaching at Philadelphia University, she discovered Salus; the end result – helping to build the Occupational Therapy program from the ground up.
 
The granddaughter of an Alzheimer’s patient, Dr. Foy personally witnessed the physical and emotional effects the disease had on her grandparents. “Their hardship inspired me to find a way to help others,” she said. “I developed an interest in learning more about the healthcare system and mental health as a whole.”  She became interested in Occupational Therapy, as it helps patients faced with physical or mental injury, or emotional and developmental impairments regain a wide range of actions essential to daily life.
 
Establishing expectations, understanding students’ needs, and being a content expert in her field is how Dr. Foy defines good teaching. She employs an interactive, team-based style of instruction, coupled with humor and wit, which she finds engages students and keeps them interested. “I try to remind them of the big picture, as it’s easy to feel the daily pressures due to assignments and exams,” she stated. “Because the instructors in the department come from a clinical background, we can relate our clinical practice to classroom experience, which I find fuels student motivation.”
 
“Just say yes,” are words Dr. Foy lives by. “Keep an open mind, and just say yes; it’s important to expose yourself to different experiences for personal and professional growth,” she noted. Her proudest, and very recent, personal accomplishment was presenting her doctoral thesis three weeks after giving birth to her first child. Dr. Foy is living proof that saying “yes” will bring about gratifying life experiences.

Andrea Tyszka and Caitlyn Foy at the 2015 MuckFest