OT Student Accepted into AOTA Summer Institute of Future Scientists

When Chrystyna Colón ‘23OT was looking for a graduate school for Occupational Therapy (OT), she was familiar with Salus University. She did, after all, live in Abington, just down the road from the University’s Elkins Park, Pennsylvania campus, and knew people who had attended Salus.

But it was her experience during the interview process that cinched the decision to continue her education at Salus.

“There was a community feel that I appreciated during the interview process,” said Colón. “You could tell the faculty were looking to invest in my education and my mentoring, which I appreciated.”

And now, Colón’s career path has taken another step forward as she was recently accepted by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) into its Summer Institute of Future Scientists in Occupational Therapy, scheduled in April 2022.

The purpose of the Institute is threefold: (1) to identify potential scientists in entry-level education programs; (2) to connect potential entry-level scientists with mentors in the occupational therapy scientific community; and (3) to develop a peer network.

“I’m very excited. It wasn’t that I didn’t think that I would get in, but when the opportunity came up, it was a quick decision and I got a lot of support from the University,” said Colón. “I knew that I submitted the best application that I could, but they were picking people from schools across the country. I wasn’t going to beat myself up if I didn’t get chosen.”

Lauren Sponseller, PhD ‘18, OTD, MSOR/L, MEd, chair of the University’s OT Department, and Andrea Tyszka, MS, OTR/L, SIPT, associate professor, encouraged Colón to apply for the AOTA institute and helped her submit her application.

Colón wasn’t always set on OT. After graduating in 2015 from Bryn Mawr College with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in Biology, she held two jobs in the healthcare system while she sorted out her future plans. One was as a case manager for the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Department of Aging and Adult Services, which allowed her the opportunity to work with a lot of different professions — doctors, social workers, physical therapists and occupational therapists.

​“I had to work with all of them to make sure my clients had what they really needed to safely go back into their homes,” said Colón. “That helped me to narrow down what I wanted to be. I actually worked with an OT and she would come out an evaluate and set up home modifications. I got to work with her one-on-one and it was something that interested me. It caused me to do more research into that.”

Her next job was as a residency coordinator for the internal medicine program at Einstein Medical Center, but since it was more of a desk job, Colón missed working with people one-on-one and having that connection with them.

The AOTA Summer Institute Program will give Colón an opportunity to see if she wants to go down the research path with her career.

“One thing with OT is that the foundation of it is in clinical practice — that’s what I’m really interested in,” said Colón, who is also enrolled part-time in the Biomedicine program at Salus, but is currently concentrating on OT. “One of the things that did draw me to Salus is that the faculty is working on its current research and we talked about that in my interview, things like emerging practices and OT.”

The AOTA Institute will help foster OT students that are interested in going into research. And, Colón at the very least wants to explore that option.

“I just think that research offers so many validations and so much support to everything. I don’t really know yet if I’m going to pursue a doctorate in OT right after I graduate.  The institute will provide me an opportunity to see what’s out there, expand my network and explore the possibilities. So right now, I’m kind of open to anything.”