Alabama Occupational Therapy Association

You may see Ross MacDonald wearing a shirt with “BrOT” on the front and “We are a rare breed” on the back.  But make sure you pronounce the acronym correctly.

“The girls in our class find it amusing to pronounce it ‘brot’ like bratwurst,” said MacDonald, a first year UAB Occupational Therapy student.

BrOT, Brothers (or Bro for short) in Occupational Therapy, is a national movement started by two students, Josh Springer and Houman Ziai, in Pennsylvania focusing on getting more males into the profession. MacDonald was reading OT Practice magazine when he learned about the movement in an ad featuring two male Occupational Therapy students with the caption, “Join the BrOT-initiative.” He approached another classmate and they agreed to buy the shirts.

Read the full story

The Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA) at UAB held their first 5k February 4, 2012 to raise on money to assist students in the program with scholarships, attendance of the annual national conference, and to help support community organizations.  Click here for the full article on UAB’s website.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – David A. Brown, P.T., Ph.D., a leading expert on physical therapy and rehabilitation, is the inaugural director of the PhD in Rehabilitation Science program in the School of Health Professions at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The program, housed jointly in the departments of Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, will prepare graduates for the field of rehabilitation as academicians and scientists.

“Rehabilitation science is a rather new discipline, and we want to be on its forefront,” said Jan Rowe, Dr. OT, interim chair of Occupational Therapy. “Considering his national reputation and proven track record in scientific inquiry, Dr. Brown’s vision will help position UAB as a leader in this field.”  (more…)