The author completed a 400-hour internship with a pediatric occupational therapist at Early Childhood Intervention. In their evaluation, the therapist expressed that the author had improved over the course of the internship and made progress. The author's strengths included dependability, self-reliance, neatness, discretion, consumer skills, work habits, and time management. Weaknesses included interpersonal relationships, response to criticism, and verbal communication, but the author was working to improve these areas. The experience gave the author confidence to pursue a career in pediatric occupational therapy.

1. 400-Hour Narrative
I have successfully completed my internship of 400 hours with a pediatric
occupational therapist at Early Childhood Intervention also known as ECI. I feel
confident in myself that I successfully improved my self as a person. This experience
has given me the confidence to work on my weaknesses and refine my strengths for
better results as a striving health professional. When comparing my 200-hour
evaluation with my 400-hour evaluation, the therapist has confidently expressed my
improvement and the progress I’ve made throughout the time spent with him.
My strengths included: Dependability, self-reliance, neatness, discreetness,
consumers, work habits, and organization of time. My dependability was one of my
improved skills. I focused on completing my duties, while using my judgment on
certain jobs. As stated before, one of my duties is to assist the babies with tracking
to work on their eyes muscles. I started taking initiative by using my judgment and
applying the tracking exercise when the time felt appropriate, instead of waiting to
be told. I can confidently complete this exercise with little to no direction while
multitasking my responsibilities such as, communicating with the families. I always
explain in detail of what the exercise accomplishes and answer any other questions
they may have.
Neatness was another strength of mine; I work with various amounts of
babies younger than 3 years of age every day during the week. Being clean is a
major importance of mine because babies are susceptible of getting ill from their
weak immune systems. I also meet the families of the children and this entitles to
dress suitably at all times, so first impressions are commendable.

2. My discreetness was another strength of mine. I continuously do my best
stay professional and put my personal beliefs aside to focus on the parents concerns
of their child. I am aware of the HIPPA rules; I understand that the names and
diagnosis of the babies are confidential. I always respect the patient’s home and
always try to keep my boundaries. I have learned to not discuss a previous patient
seen, in front of other families. If the situation is related, I use very vague vocabulary
and vague comparisons describing other cases seen. Parents often need comfort that
some things are commonly seen, but I can still get my point across professionally for
the parents to understand.
Another strength of mine includes my consumer skills, which were most
commendable. I have learned and refined this skill to change my approach with the
different families and situations I am placed with. The therapist commends my
ability to communicate well with the families, while using my personality to work
with all circumstances. Organization of time was my strongest area because I
understand the importance of valuing someone else’s time. I understand that
showing up on time displays reliability and respect. I have worked on this skill by
writing everything down. I have accepted that I will not remember everything, so I
religiously write everything down while organizing events on my calendar. This
helps me to stay on track of times and places scheduled for the week.
There were a few weaknesses that were better than average, but wasn’t
considered a perfect score. These included: interpersonal relationships, response to
criticism, and verbal communication. My interpersonal relationship skill is still
being refined. I always do my best to remain professional with staff. I often assist the

3. OT assistants when working with the babies because I feel strongly that results
display a stronger effect when we can work as a team. I do have the habit of
interrupting or talking over the staff due to excitement. I have began writing down
my thoughts and comments, while patiently waiting for the others to finish
speaking. The therapist has credited my professionalism in the work atmosphere
and my ability to transition between conversations, while staying on tasks. I feel
confident when speaking to people; I just need to work on decreasing my habit of
interrupting.
My response to criticism can be worked on further. I have learned to take
criticism constructively from the therapist and I always ask questions to verify the
instruction. I’m working on this skill by improving my attitude and facial
expressions when corrected. I strongly feel it is an important part of the learning
process and I want to keep a positive attitude when receiving advice. Another skill
to be improved is verbal communication. The therapist expresses that my
communication skills are good. I communicate well with co-workers/staff and I
understand the meaning of respect. I feel that I can talk to the families well and I
can explain the exercises enough for them to understand.
This experience has given me the confidence to continue working on my
weaknesses and refine my strengths for worthy recognition as a striving health
professional. I started this journey unsure of what area of practice I wanted to
pursue. I plan on continuing my education to pursue a career in pediatric
occupational therapy in outpatient care.