Episode 19: The Advocacy Bug

Karen Sames, OTD, MBA, OTR/L, FAOTA, is an occupational therapist with expertise in leadership, healthcare management and documentation in the field of OT. She serves as the program director in the Department of Occupational Therapy at St. Catherine University. She has an OTD from Chatham University, an MBA with a healthcare management concentration from the University of St. Thomas, and a BS in occupational therapy from the University of Wisconsin. She is the author of the book Documenting Occupational Therapy Practice, 3rd ed. as well as a chapter on documentation in the latest edition of Willard and Spackman’s Occupational Therapy. Karen has served three terms as President of the Minnesota Occupational Therapy Association (MOTA). She currently chairs the Government Affairs Committee for MOTA and is Treasurer of AOTA. 

When asked what advice she would offer if she could go back in time and talk to herself as an OT student, Karen said, "I would tell myself to listen more, to observe more, and to not be so quick to jump to conclusions.  I always think that you can do that more, and I feel like that's something that in the fast-paced world we live in and with the demands of healthcare now, it's harder and harder to do.  Listen more; see more."

Connect with Karen:

• Email - kmsames@stkate.edu  
• Twitter - @KSamesOTR
• Website - https://www.stkate.edu/academics/our-faculty/karen-sames

We teach our patients from a safety perspective that they've got to be aware, that they have to know what's in their environment and scan for danger. The way you are aware of your environment and scan for danger as a professional is to be a be a member of the [professional] association." ~Karen Sames