Tag: #occupationaltherapist

Kinesiology Paths: Occupational Therapy

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Jesse Boswell Cozine
Louisiana Tech University – KIHS – Clinical Concentration 2014
LSUS School of Allied Health 2017

My name is Jessie Cozine, and I live in Shreveport, Louisiana, where my husband and I enjoy spending time with our family and friends. From 2010-2014, I attended Louisiana Tech and was on the health promotion concentration in my kinesiology major. Later I changed to the clinical concentration to pursue physical therapy.

By my sophomore year I was questioning if I even wanted to do PT and wasn’t sure what other options I had. During a seminar hosted by our Kinesiology department in the fall of 2011, I was given the opportunity to hear from three professionals from an allied health school. They discussed careers in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and as a physical assistant.  Everything the OT spoke about I fell in love with. It was exactly what I needed to hear to put me on the right track to pursue a career as an occupational therapist. Thankfully my advisor and other professors helped guide me in how to accomplish this goal and make my dream a reality. 

There are many wonderful things the Kinesiology department gave me both professionally and personally. They encouraged me to join several of the department’s organizations including ESPE (now KINE) and PEK. I am grateful for their guidance because I learned so much through these organizations. Getting out of my comfort zone challenged me to grow as a leader, and I enjoyed serving in several roles in these organizations: secretary, vice president and president. This gave me the opportunity to collaborate with other students as we learned how to network and organize fundraising events. Each of these valuable experiences shaped me into the person and professional I am today. 

Another incredible asset the Kinesiology department provided me was the adult practicum class as well as setting up an internship with an OT at an LTAC (Long-Term Acute Care) facility. This gave me hands on experience with people in the community, and I shadowed both inpatient and outpatient occupational therapy settings. These opportunities were unique to our department and gave me valuable training. The occupational therapists I met during that internship wrote my recommendation letters which helped open the door for me into OT school. 

Fast forward to my senior year. I had finished my internship that summer and was applying to OT schools before graduating in spring of 2014. During the winter quarter my father was in an accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury. Our family’s life was turned upside down.  My dad did rehab in several places in Shreveport and then in New Orleans at Touro, a brain injury specialty hospital. My professors and close friends from the Kines department helped carry me through this difficult time in my life. When they say “Kines Family” they mean it. I could not have made it without them during those extremely stressful times. By God’s grace and mercy my dad returned home and was even able to attend my graduation in Spring of 2014. 

Prior to graduation, I found out that I was placed on the waitlist for OT school in Shreveport. This was not the news I wanted but considering what my family was going through at the time, it was really for the best. While waiting to reapply to OT school for that following year, I was given the opportunity work for a nonprofit organization called ThinkFirst. This is an injury prevention organization that educates the community on how to prevent brain and spinal cord injuries as well as providing support and resources to survivors and their families. Initially I worked there as an intern and then became their program coordinator. ThinkFirst helped my family so much while in the thick of my dad’s injury and it continues to support us in our brain injury journey.

The experience I gained from the Kines organizations helped prepare me for my role as program coordinator in setting up fundraising events for this nonprofit and networking with other organizations. It also opened my eyes and heart to a community of survivors/caregivers of both brain and spinal cord injuries that I may have never met.  I believe this has made me a better clinician and person. God works in amazing ways even if we don’t see it that way, or when things don’t happen in our timeframe. After OT school I decided to join the board of ThinkFirst to stay connected and give back to such a wonderful organization and community. This summer I became president of the board at ThinkFirst.

So where am I now? I graduated from LSU School of Allied Health in Shreveport in 2017 and have been practicing as an occupational therapist for almost eight years. I’ve had the opportunity to work in a several settings including acute and inpatient rehab, and outpatient ortho, neuro and pediatrics. I currently work full time at Christus Outpatient orthopedic hand clinic. In this setting I work with a variety of age groups and upper extremity diagnoses. I continue to learn and grow in this field in order to give my patients the best care and further my knowledge as an OT. My future goal is to obtain my CHT (certified hand therapist). I’m reminded never to underestimate God and how He works in the details. I’ve learned not to limit myself and embrace what can be possible in life—both professionally and personally. 

Kinesiology Paths: Occupational Therapy – Burn Rehabilitation & Complex Wound Management

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Carly Pogson, OTR/L, CPAM
Louisiana Tech University, Bachelor of Science, Kinesiology 2015
Augusta University, Masters of Health Science, Occupational Therapy, 2019

My name is Carly Pogson, and I am an Occupational Therapist specializing in burn rehabilitation and complex wound management, a field I have been dedicated to since the start of my career over five years ago.

My path to occupational therapy began unexpectedly—in a kinesiology class taught by Mrs. Rhonda Boyd, where I first started to consider how I wanted to shape my future in healthcare. I knew I wanted to work with the body holistically, going beyond traditional Western medicine alone. My own experiences and beliefs affirmed the value of Eastern practices, and I envisioned a career that would integrate both perspectives into meaningful patient care.

Occupational therapy stood out to me because of its breadth. It does not only address disabilities from a biomechanical perspective but also considers the neurological, cognitive-behavioral, emotional, social, developmental, and spiritual aspects of a person’s health. It is a profession rooted in the belief that true healing is individualistic and multifaceted.

To explore this vision, I completed an undergraduate student internship with practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine where I was introduced to acupuncture, medical Qigong, Chinese Herbal medicine, and other alternative medicine practices including Chakra balancing and detoxification. I studied the body’s Qi, “life force energy,” and its role in overall health. The two mentors I met during this time, remain guides in my professional and personal growth. My second student internship was with a nurse practitioner specializing in functional medicine, where I saw firsthand the profound impact of nutrition on physical recovery and resilience.

Following graduation, I took a gap year in Georgia, working as a personal trainer while preparing for graduate studies. I took it one step further, challenging my own physical and emotional resilience by competing in my first (and only) International Natural Bodybuilding Federation (INBF) physique competition, where I took first place in the Bikini (tall) event. These experiences solidified my love for individualized exercise programming and reinforced my passion for helping others optimize their health. In 2019, I earned my Master’s of Health Sciences in Occupational Therapy from Augusta University (AU) with the determination to merge all these skills into my practice. While completing my Master’s program, I enrolled in two introductory courses in Traditional Chinese Medicine from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who partnered with AU to form the Confucius Institute. This deepened my appreciation for Eastern health philosophy and strengthened my belief in the value of diverse healing practices.

I never expected to work in burns. Yet when the opportunity came to work at a hospital that specialized in burn care, I embraced it—and quickly discovered how deeply rewarding this work is. Burn care is unlike any other specialty: the healing journey lasts years, and I have the privilege of supporting patients from their initial hospital admission through scar management, long-term recovery, and reconstruction. This continuity allows me to build relationships that extend far beyond a typical episode of care, often months extending to even years.

Over the last five and a half years, I have grown into a leadership role as the Burn and Reconstruction Charge Therapist, where I provide care across acute, outpatient, and perioperative settings. My work includes facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration with surgeons, nurses, and rehabilitation specialists, as well as helping to build the first-ever formal Burn Reconstruction therapy program under the guidance of Rajiv Sood, M.D., FACS and Deborah Knight, MOT, OTR/L, BT-C. Within this program, we address functional and cosmetic challenges related to scar contractures, hypertrophic scarring, and burn deformities through surgical and therapeutic interventions.

My contributions include co-developing our hospital’s laser therapy program, participating on the pediatric burn team, and serving on splint call for urgent cases. My passion for advancing burn care has also taken me abroad—I have joined two medical mission trips to Eldoret, Kenya with Dr. Sood, partnering with Moi Teaching Hospital providers to deliver specialized burn treatment and education for both their adult and pediatric units.

Beyond clinical practice, I am committed to advancing occupational therapy through scholarship and education. I have authored two unique OT interventions currently under review for publication in the Book of Innovations by the National Society of Burns. I have attended the American Burn Association (ABA) 2024, and presented at the Georgia Occupational Therapy Association Conference (GOTA) 2024 with colleagues on topics including “Burn scar management 101: An introduction to outpatient occupational therapy for the burn survivor” for the Outpatient Therapist” and “Developing collaborative relationships between the OTR and COTA on the interdisciplinary burn care team,” in addition to presenting guest lectures for industry groups (Avita, Smith & Nephew) and my alma mater’s OT program.

At the heart of my career is a belief in the resilience of the human spirit. Burns may devastate the body, but therapy rebuilds more than function—it restores confidence, identity, and quality of life. Every patient I work with reinforces my drive to keep pushing the field forward, to advocate for integrative, evidence-based care, and to mentor the next generation of therapists.

Outside of the clinic, I recharge by hiking, camping, backpacking, playing volleyball (+20 years), traveling, and pursuing my own physical wellness—because living the values I teach my patients matters just as much as delivering them.