Melody Klatt

Evidence-Based Reflection
OCCT 657B
3/28/16
During my academic career at Touro University Nevada, I believe that I developed
significant skills in relationship to evidence-based practice - to an extent that I, admittedly, never
thought I would during my school career. I was aware that we would be taking some researchbased classes at Touro, but I never expected to come out of those classes with such a true
appreciation for the value of utilizing evidence-based practice, along with being so wellequipped with the tools to perform research and implement evidence-based practice in therapy.
In my portfolio, there are two evidence-based artifacts in particular that I wish to
highlight as a representation of my growth in this area. The first is the research poster that I
created with a classmate after completing our systematic review on a chosen topic in our fourth
semester. The process of completing that systematic review and putting that poster together was
one of the steepest learning curves that I underwent in terms of performing research and
analyzing data, and I believe that at the end of that project I felt much more confident in my
ability to gather and analyze scholarly information in a way that applied to occupational therapy
(OT). Presenting our poster also gave me an opportunity to practice describing the research
concepts and to be able to answer questions that audience members had on the topic, which I
believe was a very valuable experience.
The second artifact that I would like to highlight are the articles that I utilized as a basis
for treatment sessions during my first Level II fieldwork experience. This was an opportunity for
me to actually gather research and actively utilize it in a real practice setting, and I very much

appreciated the chance I had to apply what we had been learning throughout Touros OT program
in regards to this process. I was able to search for scholarly data in relation to actual children on
my caseload, and I was then able to utilize that data to make clinical decisions in terms of the
treatment activities that I designed and implemented for them. As this is very much like what I
hope to do with my clients as a future practitioner, I definitely believe that this was one of the
most significant and valuable experiences that I had in terms of evidence-based practice.
When I first started the program, I admit that I truly thought that learning about evidencebased practice was going to be one of the most tedious and least-applicable things that I was
going to learn during our academic career. And though I will admit that research is still not my
favorite part of OT practice, I definitely have a much better understanding and appreciation for
what evidence-based practice contributes to the value of OT services. I know now that acting on
evidence-based practice will be a significant part of my life as an OT practitioner, as I know that
that will be a critical part of giving my clients the most effective treatment possible. I hope to
continue to grow in these skills by continuing to practice the research skills that Ive learned so
that I hopefully become even more comfortable with it, and to grow by actively advocating for
the use of evidence-based practice in whatever setting I end up working in.