Jessica Tsotsoros, PhD, OTR/L
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Jessica Tsotsoros PhD, OTR/L., is an Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center. She teachings interprofessional courses for Occupational and Physical Therapy Students in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences. She practices interprofessinally at the OU-Tulsa Physician’s Office with adults with severe mental illness providing occupational therapy wellness services. Her research on wellness with adults with severe mental illnesses involves the professions of occupational and physical therapy, psychiatry, social work, and community medicine.

Presenting at the Nexus Summit:

This presentation describes a teaching module created to intentionally engage entry-level occupational and physical therapy students in examining the impact of their beliefs and attitudes on communication with each other and with their future patients. The module addresses the uncomfortable issues of conscious and unconscious bias, the impact of privilege, and communication barriers that can derail teams. This module was added to a course that was already taught by an interprofessional faculty as well as being the first course offered in the curricula for both professional programs. This…
The purpose of this presentation is to describe a pilot project designed to improve student preparation for working together in the interprofessional clinical environment. When patients and families report that their care seems disorganized, it is often due to inefficiency resulting from an unfamiliarity with what each member can contribute. Often, this apparent inefficiency is really a reflection of the team's lack of familiarity with the scope and depth of each other's professional practice. When professional programs provide silo-based learning experiences, it creates students who have…