Training a New Generation of Hand Therapists

We can’t think of a better way to celebrate Hand Therapy Week than by ensuring people passionate about the profession can continue to practice it. The Cascade Health Physical & Hand Therapy clinic is proud to work with students like Shea Caddel, who is earning his master’s degree in occupational therapy at Samuel Merritt University and is four weeks into his 12-week fieldwork placement at Cascade Health.

Shea remembers always being interested in anatomy and physiology, majoring in kinesiology as an undergraduate and gravitating toward occupational therapy for its wide range of specializations. After he graduates, he plans to work toward his hand therapist certification, saying “with hand therapy, you get into the nitty gritty details of the body” and can use “that foundational knowledge of anatomy to treat people and help them get back to their lives.”

Shea spent the first few weeks of his placement observing Cascade Health hand therapist Casey Rossberg, his clinical instructor. Now the work is more, well, “hands on.” He’s conducting full treatment sessions under Casey’s supervision and says, “I already feel like I’ve learned an immense amount.” He hopes the skills he perfects at Cascade Health, from recognizing and treating different diagnoses to orthosis fabrication, will lead to a position at a hand therapy clinic post-graduation.

“This summer has been a dream summer,” Shea says of his experience at Cascade Health and the warm, welcoming Physical & Hand Therapy team. His excitement is contagious – and we look forward to seeing the dedicated, compassionate hand therapist he’ll become!