ABSTRACT
As a recent occupational therapy graduate, I was faced with the unique opportunity to become the first occupational therapist on staff at a metropolitan community mental health center. During my tenure as a student, I had the privilege of completing a Level II fieldwork placement at this same facility. The occupational therapy education program at the University of Kansas Medical Center had built a fieldwork relationship with the mental health center’s community support services over several years. Students completed their fieldwork education under the supervision of a faculty member and began to build an occupational therapy program where one had not existed before. I happened to be one of the students in a long line that created and refined the role of occupational therapy in this setting, and developed the procedures to deliver our service. The mental health center was open to the unique services we were able to provide and expressed this openness by creating a staff position for an occupational therapist. This new position provided a wonderful opportunity for the expansion of occupational therapy services in the community mental health setting. I was excited to be given the responsibility of building on the foundation created by fieldwork students over the previous years.
