Mauli Chothani, MSOT ‘20, was exposed to occupational therapy (OT) at a young age. Her brother has a disability and he received at-home services, not just OT but also physical therapy (PT) and speech-language pathology (SLP).
“I thought it was really fascinating because all of the therapists made such a big impact,” said Chothani. “I was really interested in trying to help the patient increase function as much as possible.”
That desire to help patients led her to Rutgers University, where she earned a degree in Kinesiology and Health in 2018. She was looking for a graduate school that had a 100 percent board exam pass rate and offered its students early clinical experiences. Salus University was just the place.
“I liked how the fieldwork coordinator was willing to work with your desired preferences during clinical rotations,” said Chothani, a native of Parsippany, New Jersey. “A lot of grad schools had set contracts and these were the only sites that you could be placed at. Salus was a lot more open-ended. They were willing to work with you if you had a specific location and setting you were interested in.”
She also liked the way the Salus OT program was structured – that it was a two-year program and that each semester was focused on treating a different population, for example: pediatrics, adults, and geriatrics. By the time COVID hit in 2020, she had completed all of her didactic work in person, which prepared her for her fieldwork clinical experiences.
“Since we had so much exposure with the in-person training, I felt very comfortable and confident going into my profession. I felt like I was very supported.” she said.
The top-notch training landed Chothani a job after graduation with Ivy Rehab in New Jersey, which has 600+ locations across the country. In the beginning, she treated upper extremity orthopedic conditions. After some time, a position opened up in the workers compensation department. For the past four months, she has transitioned into a nonclinical role, focusing on managing cases for patients who have been injured on the job.
“I was interested in workers comp because they are a little bit different to treat. Because it’s an injury on the job, treatment is focused on if the patient is able to return to the same job prior to the injury, not necessarily activities of daily living (ADLs),” said Chothani. She currently manages and oversees 56 clinics in North and Central New Jersey.
Leadership is not new to her as she was president of the Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA) during her time at Salus.
“Although this is a remote job and I’m no longer physically treating patients, I’m still using my OT skills. This role requires a lot of coaching and mentoring therapists,” she said.
As Chothani continues to receive exposure to different aspects of management, she’s giving presentations, performing case audits, reviewing billing charges, writing social media blog posts, answering questions on the workers comp support hub, mentoring therapists on how to use the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system, and so much more.
“I definitely want to expand my skill set further,” she said.
