Working with someone who has been through the same program can be a tremendous learning opportunity, one that Erika Barbera ‘26MSOT took full advantage of as a student in the Occupational Therapy (OT) department of the College of Nursing and Health Professions (CNHS) at Drexel University, Elkins Park campus.
Although she’s always wanted to work in pediatrics, Barbera had the chance to shadow in a hand therapy facility and was immediately intrigued.
“You have to have so many shadowing hours before you apply for OT grad school and I shadowed in a pediatric place and a hand therapy place,” said Barbera, originally from Long Beach Island, New Jersey, who earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Kutztown University. “I’ve always wanted to work in pediatrics but after I saw hand therapy, I really did like it.”
When she was accepted into the Master of Science in OT program at Drexel, she eventually requested both a pediatric and a hand therapy rotation.
That’s where she had the unique opportunity to learn from one of the program’s own — Mark Larsen, MSOT ‘20, who graduated from what was then the Salus University OT program before it merged with Drexel in July 2025.
“I didn’t realize at first that he had graduated from Salus. So we talked about if we had some of the same professors and learned the same things,” said Barbera.
They did, and that became an advantage for her during the hand therapy rotation.
Barbera said Larsen expected certain skills from her because he knew the program and how it was taught. He knew what experiences she was receiving because he took the same courses and was taught the same way.
“One of the advantages to us going through the same program was that our foundational skills were the same because we had many of the same teachers,” said Barbera. “We had the same training and the same style and he knew how to build on what I had already been taught. I didn’t have to learn a new way of doing things in that context.”
During the three-month rotation, Barbera learned the basics of hand therapy from Larsen, things like how to conduct an evaluation and document it; what special tests there are for certain diagnoses; and creating goals for each individual patient.
So, did the experience working with a mentor who went through the same program encourage Barbera to lean toward being a hand therapist as her career progresses?
“I knew the rotation was going to be hard but it was a good time learning from Mark. He will say if I go into hands, it will be because of him. And, it probably would be,” said Barbera, who is currently finishing a pediatrics rotation as her graduation quickly approaches in June.
“Because of that hand rotation, I realized I could be a hand therapist. But I still like pediatrics, I just love kids and kids are where my heart is. I don’t think I’ll go into hands, but if I did, I would try to find something that would be half hands and half pediatrics.”
