Meredith Myrer of Salisbury was a dental assistant for several years after taking courses at Wor-Wic Community College. “I loved working with patients and seeing them smile,” she said. After having a baby, she decided that furthering her education would be a good next step. “I had a dental patient who was an occupational therapy assistant, and that always stuck out in my head,” she said.
Certified occupational therapy assistants help patients of all ages develop, recover and improve the skills needed for daily living and working. Occupational therapy appealed to Myrer because she knew from her work in the dental office that she likes helping people.
“It’s such a great field,” she said. “Helping people learn to adapt to medical circumstances and making sure they can get back to their activities of daily living – it can be life-changing for people.”
When Myrer researched programs and realized there was a program offered close to home at Wor-Wic, “It was a no-brainer,” she said. “I had to go for it.”
However, it’s not easy juggling work, parenting and school. Myrer started waiting tables at a local restaurant for additional flexibility, but quickly realized that she might not be able to keep up the work schedule she needed to pay for school. “It’s intense – even when I had all of my class time free, I had homework to do at night.”
She reached out to Wor-Wic’s financial aid office to see if there was anything that could help and received support from a workforce development scholarship. “It has kept me in class, and it has kept me from going home and wondering how I’m going to pay bills and buy groceries,” she said.
This assistance has a ripple effect that will reach the whole community when Myrer enters the workforce with her new skills. She recently participated in a class visit to the occupational therapy department at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which delivers world-class care to service members, veterans and their families.
“I learned so much from that one trip,” she said. “It made me think about how important it is to restore people’s independence and dignity. It is something I look forward to doing as a career.”
