Welcome Back, Va-LEND OT Alumni - As Faculty

4/11/20

Welcome back to Lauren Andelin, who earned her doctoral degree in Occupational Therapy. Dr. Andelin graduated in 2013 from Va-LEND and joined our faculty in February 2020. In addition to her faculty position at Va-LEND, Dr. Andelin is a clinician at the Children's Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she also works on the Assistive Technology team.

Before ever joining Va-LEND, Dr. Andelin, saw a unique opportunity in the program: "I had recently joined the Assistive Technology team and had a lot of ideas that I was excited to implement at my organization. LEND was a great way for me to help make my ideas a reality....the program gave me tools to interact with other professionals for better care of the whole child, an understanding of different perspectives, and the confidence to complete a project that I may not otherwise have done." It also prompted her to apply for the OT doctoral program at VCU, which she completed in 2018.

She especially appreciated the LEND clinics, and from her current perspective, "clinics as collaborative and all-encompassing as the LEND clinic are very hard to replicate, so if you have the chance to do it, go for it! It may be the best chance you will get to have such a wonderful collaboration. " Dr. Andelin shared her advice to potential trainees. "If you have the time to commit to extra education hours, this is a great program to enhance your skills practically while also allowing you to gain perspectives from other disciplines in a very supportive environment."