The Rachel Kay Stevens Therapy Center (RKSTC) at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, a student-run, pro-bono pediatric occupational therapy clinic, will host a ribbon cutting August 24 from 2-4 p.m. for its new clinical space on the 5th floor of the 920 Madison Building on the Memphis campus. The celebration is open to students, faculty, staff, and supporters of the clinic.
The center is named for Rachel Kay Stevens, an OT student who died shortly after beginning her training in the UTHSC College of Health Professions. She dreamed of working with children to help them live better lives. The clinic is staffed by OT students with faculty supervision and provides occupational therapy services at no cost to children of families that are uninsured or underinsured. Through this work, the center also offers OT students real-world experience and educational opportunities they otherwise would not have.
The new home of the RKSTC continues the caring legacy of its namesake. It includes a large observation room, where two students can be providing therapy while supervised by a licensed OT therapist. There is adjoining space for 12 students to observe from behind a large window.
The center opened at UTHSC in 2016 in the old Boling Center, which also housed the UTHSC Center on Developmental Disabilities. That building has since been demolished. RKSTC shares its new space with the Center on Developmental Disabilities, which has two observation and testing rooms in the suite. The main offices for the Center on Developmental Disabilities are located on the 9th floor of the 920 Madison Building.
Read more at our UTHSC News site.