Nicole Quint, Dr. OT, OTR/L, clinical faculty of occupational therapy in the College of Allied Health and Nursing, always wanted to work in health care, but changed her focus from animals to humans after she visited a center for people with disabilities and saw an occupational therapist helping a young man with cerebral palsy.
“[The therapist] was adapting the computer so that [the patient] could use it despite all of his motor dysfunctions,” she said. “I said, ‘OK, this is what I want to do. This is a way to make a direct impact on somebody’s life.’”
However, she still cares for animals. She has volunteered with several animal charities and rescue organizations for pugs. She is involved with the Broward Occupational Therapy Forum and the Spinal Cord Injury Support Group of South Florida. She has also volunteered with the Special Olympics, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and adapted sports for people with disabilities.
“A lot of times, the volunteer work I am involved in relates to a fundraising opportunity for a patient who needs equipment,” she said. “I’m also interested in doing triathlons to try to raise money for patients.”
Quint said people often do not understand what occupational therapy is because the word occupation is commonly associated with the word job. However, occupational therapy includes every day activities such as brushing your teeth, getting dressed, sleep, rest, educational pursuits, work and social participation. Quint said occupation refers to activities that are purposeful and meaningful to life and things that add to the quality of life.
“If someone has a stroke, and he or she becomes disabled, our job is to get the person back to doing occupations, maybe in a new way, and get the person to participate in those occupations again, so that the person can improve the health and quality of his or her life.”
Quint said she entered occupational therapy because she wanted to make a difference.
“I really wanted to make a difference that I thought would have long-lasting effects,” she said. “I wanted some of the people who are left out in society to really have a chance to have more fulfilled lives, and I saw OT was a way to do that.”
Quint said the challenging part of being a professor is translating information in the classroom to real life.
“We really try to impart on them how important their role is in people’s lives and their healthcare experiences and to really get them on the path to being independent and healthy,” she said.
Quint is also working on two research projects. She, a colleague and two optometrists from the College of Optometry are researching autistic adolescents and pre-adolescents with convergence insufficiency, a visual motor problem. They are studying how this condition impacts their sensory processing. Quint is also looking at the ability of children with middle-functioning autism to complete self-assessments regarding sensory processing skills.
Every summer, Quint goes to the Health Professions Division’s 10-day mission trip to Jamaica.
“We’re trying to get to the underserved populations who are in the mountains and don’t have access to health care,” she said. “We work together as a team, and it’s a really wonderful experience.”
One of her greatest memories at NSU was her first mission in 2009.
“It transformed me,” she said. “It transformed my role at NSU; I really felt as if I found the right fit for me. It transformed me as an occupational therapist, and it transformed me as an educator because we take students with us.”
Quint tries to set an example for her students and strives to be approachable and knowledgeable.
“I want to set a high standard because I want the students to meet it not because I want to be difficult for the sake of being difficult,” she said. “I want them to appreciate that the people they’re going to work with in the future are someone’s beloved family members. They have to respect that and meet their highest potential because of that.”
