The Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine welcomed the Class of 1963 and other alumni back to the university with a luncheon, Rehab Med "show and tell" display, tour of Corbett Hall and pub night alumni-student mixer on Friday.
The occupational therapy Class of 1963 attended the University of Alberta's Cap and Gown ceremony, taking the same photo with Mr. Leonard Allbon, one of the professors who helped create the occupational therapy program at UAlberta, 50 years later.
Physical therapists and occupational therapists from Class of 1973 and 1988 also attended the luncheon, exchanging stories, photos and laughs with the Class of 1963's OT's and PT's. More than 120 people attended the Rehab Med Pub Night, an alumni-student mixer later that evening at Hudson's on Whyte.
So what was Rehab Med like 50 years ago? We asked the Class of 1963 and here's what they had to say:
Lynne (Daly) Cook:
The Anatomy Lab was my favorite although the first introduction to the cadaver was a bit traumatic.
I will never forget the bell ringer exams and Dr. Fish peering over her glasses to ask "are you sure?", when you identified a muscle or tendon she was pointing to. I was sure until she asked!
I certainly remember taking classes in the trailer - our first home on campus - and having very little equipment to work with. We had to learn very quickly how to improvise and make do with what was available, very good training for a rehab therapist! All in all, the training we received and the academic knowledge to which we were exposed helped me hone life skills that served me well in raising a family and living life to the fullest.
Carol K. (Schmidt) Green:
The friendships with Sandra (Sundset) Hunter and Lynn (Daly) Cooke have lasted 50 years - love you guys!! I remember summer school in Red Deer where Sandra and I did not do that well with Physics, but we sure had a great time. Pepsi, chips and guys every night after homework.
Of all my classes at Uof A, Anatomy had the most profound influence in my life. We had the opportunity to see how the body is put together and functioned. 36 hours of classes per week, 10 minute runs between classes to rush across campus, sometimes with wet hair from the pool freezing onto our heads. Did anyone catch pneumonia? Heck!, I walked 30 blocks to and from campus in 3rd year. So cold!
Sandra Hunter (Sundset):
When I try to describe my 3 years as an OT student, the standout word for me is HURRY! HURRY from building to building. HURRY to find time to study (we were always painfully aware that we had more class hours than any other faculty). HURRY to catch a bus as we covered the city going to placements. HURRY to fit in lunch - often in the aromatic surroundings of the anatomy lab. HURRY to Saturday morning Psych classes.
Despite all this HURRYING, we LEARNED. We LEARNED theory, techniques, assessment, planning, problem solving and treatment modalities. We LEARNED to defend stool seating, basketry and fuzzy pink bunnies as beneficial activities for hand therapy. I LEARNED I was a dud on the pottery wheel, but I sure loved the wood lathe. I LEARNED to whittle. I spent most of second year on crutches with a full-length leg plaster. I LEARNED there were a lot of rude men on campus. I would struggle to prop a door open and two or three fellows would just sail through!
Carol Leiper:
I especially remember the summer psychiatric OT affiliation where we had to spend a week at a lake at their summer camp. Diane was on that with me and a couple of others and we made up songs and skits for the residents and Diane played her banjo.
Maybelle Lockhart (Strong):I don't remember a lot of time for leisure or social events. It was study, study, study and pressure, pressure, pressure to do well in all subjects. I found Anatomy a real challenge, and spent many hours with my Cates Anatomy book, in and out of the Lab. After the initial shock of the formaldehyde smell, the dampness, the opening of the cloths and the covering procedure for the bodies, as well as the visual reminder of the toe tags, it became possible to concentrate on the intricate structures of the muscles and nerves. However I did spend a lot of late nights trying to keep the names and locations in my mind, especially for what seemed to be weekly oral tests or "reviews". On one particular oral questions and demonstration test I was answering the questions of insertions and muscle names by the professor, until partway through, my mind went completely and totally blank. I had never experienced that before and was shocked and embarrassed. My professor looked directly "eyeball to eyeball" at me and sternly said, "Miss Strong, I know you know the answers to these questions! Have you been up studying all night for this exam? You go home and have a good sleep, then come back tomorrow to finish this test. Sometimes giving your brain a rest is better than continually cramming!" I have never forgotten his advice, and using it I managed to pass Anatomy with reasonably good marks.
Emma Patel (Gom):
I remember when a group of our class went downtown one evening to that trendy new restaurant that had just opened. New very spicy food called pizza. How the taste buds have also changed. I also remember the 'Hippie Party" where we all dressed in black tops and black tights with lots of black makeup. Not sure what this had to do with that new hippie movement, seems more like goth now.
Rhea Stewart (Strawson):
I remember our introduction to Anatomy Lab (hands-on dissection on human bodies). Startling, but an excellent way to learn anatomy. I also once overheard someone in the caffeteria line at U of A hospital wondering who those "girls" with the green aprons were. Then someone answered and said that we were probably nurses from Ireland!
Patricia Wood (Greenleese):
It was early in the semester. Our class was sent into a laboratory and told to wait. Everyone was talking and laughing. Gradually the volume of the chatter diminished as each student became aware that room contained a lot of plinths draped with white sheets. A hush fell as we realized that those sheets were shaped like bodies. And toes with tags on them. Anatomy actually became one of my favourite classes.