Mary Schmitz

I began my career in Ohio which has extended to practice across 2 other states, Nevada and where I now reside, Arizona.  Being an advocate for my profession as well as clients comes naturally.  I strive to connect to others through state, regional, national, and international memberships such as this OT Potential.  My efforts for connecting aren't limited to other occupational therapy students and practitioners, but expands outside of our profession having been instrumental in working with the Arizona Telemedicine Program and the Arizona Physical Therapy Association in developing joint training webinars in order to better understand how telehealth is effectively practiced and reimbursed for OT and PT.  I continue to provide inservice training triannually to other telemedicine providers, primarily physicians, through the Arizona Telemedicine Program's Applications and Services webinars.  In order to address rural school practice, I have participated in the Arizona Borderlands Rural Teacher Caucus small group discussions which has led me to pursuing further collaboration with personnel in the Arizona Rural School Association (ARSA) and the National Rural Education Association (NREA).  I'm one of the founding members of the CommunOT Community of Practice for Emergency and Disaster Management as well as serve locally in the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and the Mohave County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC).