Capt. Andrew Antonio, OTR/L, CHT & Capt. Alain Pierre Eloi, OTD, OTR/L: OT in the United States Air Force
In this episode, we will learn about two occupational therapists who are both Captains in the United States Air Force, Capt. Andrew Antonio, OTR/L, CHT and Capt. Alain Pierre Eloi, OTD, OTR/L.
Capt. Antonio is an occupational therapist at the Special Warfare Human Performance Squadron, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. He leads a multidisciplinary team of military and civilian personnel across six functional areas in support of the sole Pararescue pipeline for six commands. He supports the Human Performance Optimization Program, providing sports medicine consultation to providers, independent medical technicians, athletic trainers and embedded Squadron leadership. He runs the Special Operations Forces-centric Training Squadron Occupational Therapy Clinic, conducting same day evaluations and treatment in support of 138 staff, 135 trainees. He also integrates performance and injury data to optimize training, develops and executes policies with coordination for two Wings and three medical facilities. He is also the Occupational Therapy Career Recruitment Officer responsible for inspiring, engaging, and recruiting diverse, highly qualified occupational therapists to serve as officer candidates to sustain the combat capability of the United States Air Force. Capt. Antonio received his post graduate degree in occupational therapy at the University of St. Augustine in April 2015 and entered the Air Force in April 2017 through direct commission as a distinguished graduate. He also earned a board specialty certification as a Certified Hand Therapist in December 2020. Since then he has held a variety of positions within the medical treatment facility and line operations including directing the first Occupational Therapy/Orthopedics Post-operation Hand Clinic, leading the first KC-10 Pilot Ergonomic Program for the 6 Air Refueling Squadron, and drafting the inaugural Medical Group Instruction for Management of Emergent Suicide Risk Patients as the Group National Patient Safety Chair at Travis, AFB, Calif. He also served as the sole Surgical and Hand Therapy Fellow serving the Greater Philadelphia, Pa. area into and post-COVID-19 shutdown. Prior to his current position, Capt. Antonio was a Surgical and Hand Therapy Fellow at the Philadelphia Hand to Shoulder Center, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Capt. Eloi is a native of Montreal, Canada who moved to California to study Occupational Therapy at Loma Linda University. After several years of working in various settings such as outpatient hand, home health, and SNFs, Capt. Eloi made the decision to go back to school in 2018 at Rocky Mountain University, where he obtained his OTD in the hand therapy track. During the pandemic, he made yet another life-changing decision; he decided to commission into the United States Air Force as an active-duty officer. Capt. Eloi is now stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base since March 2022 as he currently sees a varied population of active-duty members, family members, and retirees.
Q & A with Capt. Antonio:
Please tell us a little about yourself and a few favorite occupations.
-Born in Grand Forks, ND by way of the military (Father was in Air Force), but ultimately from Southern California.
-2011 B.S Kinesiology; California State University Long Beach (Long Beach, CA)
-2015 M.S Occupational Therapy; University of St. Augustine of Health Sciences (San Marcos, CA) -2015-2017 Worked in the Inpatient and Acute Rehab Unit Setting -2017 Commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force as an Occupational Therapist then stationed at Travis AFB, CA (Fairfield, CA)
-2020-2021 Hand Surgery and Therapy Fellowship at the Philadelphia Hand to Shoulder Center subsequently earning CHT (Philadelphia, PA)
-2021-PRESENT OT at the Special Warfare Human Performance Squadron, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.
Occupations: Weight training, HUGE FOODIE, travel, and most favorite...being a loving husband and new father!!!
What motivated you to contribute to this podcast series?
To advocate not only for the broad scopes of OT, but for the profession in itself. As OTs we understand the broad scope of OT, but the horizons and stability of these practices are heavily based on the advocacy that we put forth. THIS podcast is one of the great mediums that help achieve this. This podcast has opened my eyes for what is out there for OTs, but also, what COULD be with OT, sparking our innovation. I am honored to be a part of it!
Please describe the UncommonOT work that you do and the setting in which you work, the population you serve and the needs that you address.
This answer comes two-fold, as the profession stays constant (OT), but the duties/responsibilities can change base by base, so I'll break it down by each location I was stationed at... 2017-2020 Travis AFB, CA- David Grant Medical Center. This is the flagship hospital of the whole Air Force so the capabilities are vast. With that, there is the outpatient hands clinic, inpatient unit and mental health inpatient unit, all of which are the largest of its class. In one day I could very well see an outpatient schedule, go upstairs and perform inpatient evals, walk across the hall for inpatient mental health groups, go back downstairs to teach a pregnancy class on adaptive equipment, and management of UE conditions, and travel outside of the hospital walls to perform an ergonomic assessment for KC-130 cockpits for pilots. This is minute in comparison to the military side of the job- holding commander/supervisor roles to perform Airman/personnel development, management of clinic, productivity, supply, process improvement, competency training, military readiness, program management. Lots and LOTS of meetings and face to face check ins. POPULATION: Active duty military and their dependents, Retirees, VA NEEDS ADDRESSED: UE conditions; transition from hospital to home and/or next level of care (mental health and inpatient/acute care); preventative care for the jobs within the Air Force (pilots, air crew, weapons/maintenance, clerical/admin) 2021-PRESENT Kirtland AFB, NM I lead a multidisciplinary team of military and civilian personnel across six functional areas in support of the sole special warfare training pipeline. I support the Human Performance Optimization Program, providing sports medicine consultation to providers, independent medical technicians, athletic trainers and Air Force leadership. I run the Special Operations Forces-centric Training Squadron Occupational Therapy Clinic, conducting same day evaluations and treatment in support of 138 staff, 135 trainees. Also, integrating performance and injury data to optimize training, develop and executes policies with coordination for two bases and three medical facilities. Separately, I am also the Occupational Therapy Career Recruitment Officer responsible for inspiring, engaging, and recruiting diverse, highly qualified occupational therapists to serve as officer candidates to sustain the combat capability of the United States Air Force. POPULATION: Students (active and reserve Air Force), and staff (active duty and civilians) NEEDS ADDRESSED: UE conditions, preventative care; down regulation of SNS to improve visual perceptual skills, fine motor control, gross motor control, attention, memory, problem solving, in order to optimize performance to execute.
What inspired you or drew you to this type of OT work?
I always wanted to serve and wear the uniform, LONG before I knew what I wanted to do, including before OT, it was a matter of HOW. After completing OT school and realizing that the Air Force has a specialty career for OT, I immediately knew I could not only fulfill doing what I love, but also live my dream at the same time. Win-win. Working with ortho/hands was my overarching goal as an OT. The hands are such a powerful entity. The hands can create, destroy, manipulate, communicate. Without our hands, our identity, our occupations are significantly changed. I wanted to be that bridge back to their identity. I also dreamt of working under special warfare because these individuals are a different breed of intellect, athleticism, lethality, discipline...a human weapon system. So under the premise of SERVICE, that is what inspired me to do this work, whatever it entailed, I wanted to serve.
How did you get there? Can you describe your path?
I completed my M.S. OT program as a civilian and joined the Air Force, thereon after. In joining the Air Force, I spoke to a specific "Air Force Health Professions Recruiter" not a general recruiter (the ones you see everywhere) and told them I am an OT looking to commission (become an officer) as an OT. IF you cannot find the Health Professions Recruiter near you, you can ask a general recruiter to point you to the right direction. Once the application process was completed, interviews took place which were hosted by a panel of AF OTs. Following that, it was a waiting game. Once accepted, I had to attend Officer Training School (OTS) (the officer's "boot camp" but more focused on leadership development, military history/doctrine, customs and courtesies) which, at the time was 6 weeks, now is 8 weeks. Once completed, you are officially a Captain in the U.S. Air Force and are off to your first duty station. And of course I have to insert my plug! If you have any interest or have questions about becoming an OT in the Air Force, please reach out: andrew.antonio@us.af.mil
Please describe a typical day or OT session at your uncommon setting? What OT skills do you utilize?
TRAVIS AFB, CA 0700 Leading Clinic Huddle 0730- 1630 Patient Care/ Leadership Meetings/Airmen Development -Outpatient clinic; IF there is a cancellation, I would check the inpatient census and perform inpatient evaluation as time allows. -Every Mon/Fri is Inpatient Mental Health Groups (Stress management, goal setting, resiliency, sleep, meditation, etc.) -Every 2nd Wed of the month I am teaching UE management, adaptive equipment at Hospital Pregnancy Class -Every Tuesday AM is the OT/Hand Surgery "Hand Clinic" -Occasionally there would be a request for an offsite ergonomic evaluation. -Countless meetings daily with hospital leadership, working groups, sub teams (think of yourself as both Clinical Director of the Clinic, and a separate program manager(s), while still practicing) -Other special/side duties (Military and/or hospital related) KIRTLAND AFB, NM 0430-0500 Students prepare for training session, come in for quick tissue prep, taping. The Human Performance (HP) Team touches base for training expectations/plan of action and injury report. This is where students fill out their Wellness forms on how they are feeling that day (based on sleep, soreness, eating, sickness). Sometimes biometric wearable technology will be equipped to track items such as: HRV, HR, core temp, respiration rate for the session. 0500-0600 Training time for the students at the Combat Conditioning Complex (CCC) We serve as extenders for the strength and conditioning coaches to ensure proper lifting mechanics, modifications and answer any questions based on training and injuries. - Training includes dynamic warm-up at the beginning, and sometimes a demo of UE maintenance program at the conclusion of training (nerve glides, self IASTM, mobility, modalities) 0600-0630 Students are able to walk--in for treatment/evaluations based on injuries 0700-0900 CCC is open for staff (instructors, leadership, support teams); treatments are open for them as well. Rest of the day includes observation of the students training depending on the phase: weapons training, tactics, rescue, or tactical medicine. Our presence is for any questions from instructors and/or students about biomechanics of the task, on the spot treatments that don't interfere with training, but more importantly to see first-hand the activity demands of the tasks to better understand how we can improve our training and care with what they do in real life with the least restriction as possible. We are in the process of creating a Sympathetic Nervous System Suppression Training program with the focus of applicability of down regulation techniques to perform meaningful tasks that include: visual perception, memory, fine motor, gross motor, reaction. The intent to is to transfer these skills into the field to optimize performance. Bottom line: In one day, I utilize scopes of ortho, mental health, inpatient, ergonomics.
Can you talk about some recent highs (successes) and lows (challenges) of your current role?
Successes- Seeing team members succeed. Morale improving within our unit, and interpersonal relationships/comradery between team members continuing to strengthen. Challenges- creating programs from scratch and advocating the alignment of OT's role within that program; overall how it benefits our Airmen. Also, the overall advocacy of OT.
How do you continue to learn in order to stay on top of things within your role?
Utilization of team members for perspective and advice. The team consists of Athletics trainers, PT, dietician, strength and conditioning coaches, Technology- vast amounts of knowledge and experiences! Constant review of literature, and self checks on knowledge. On the military side, learning from leadership and members under your command, attending supplemental training courses for leadership and operations.
Can you share a little bit about salary and compensation in this setting? How do OT or the services you provide get funded?
Salary is based off the military pay table, for officers it ranges from O-1 to O-10 each grade is a designated rank. OT services are funded through the Department of Defense. Beneficiaries (active duty and dependents) are insured by TRICARE which receive no-cost medical care.
Any career advice for our followers and listeners on how to get started on this path?
My mantra has always been this, and it has been applicable to everything I have done in my life. 1. Passion. Show passion in what you do, it's contagious. 2.Compassion. Show compassion to everyone, you never know who you're going to need. 3. Do Good Work. No matter the task, do your best. It's your name on it. Constancy to purpose has also been huge in my life. Remember the WHY- why you did this in the first place, how it made you feel, and THAT, will get you through anything.
What’s a common myth or misconception about your job/role you’d like to call out or demystify?
"If I join, what job will I have? I don't want to have a job that I didn't go to school for." There are specialty careers in the AF where you will hold that profession when you join (e.g. MDs, lawyers, nurses, PT/OT, chaplain, etc.) as an officer. "Do I have to go to bootcamp?" You will have to attend Officer Training School (OTS) (the officer's "boot camp" but more focused on leadership development, military history/doctrine, customs and courtesies) which, at the time was 6 weeks, now is 8 weeks. Once completed, you are officially a Captain in the U.S. Air Force and are off to your first duty station. "Air Force will pay for OT school." False. You must complete your OT degree first before joining the AF. "AF will pay off my loans if I join." False. There is not a program in place to completely wipe off debt the moment you commission. HOWEVER, there are loan repayment programs offered once you are in that will pay a lump sum amount each year, BUT you will owe extra years of service in return. "Salary: Is it competitive to the civilian sector?" At face value, it is not as competitive, but what is not accounted for in the salary is the free medical care for yourself and family. Free housing (if living on base) or housing allowance. Travel all over the world. 30 days paid leave. Bonuses for hazard, deployment, specialty certifications. Your pay also increases with promotions.
How do we find you, follow you, be in touch with you, and promote your unique work?
Air Force Occupational Therapy Information
https://www.airforce.com/careers/detail/occupational-therapist
Air Force OT Facebook Page- Give us a LIKE :)
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064544897984
PUBLICATION: “Multidisciplinary Evaluation and Treatment of Necrotizing Fasciitis in a Type 1 Diabetic in a Community Military Hospital,” Journal of Orthopedics for Physician Assistants, April 2001
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