OCNews

Morgan Taylor has known since she was a little girl that she was meant to help people — she just needed to figure out exactly what that looked like for her.  

Drawn to health care and sport, Taylor hemmed and hawed between nursing and something more connected to athletic life. It wasn't until a practicum placement during an accelerated psychiatric nursing program that the direction became clear. 

"We were told to go shadow someone," Taylor said. "I found someone who was a therapist assistant that had graduated from Okanagan College and shadowed them. At the end of the day, I knew I was meant to make an educational and career change." 

That single day that reoriented everything for Taylor. She applied to the Therapist Assistant Diploma program at OC and didn’t look back.  

What she found at OC was a program that was both academically rigorous and grounded in real clinical practice. The Therapist Assistant Diploma spans four semesters and four practicums, balancing classroom learning with extensive lab time — a structure that Taylor says reflects how health care professionals actually develop. 

"Every week was different with exciting projects and learning opportunities," she said. "Lab classes tended to be longer than lectures, which gave us a lot of hands-on experience." 

The scope of the program also surprised her — and nearly everyone she's told about it since. "The thing that surprised me the most, including my family and friends as I shared with them, was the broad scope of what we were able to do and the wide variety of settings we are able to work in," shared Taylor. "There are some areas that have piqued my interest, one being working with people in the community." 

That community aspect of the work came to life for Taylor during a practicum with a private occupational therapist, where she worked with clients in their homes and in shelters. "It was a blessing to be welcomed into someone else's home to help, when they may not know you at all," she said. 

Outside of her studies, Taylor coaches high school and club girls’ basketball with GW Goodwin Hoops — a passion passed down to her from her own high school coach. The two pursuits, it turns out, are deeply connected. 

"This Therapist Assistant program has taught me so much that I have been able to use in my coaching," she said. "It has helped me make better decisions when a player gets hurt. It has also helped me develop better warm-up and stretching techniques for my team and individual players, and better support my players in injury prevention, injury recovery, and safe return to sport." 

It’s a transfer of knowledge that OC’s Therapy Assistant Chair and Instructor, Brian Hall, sees regularly in his students — learning that cycles between the clinical setting and the community. 

"What Morgan's experience reflects is something we see across our graduates: the skills they build aren’t confined to the clinic,” explained Hall. “They are carried into every setting the grads work in, every team they coach, every community they're part of. Both health and sport are ultimately about helping people move through the world as fully as possible, which is what our graduates are prepared to do."  

As a graduate, Taylor is deciding where to take her diploma, though the pull toward sport is strong. "I know that I am able to try many different areas," she said. "My peak interest would be an area in sports." 

It’s a timely ambition. When the BC Lions recently took to the Apple Bowl field for Touchdown Kelowna, they brought with them something most fans don’t think about: a full medical and performance team dedicated to keeping athletes healthy enough to play.  

Behind the athletic therapists, physiotherapy assistants and occupational therapy assistants working on the professional sidelines is a dedicated training pathway. And some of those pathways can start at Okanagan College, preparing graduates to work in hospitals, rehabilitation centres, private practices and high-performance athletic settings. 

"Professional sport puts extraordinary demands on the human body, and it takes an equally committed team to keep athletes in the game,” said Matt Baker, senior communications manager for the BC Lions. “Therapist assistants are a critical part of that picture. The people who do this work well come from programs that took the training seriously and gave their students real clinical experience before they ever set foot in a professional setting."  

For those who caught some of the action of Touchdown Kelowna and found themselves thinking about a career that puts them at the intersection of sport and health care, Taylor has a message. 

"At OC, you become part of such a close group of people and community," she said. "You will have teachers who actually care. You make friends to laugh and cry with. It's truly an experience I hope everyone gets that at some point in life." 

Learn more about the Therapist Assistant program at OC at okanagancollege.ca/therapist-assistant.