Second Calgary Fun Day and Open House celebrates careers in rehabilitation

When Rando LeMaro and his son attended the inaugural Rehab Med Family Fun Day & Calgary Open House in 2017, he was a hopeful prospective student.

This year, LeMaro joined more than 200 attendees, but as a current student of the MSc in Occupational Therapy program at the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine's Calgary satellite site.

LeMaro and his son even volunteered at the event, and he had the chance to show off the profession he's training in to his wife and other two children who attended as guests. They had fun trying out the Rehab Med activity booths for kids and eating tasty waffles.

"I came to this event before getting into the program so I'm excited to be able to help out," said LeMaro.

The event, which was held on Saturday, June 15, offered a chance for alumni, prospective students, and the public to learn more about rehabilitation careers and the University of Alberta Master of Science programs in Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology. Current faculty and staff members and the dean were on site to answer questions about the programs and our campuses. It gave alumni, students, staff and clinicians a chance to share their professions with their families in a fun way.

Attendees also enjoyed a waffle buffet, Rehab Med and Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research (ISTAR) activity booths for kids and tours of the Calgary satellite site, located in the downtown University of Calgary centre. Tours were complete with demonstrations of the Double Robots and synchronized distance learning technology used in the Calgary, Edmonton and Camrose classrooms.