Claribell Bayona is a senior occupational therapist who has been working at New York University Langone Medical Center for 11 years. At Rusk, her responsibilities are in the outpatient service providing occupational therapy to individuals with neurological conditions where she specializes in limb loss rehabilitation of upper and lower limb amputees. She has provided multiple in-services to staff and interdisciplinary team members on the role of occupational therapy and limb loss rehabilitation and works closely with the rehab team to help limb loss clients achieve independence with their everyday activities. She has written chapters in rehabilitation textbooks and made presentations at national conferences. One of her bachelor’s degrees is in Anthropology from the University at Buffalo and a second one is in Occupational Therapy from Stony Brook University. She currently is pursuing a doctorate in occupational therapy at Quinnipiac University. In this interview, she discusses the kinds of conditions and situations that result in amputation as well as a number of other elements of amputation and functional ability.
