Future OT Awarded Latino Center for Health Fellowship

Tanya Valdenea, a graduate student in EWU’s Occupational Therapy Program, has been awarded a 2025 Graduate Student Scholars Fellowship from the Latino Center for Health.

The center, based at the University of Washington, is an interdisciplinary health sciences research center that promotes Latino health.

“I was very excited to hear that I was nominated to be part of the cohort,” says Valdenea, who adds that she is grateful for the opportunity to work with the dozen other student fellows in the program — all of whom are dedicated to improving the health of Latinx communities.

The $2,500 fellowship, which includes another $2,500 in matching funds from the EWU College of Health Science and Public Health, will provide Valdenea with financial support to advance her career goal of becoming an occupational therapist (OT) in central Washington, near her hometown of Mattawa, Washington.

The 24-year-old is the first in her family to attend college. She was introduced to occupational therapy in high school after her mother, who works in the agricultural industry, fell off a ladder and broke multiple bones in her hands and fingers.

“She was referred for occupational therapy and I pretty much had to drive her,” Valdenea recalls. That meant making weekly trips to the Tri-Cities for treatment.

In helping her mom, Valdenea learned firsthand about the basics of occupational therapy, a discipline that assists patients impacted by injuries, illnesses or disabilities to recover, improve or maintain the skills they need to navigate their jobs and everyday lives. While sitting through her mom’s ongoing 45-minute hand-therapy sessions, Valdenea paid close attention, noting how her mom improved over time and regained her ability to work.

“I observed the therapist and everything he would do,” she says. “Then he even told me, ‘You should become an OT’ and ‘this is the best job.’”

During her mom’s recovery, Valdenea, who is fluent in both English and Spanish, helped to interpret for her mother, who predominantly speaks Spanish. Years later, while attending EWU, she came to realize the impact she could make as a bilingual care provider, especially one serving residents of small communities in central Washington.

“To be a health professional, to be an OT and speak Spanish is going to be huge,” she says. “Hopefully, I will be there to help and guide and comfort patients.”

Valdenea earned an associate degree from Wenatchee Valley College (where she received a scholarship to play soccer) and then transferred to EWU. As an undergraduate student, she attended Pre-Occupational Therapy Club meetings and volunteered for a capstone project during which she learned more about Eastern’s OT graduate program.

“It was affordable, the faculty were friendly, and then I got positive stories from the previous OT students,” she recalls. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is perfect.’”

After she was accepted, Valdenea says she soon came to appreciate the program’s combination of peer-collaboration, supportive faculty and hands-on learning that is evidence-based.

For instance, during a level one fieldwork experience, last fall, she shadowed an OT at Eastern State Hospital, an inpatient hospital serving adults with psychiatric conditions. Valdenea was able to apply her skills to administer an assessment on a patient, while also gaining experience planning and leading calming activities for patients participating in a group session.

Valdenea appreciates the fellowship stipend, which will make it manageable to complete all of the requirements for her master’s degree, including a pediatric fieldwork one rotation, without juggling an outside job or taking on more debt.

At Milestones Pediatric Clinic, she will observe the supervising OT and collaboratively work with children and adolescents. The focus will likely be aimed toward helping young patients with self-regulation, and play that develops social and fine motor skills.

Valdenea appreciates the many avenue she can pursue with her degree, but is leaning toward the specialty that helped her own mom.

“Now that I’m getting closer to graduation, I think I am going to do hand therapy.”