Episode Details

In this episode, we will learn about two occupational therapists who are 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, and 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 postgraduate 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.

Show Key Points:

·      Capt. Antonio and Capt. Eloi gives us a glimpse of their backgrounds and interests

·      They describe their Uncommon OT work and whom they serve

·      They shared what inspired them to do this work and their paths

·      They explain their wide variety of services and benefits

·      They provide OT practitioners with valuable career advice

·      They provide resources and their contact information