As a means to address issues of equity in access to healthcare, Dr. Quinn Tyminski developed and currently runs the state’s only student-run occupational therapy clinic providing pro-bono services to those experiencing homelessness. In collaboration with St. Patrick Center, a homeless services agency local to the St. Louis area, Quinn and her students provide no-cost occupational therapy services to the local community while simultaneously conducting research studies with the aim to better understand the systemic structures affecting those currently or recently unhoused to improve their health and wellbeing. She has mentored nearly 30 students who elected to participate in this research lab at St. Patrick Center.
In addition to this work, serving a diverse group of clients, Quinn recognizes the need for the occupational therapy profession to address the racial, ethnic, and gender inequities in occupational therapy education. The other aim of Quinn’s work seeks to deeply understand, and subsequently transform the structural inequities existing within the occupational therapy program while simultaneously conducting research that pushes back and against the status quo of the field, strengthening the recruitment and retention of students from marginalized racial and ethnic backgrounds. Ultimately, Quinn’s goal is to create a more inclusive learning and living space for all, focusing on those from URM groups.