Student Spotlight: Elizabeth Medina Rotter, EL-OTD '27

Elizabeth Medina Rotter is a second year EL-OTD student from Queens, New York, with a unique and inspiring background.  She attended Norwich University, a military college, where she majored in Mathematics and completed ROTC before graduating as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force. While stationed in San Antonio, Texas, Elizabeth earned her MBA while on active duty. She later transitioned into the Air Force Reserves, where she currently serves as an Executive for an aircraft maintenance unit at Dover Air Force Base. With her diverse experiences across industries, Elizabeth brings a fresh perspective to our EL-OTD program.

Please tell us a bit more about your background before you started your OT journey. What inspired you to pursue OT?

I’m originally from Queens, New York, and a proud first-generation student. My family immigrated from Ecuador, and ever since I was 11 years old, I dreamed of serving in the military. My journey into occupational therapy was guided by a range of experiences, many of which came from my time in the Air Force. As a young lieutenant supervising junior Airmen, I encountered everything from PTSD and military sexual trauma to alcoholism and cases of abuse. While those moments were some of the hardest, they were also the most meaningful. I was often pushed to my limits, and I found myself quickly developing what little counseling skills I had at the time. When my airmen couldn’t access mental health services for months, being able to offer support and help someone through their toughest moments was deeply fulfilling. 

Losing friends and coworkers to their mental health challenges made me realize just how dangerously limited mental health resources are for active duty personnel. It also made me realize that I wanted to continue this work in my next chapter, and be an advocate for change. I heard about occupational therapy through family experiences, and as I researched the field, I was fascinated by its historical roots in war and PTSD rehabilitation. I was drawn in by how it tied together so many areas I cared about. Nothing else made as much sense to me: it was the only field that took such a holistic and comprehensive approach to people’s lives, touching everything from health and function to family and community.

What drew you to NYU, specifically?

Growing up in Queens, I saw NYU as a place that truly reflected the energy and diversity of the city. It’s a space where people from all backgrounds can express themselves freely and are inspired to think boldly. When the time came for me to start my next chapter, I knew I wanted to be my most authentic self, and NYU felt like the perfect place to do that.

What do you remember about your early days at NYU? What excited or surprised you the most as a developing OT?

I remember coming home after class after the first day and raving to my family about how incredible the professors were, not just in their expertise, but in how genuinely passionate and accomplished they were in so many different areas of occupational therapy. It was inspiring to learn from people who were not only teaching the material but actively shaping the field. That environment pushed me to start thinking more creatively and outside the box about what OT could look like.

As a second year student, you have started fieldwork. Tell us how it’s been going!

Fieldwork has definitely been challenging, but I’m learning more than ever. I’m currently placed in a children’s mental health setting. Every day pushes me to think more deeply about how sensory processing and emotional regulation connect, and how powerful those tools can be. I’m at the stage where my “client” is an actor, but the experience actually feels so real and believable that it’s genuinely helping me strengthen my clinical reasoning for when I work with actual clients.

What are your post-graduation goals, and how has the program been helping you prepare for them?

After graduation, I want to work in mental health, particularly with the VA and the Reserves. I’m also working on a mental health app with my husband that aims to make care more accessible for everyone, especially veterans, service members, and individuals with diverse needs, including those on the autism spectrum or with developmental disabilities. My goal is to continue to research and expand on that in a meaningful and impactful way. 

NYU has been an integral part of this process. Courses like Emerging Practice, pushed me to think critically about the different caveats that come with accessibility and innovation, such as creating solutions that are sustainable, and truly responsive to the people they’re designed to serve.

What aspects of your experience on this journey have been interdisciplinary?

NYU has really shown me what interdisciplinary work looks like in action. Through classes and guest speakers, I’ve seen how innovation and healthcare connect, from the start-up to community advocacy. I’ve also come to see how something like PTSD can affect so many different people, from veterans to those in unstable housing or kids in foster care, and how much it impacts daily function. Bringing my experiences from the military, the world of business, and OT together has helped me see how powerful it can be when different fields overlap.

The work I’m doing on my mental health app really reflects this. It’s still in the early stages, but it’s been exciting to see how my studies in both OT and business are coming together in this project. My husband and I spend nights and weekends developing it, and I’ve been drawing a lot from my MBA focus on project management to organize our process and keep things moving. We’re especially excited about using motion and pose detection to create an in-home experience that supports mindfulness and self-regulation in a practical way. It’s been rewarding to see how occupational therapy principles can guide technology design, making digital wellness feel more personal and meaningful.

Do you have any thoughts or advice for prospective EL-OTD students?

My advice would be to not let your past or background limit you. Coming from a math, business, and military background, with little healthcare experience, I definitely had doubts about taking this leap, but it’s been completely worth it. OT is such a broad and welcoming field, and everything you’ve done before can add value in ways you might not expect.