Rachel Mendelsohn, MS, OTR/L is a member of Summit Health's Occupational Therapy team. As a hand therapist, Ms. Mendelsohn helps patients gain back their physical independence by merging their upper body rehabilitation with functional tasks necessary to their livelihood. She works with patients with a range of injuries and conditions such as post-operative hand, thumb, and wrist fractures, elbow tendonitis, peripheral nerve pain from carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel syndromes, Dupuytren’s contracture, trigger finger, and shoulder conditions. She also creates custom splints and conducts post-op scar remodeling.
Ms. Mendelsohn is currently an adjunct assistant lab professor at her alma mater, Long Island University Brooklyn. Before joining Summit Health, she served as a hand therapist in an outpatient physician-owned private practice in Brooklyn. She has also worked in inpatient acute care at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital.
Pursuing a career in occupational therapy was the perfect fit for Ms. Mendelsohn who says, “Biology and anatomy always fascinated me, and health care has been a consistent interest of mine throughout my life.”
Specializing in hand therapy has allowed Ms. Mendelsohn to experience art and science working together in a beautiful way. She enjoys focusing on the physical well-being of her patients and addressing their day-to-day functional issues while coaching them through the process of rehabilitation. She also greatly enjoys being part of a collaborative team, which she believes is the best course of action to promote optimal patient care and positive health outcomes.
Ms. Mendelsohn actively participates in continuing education and is a participant of multiple hand therapy forums, as well as a member of the American Society of Hand Therapists. She is passionate about sharing her hand therapy expertise and experience with others and greatly enjoys advocating for the profession. In 2018, at the American Occupational Therapy Association Conference, she presented research findings on progressive muscle relaxation as a mindfulness technique to help relieve orthopedic pain, an approach she uses today to help her hand and upper extremity patients.
Outside of work, Ms. Mendelsohn enjoys dance workouts, being in nature, and hosting dinner parties with friends.
ServicesRachel Mendelsohn provides occupational medicine in West Orange, NJ. An Occupational Doctor focuses on the prevention and management of injuries and illnesses in the workplace. If they do occur, then an Occupational Doctor will help the worker through rehabilitation so that they can get back to work faster.
Please call Rachel Mendelsohn-CLOSED at (973) 433-9385 to schedule an appointment in West Orange, NJ or to get more information.