We are joined by Gayle Severance and Danielle Zook, both occupational therapists and Certified Hand Therapists with Penn Good Shepherd in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are no strangers to treating patients who have sustained complex traumatic injuries and they share their wisdom with us. They share tips on how to prioritize your evaluation and treatment sessions to maximize outcomes and provide some great advice on how to be an advocate for your patient.

Guest Bios

Gayle Severance, MS, OT/L, CHT

Gayle Severance MS, OT/L, CHT received her Occupational Therapy degree from

Tufts University in 2000 and a certificate in Hand and Upper Extremity

Rehabilitation from Drexel University in 2004. Gayle practices in Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania and is the Hand Therapy Team Leader for Good Shepherd Penn

Partners, the official rehab provider for Penn Medicine. Her expertise is in the area

of elbows, wrists and hands. She helped develop the therapy program for Penn’s

Hand and Upper Extremity Transplant Program and serves as the lead therapist.

Gayle is an active member of the American Society of Hand Therapists, the

American Association of Hand Surgery and the American Society for Surgery of the

Hand. In 2014 She has participated in international medical missions including her

travel to Kumasi, Ghana as the AAHS Vargas Award recipient. She continued to

support the site as co-project director for Health Volunteers Overseas until 2017.

She has published on the subject of hand therapy and presents at conferences on

the international, national and local level.

Team Lead Occupational Therapist

Specialties

Musculoskeletal

Hand, Wrist and Elbow

Danielle Zook OTD, MOT, OTR/L, CHT

Danielle is an Occupational Therapist and Certified Hand Therapist with over eight years of experience treating upper extremity diagnoses. She recently completed her Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate, specializing in Teaching and Learning, at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. Her expertise is in the evaluation and treatment of the hand, wrist, and elbow. Danielle has assisted in teaching the American Society of Hand Therapists Hands-on Orthotics Course, and has served as adjunct faculty at the University of the Sciences teaching a hand therapy course. She has also acted as a lab assistant and provided guest lectures at local Occupational Therapy programs on hand therapy interventions, ergonomics, functional movement analysis, and thermal agent modalities. Danielle is a member of the American Society of Hand Therapists as well as the American Association for Hand Surgery. She has been published on the evaluation and treatment of complex trauma in the upper extremity.