Ben Krolak: OT opens up opportunities

For Dr. Ben Krolak, occupational therapy (OT) opened new doorways. He originally planned to pursue physical therapy, but the more information he found out about OT, the more it seemed to better align with his personality and interests. 

“[OT] just was a really good foundation for me that has allowed me to have professional success,” Krolak said. 

Krolak, a 2015 graduate of the University of Minnesota OT program, completed his student fieldwork at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, near the tail end of which he interviewed for and accepted a position. He’s worked there for the past ten years in an acute care setting and was able to return to school in 2024 to obtain his OTD through a program at Mayo, for which he now serves as a mentor. As an acute cardiac lead, Krolak spends most of his time in a cardiac surgery intensive care unit (ICU), where patients have often had heart or lung transplants or are on life support. 

“I work with patients who are really sick, in really bad situations. I try to provide them hope and help them through. It doesn't always work out the way we want to, but I think for me, it's just helping somebody through that time that’s most vulnerable for them,” he said. 

Last summer Krolak published the study he completed for his capstone project, focused on an “embedded” ICU program his unit started, which uses a new staffing model that embeds a small team of occupational and physical therapists into the unit itself, as opposed to a traditional rotating model used elsewhere in the hospital. The embedded program offers specialized training and expertise and creates closer working relationships between therapists and the unit’s doctors, nurses, and critical care team members, he explained. In this model, Krolak said OTs help patients rebuild strength and independence through interventions in self-care, therapeutic exercises, and more.  

“I like to say we help patients rebuild their lives after surgery and get back to what is most meaningful to them,” Krolak said. “One of our favorite things to do with patients is help them sit at the edge of the bed so they can have a real hug with their family members, often for the first time in weeks or months.”

Ninety percent of Krolak’s job consists of patient care, which he doesn’t want to give up anytime soon. But in 2023, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after experiencing two separate attacks, which makes it unclear what his late career might look like. He’s in remission, fully recovered after each attack, and mentioned dipping his toes into academia, which could serve as another route of work for him one day. 

“I've still been able to work, but that's always been part of the reason why I went back and got my doctorate, to open up some more options, because I don't know exactly what the future will hold or how my body will hold up,” he said. “It’s a very physically demanding job.” 

Krolak said the OT program provided a lot of opportunities for him along with “a strong educational foundation.” When students from the UMN OT program arrive at his clinic for fieldwork, he knows firsthand they will be well-prepared and equipped with the necessary skills to succeed. In addition to accompanying patients through their journey at the hospital, Krolak said an important facet of his work is building connections with both patients and their families. 

“A lot of what we end up doing as OTs in the hospital is helping patients and their families make sense of what they're going through, because it's such an incredibly traumatic experience,” he said. “We provide context of what we still need to work on, what's ahead of them, what to expect. This is what's happened to you— how do you live your life now?”