Adrienne Tesarek is a graduate of Louisiana State University in New Orleans Louisiana and moved to California after graduation. Her career started at UCSD Medical Center which was the first Level I trauma center in the area. She was an inpatient therapist before transitioning to the outpatient department where she mentored to sit for the hand exam.
She became a Certified Hand Therapist in 2005. Since that time, she has done teaching at Grossmont Community College in their Occupational Therapist Assistant program and presented at OT conferences on custom orthotic fabrication, conservative management of thumb CMC OA and conservative management of carpal tunnel syndrome.
In 2013 she moved to Los Angeles to work at UCLA and was a member of the Rehab Services Education Committee coordinating continuing education for her fellow OT’s. Also, during her time in Los Angeles, she joined the non-profit Hand Therapy Society of Greater Los Angeles, serving as their secretary and is currently the president.
She moved back to San Diego in 2021 and currently works for Palomar Health in Poway, California. She has taken the position of president of the San Diego Hand Special Interest Group and formed a new education committee at Palomar Health.
She became a Certified Kinesiotaping Practitioner and a Scar Therapy Practitioner with RESTORE in 2026. She is currently teaching a course on RehabEd on Managing acute hand injuries. She is passionate about learning and educating her colleagues to increase their skills as therapists.
Adrienne is married and has 2 Greyhounds who have been rescued from a racetrack that closed in neighboring Tijuana Mexico. She enjoys going to the gym, being outdoors, traveling and brining quality education to the Southern California region for each organization.