Personal Narrative: A Career As A Doctor Of Physical Therapy

Before visiting the Hospital for Special Care Adaptive Sports Program in New Britain, I did not realize all the hard work that goes into working in the adaptive sports program. At first I thought the adaptive sports program was for people who had difficulties playing sport and nothing more. However, after visiting the site, I was completely wrong. The tour guide informed us that the facility purpose is to modify equipment in order for people with certain physical limitation to enjoy the sport comfortably. He informed us that the players do not participate because they have to, but because they love the sport in and of itself. From hearing everything the tour guide was telling the class, I feel the inner pride in him. I realized that he truly loves his job because of the fulfilment he helps the clients achieve, for example gaining friends they can call family and building their confidence.

For my assignment, I went to Sports Medicine South and I shadowed an athletic trainer named Jessica. This happened to be what field I wanted to go into, so it worked out well for me.

“I want to live.” She said. She lifted her feet off the small coffee table and set them gently on the floor as she continued to look through me, too interested on the inner workings of her own mind.

Growing up, I honestly never had a clue as to what I wanted to do when I grew up. But even back then I had ambition, I knew I wanted to do something that would make a direct impact, and thus my attention was immediately drawn to the science field. As I got older, I realized how amazing it would be to work directly with people and to physically help them. My dad would always have me massage him, and through many years of practice I realized that never once did I hate doing it, but I knew massage therapists hardly make enough money to live on their own. So I narrowed my field of search to the medical field and thus I found the occupation of a Chiropractor, where everything I was looking for in a job converged. A chiropractor is a major attraction

Becoming a Doctor of Physical Therapy has been my educational and life goal from the time I was freshman year of high school. When I was 15 years of age, my life changed forever. After three months of physical therapy for a weak hip, my physical therapist told me that I was not where I should be, and that something was wrong. A specialist subsequently diagnosed me with hip dysplasia as well as a labral tear. Fixing those two issues would entail a multi-hour surgery with 18 months of recovering. At that time in my life I was a four sport athlete and involved in countless other activities at school. I was the kid who would say how high when someone would say jump. Therefore 18 months of rehabilitation would put in a dent in my normal flow of

Jim Penn is a Physical Therapy Assistant at Medina Regional Hospital in Hondo Texas. My interview with him was extremely helpful in getting information on Assistant Physical Therapists. Prior to this interview I was interested in becoming either a Physical Therapist or an Assistant Physical therapist, however I did not have a lot of knowledge regarding the Assistant position. Jim Penn helped explain the career field and gave a lot of insight to what I should expect regarding schooling and the day to day in the field. I will hopefully be spending a few days this summer shadowing him and the Pediatric Physical Therapist on Staff at Medina Regional.

In order to generate educational and occupational options for myself, I have looked at many resources ranging from volunteering in person to researching online. I have volunteered at a retirement home with a kinesiologist to determine if I would like that type work, and more importantly, the work environment. I have also volunteered at a physiotherapy clinic and Toronto rehabilitation institute to get a clinical and hospital experience as well. This has allowed me to get a hands on experience at various difference jobs in the field of healthcare. I have also looked at online resources such as research articles, government website, NOC, and DOT. Along with these resources, I have also gotten the opportunity to work at various jobs

Occupational therapy is a form of therapy for people who are recuperating from physical or mental illness that encourages rehabilitation through the performance of activities that are required for daily life (World Federation of Occupational Therapists). Being an occupational therapist has many different kinds of duties. They review patients’ medical history, ask the patients’ questions, and observe them doing tasks, evaluate a patient’s condition and needs. After evaluating patients, develop treatment plans and help demonstrate exercises. In order to do all of these duties, a person must pass the national examination administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. Therapists must pass the board in order to have

As an aspiring occupational therapist, my essential goal is to provide services and opportunities to impaired individuals, specifically in under-developed communities, that may not have the proper resources and guidance. What made me want to dedicate my life to assisting individuals is from observing my grandmother take care of my great-grandmother until she passed away. While trying to maintain her own health, my grandmother helped her mother with tasks such as feeding, changing, and more all by herself. Watching her struggle with no support made me wish I could make life simpler for her. Also, I wished my great-grandmother had the utilities to help her interact with my family without dilemmas. Considering my great-grandmother and my future

As I pulled into the rehabilitation center’s parking lot Monday afternoon I couldn't wait to get inside and feel the breeze of the air conditioning as I escaped from the 95 degree blazing hot weather outside. I was very anxious because I wasn’t sure how this interview would go, let alone if it would happen. I wasn't certain the physical therapist I was going to interview would have time to fit me in. I was up the night before trying to figure out what I wanted to learn from this interview and what kind of questions I would ask. I decided to focus my questions towards the physical therapist I have been shadowing to get to know more about him and his experiences with the job. So far through out my research I have been focusing on the physical therapists and their relationships with patients. I wanted my readers learn more about the person who is caring for these patients and what goes on that patients do not see.

In the beginning, physical therapy made my recovery tedious. I was only interested because it allowed me the opportunity to learn numerous types of injuries from a variety of individuals. For example, I met a girl who broke her arm from falling off the monkey bars. Or the boy who had a complete elbow dislocation, while playing basketball. Although I was entertained by these interesting stories, they made me feel guilty. I was congratulating strangers for their quick recovery, while my own felt treacherous. Therefore, I grew frustrated and irritated with physical therapy and I denied any positivity in my recovery. I became envious until my envy evolved into a depression because I was incapable of physical activities. Therefore, I was forced

I know that you have a background in ballet, but can you tell me a little more about yourself? How did you get into this field ?

As a child, did you ever dream of becoming a wealthy doctor, or a nurse? Have you ever wanted to help someone in your family who struggles on a daily basis? Everyone will have that feeling at some point in their life. That is what physical therapy is composed of. It is, and was the start of the medical field, but can also be bypassed for a doctor or nurse practitioner. From repairing torn ligaments, to fixing broken bones, physical therapy is the most beneficial form of diagnostics. However, what you do to start a career in this field will determine the level of success. “The future depends on what you do today.” (Gandhi). Becoming a physical therapist requires a high level of education and skill to even enter the workforce, and there are many ways to begin your upcoming future in this career.

My English professor once asked the class a question that was actually very interesting to think about “What is the best gift you can give someone?” multiple answers were given such as; money, love, nothing, freedom, traveling, etc. He finally gave out the answer “the best thing you can give someone, is teaching them”. Therefore, whenever I’m asked about my career in physical therapy or the topic in mentioned; I think about his answer and base my motive on it. My passion for the field of physical therapy was not strong as when I was first exposed to it. The passion for this career choice slowly developed throughout my experiences in life.

The best piece of advice I got was from my momma. She said, “Never give up on something you really want”. The reason she told me that was when my grandad William died I told her I have nothing left here for me. She hit me and ask, “Tina’shae what do you want to be in the future”? I told her that I would like to be an OBGYN or a physical therapist. Just because you had one bad day doesn’t mean you have to stop working for something you really want to be.