Personal Narrative: An Interview With A Physical Therapist

When deciding on a career, I did not know straightaway I would pursue physical therapy. But I did know that I wanted to do something within the health science field, even at an early age. Every person in my family was involved in health care one way or another; some uncles are doctors, a few aunts are nurses, a couple cousins are surgeons, and my own mother is a physical therapist, so a career in healthcare was all I knew growing up. For a good majority of my life, I seriously thought about becoming a doctor, but that surely changed over time.

My first experience observing a physical therapist, commenced in the summer of 2014. At the time, I was given the opportunity to observe a physical therapist named Jennifer Moreland. Throughout my time observing her, I began to recognize she was not just a physical therapist with her patients. Many times, she took on the role of a consoler, cheerleader, friend and supporter for her patients. Reflecting back on this, I am able to see that the primary reason she has succeeded as a physical therapist; is due to her amiable, encouraging and empathetic nature. These character traits have allowed her to do more than heal patients' musculoskeletal problems. She has also been able to heal hearts, souls and minds by cheering, supporting, listening

I want to help others, in any way I can. My ticket would take me to a physical therapist degree. I gained an interest in becoming a physical therapist when I started to care more about my physical fitness, and wonder all about muscles and the human bodies full potential. I know I would make an excellent physical therapist. My interest in the human body makes it very easy to learn and drives me to learn as much as I possibly can. When it comes to the human body and learning about how different activates and diets affect it, I can never learn enough. I want to be a physical therapist so I can help others feel healthy.

We are what we do. With few exceptions, our contributions to society depend on our ability to move. Therefore, when something impairs our movement and limits those contributions, it affects our identity. Physical therapists recognize this consequence, and by working to mitigate its effects for each of their patients, they ultimately make the world a more optimally functioning place. I want to be a part of this kind of work. As a physical therapist, I will contribute to the profession's goals to transform society by coming alongside each of my patients to challenge and encourage them to see their identity clarified, goals realized, and obstacles minimized as their movement improves.

I chose Meagan Kobielski M.S., OTR/L to interview for my paper. I chose her because she is an Occupational Therapist and I hope to be that profession someday. By choosing her allows me to explore more into the Occupational Therapy profession. Meagan graduated from Utica College with her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy. She spent her freshman and sophomore year at University of Buffalo studying Occupational Therapy. It took her five years to complete. Most classes she took to complete her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree consisted of psychology, math, kinesiology, biological sciences, and neuroscience. In high school she job shadowed a variety of different professions, Scientific Research, English Teacher, Chiropractor, and Occupational Therapist. She then determined that Occupational Therapy was the profession she wanted to purse.

I told a massage therapist today that I haven’t had a lot of time for self-care because I have a three year old and a ten month old. She laughed and said on my behalf, “Self-care? WHAT’S THAT?!”

As a young athlete, running had always been my least favorite activity. Unfortunately, every sport I played was dependent on that very act. Countless suicide runs and lay-up drills in basketball, and even more base runs in softball, served as a distraction from this mundane activity because at least I was running for a purpose. My brief time on the cross-country team demonstrated that while I may have excelled at sprinting, long-distance running was not my forte; and also materialized by my omnipresent side stitches. However, my senior year of high school came and to my surprise, running would be the one thing I missed dearly. My short time as a starting varsity player in basketball came to an end when I tore my left ACL. A host of changes came from just this one incident. After sustaining this injury and enduring surgery and physical therapy, my career goals took a dramatic turn; I went from an aspiring visual artist embarking to Rutger's Mason Gross School of the Arts, to extremely interested in the field of physical therapy.

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.

After I took the test “How powerful are you?” and analyzing each description I found out that I have a really good ability to communicate with others. I got a high score in almost 5 of them and only in the persuasion power I did not get as high of a score.

On November 1, from 9 to 11, I shadowed Cassie Hayes, a Physical Therapist’s Assistant at McCook Therapy & Wellness in Salem, South Dakota. Prior to my shadow date, I made sure I had the proper attire for a job shadow at a physical therapy office: khaki pants and a polo. When it was finally the day of my shadow, I drove myself out to Salem, and with the help of Google Maps, I was able to locate McCook Therapy. The first thing I did when I arrived was I went to the secretary’s desk and filled out a job shadow form that was needed for their company. Then I was introduced to Cassie Hayes, the assistant I would be shadowing, and Adrien Heiter, another PTA at the company. I got the chance to hear about some of things they on a day to day basis and what their jobs were like.

My experience about clinical this week was great because i provided care to a resident who was on parental feeding. This was an opportunity to witness some of the procedures being performed on real patients. This experience enable me to understand the rational behind most of the skills which i practiced during clinical labs.

The first physical assessment that I did was with our professor and it took 16 minutes. The exact time that I entered the room was noted by the instructor,as well as the time we left the room. I failed to ask her what were my times at the beginning and the end of my physical assessment for two reasons. The first, the pressure that I was being watched by an instructor and the patient itself and secondly, two staff members coming in and out from that room. My first physical assessment was over the recommended time because the patient was not a robot, patient experienced pain while being touched here and there to listen for lung and heart sounds, moving the patient around was also difficult, the conversation was directed to other topics and bringing

A physical disability is when you have a physical and/or motor impairment. I frequently shop at Target on Carleton Avenue and there is usually a good amount of people always there. So I decided it was the perfect place to try my exceptional situation. Before I went it, I wrapped up my arm to give off an appearance of an injury. I thought to myself that food shopping with one hand would be no problem, but I was wrong. I went it and walked towards the refrigerator section to grab some yogurt. Opening the refrigerator door and trying to keep it open was hard, however, opening the door, keeping it open and grabbing the yogurt was really difficult. That just one task took me around 1-2 minutes when it normally takes me about 15 seconds or 30 seconds

Upon arriving at the MARC I was immediately asked by Chad Hodges, one of the staff physical therapist, to perform an evaluation on a patient. Although Chad would be within earshot, I would be conducting this part of the session solo. I was a little unprepared but decided I would give it my best shot. I learned very quickly that the language we use with our patients can have a big impact on the way the feel about physical therapy.

After getting the report on my patient, I went into the patient room to introduce myself to the patient and I wanted to start a physical assessment. Before I started my assessment my patient had visitors in here room. The visitors and the patient started praying. I felt nervous. I thought, well what do I do? Do I bow my head down while they pray? What if their religion thinks that bowing my head is offensive? I did want I thought was best at the moment and bowed my head down as they prayed, and did not interrupt the prayer. I wanted the patient and the visitors to know that I respect their religion.