Week 3 Prompt Post: The Interview

This week, I interviewed a person in the field that I am interested in and asked them questions about their profession trying to get a better feel about physical therapy after the 10 questions I researched in the first blog post. The person that I chose to interview was my mom. She's a physical therapist so I figured that there wouldn't be a better person to talk to then her. This is was I came up with: 

If it weren't for the pay, would you still be a physical therapist? 

Absolutely, you know it's not like anything else in the world being able to see someone so happy when they can move again. It's so nice to help people, it's so nice that I get thanked every day for what I do, and that I make a difference in peoples lives. I would absolutely do it if money wasn't involved... it is a nice bonus though. 

Why did you choose this profession in the first place? 

I actually didn't even think about physically therapy until about my sophomore year of college. I wasn't sure at what I wanted to do, and even when I chose to go pre-professional for physical therapy I didn't know if that's what I wanted to do for sure. But I stuck with it, and didn't know that it was really what I wanted to do until I interned and saw what it was like. Then I knew that this is what I wanted to do. 

What is your favorite part about the job? 

My favorite part of doing what I do is the people. It's really what the job is all about. The environment that I'm surrounded by when I work is the best thing. I love it and I love doing what I do. I love to help the people. 

What is your daily routine like? 

I go in in the morning and I deal with the patients that I have for the day. It's really quite busy if I have a lot going on. I'm always on my feet doing something. It's a really exhausting job and by the end of the day all I want to do is crawl into bed and be off my feet. 

Did you struggle through the schooling and think it was difficult?

I mean what schooling isn't hard. Especially when you get further into school and it gets more specific and specialized. It was definitely tough and there were plenty of tests that I struggled on and material that I didn't understand, but I wanted it and I wanted to finish so I had to push myself to do the best that I could do. 

What would your advice to me be about deciding to go into physical therapy? 

My advice to you would to be persistent. Never give up even when you think you can't do it anymore.  You have to push through and know that if you want it bad enough you'll get there. And even when you're there and you've made it past all the school, just know what it won't be easy every day. Some days will be much more difficult than others, it all depends on the patients you're dealing with. But just think about how much they're trying and you need to try with them and help them through what they are dealing with. 

Have you ever wished you could work somewhere else being a physical therapist?

Like a different state or country? Sure, it would always be nice to have a different experience in a different place with different people. But this is where my life is, this is where you and the rest of our family is, this is where my patients are, this is where my work is and I wouldn't want to have it any other way. 

 In your eyes, what makes a good physical therapist?

A good physical therapist is patient, encouraging, enthusiastic about what they do, and they love their job. A good physical therapist cares about who they are dealing with, and truly wants to help people. A good physical therapist always pushes his/her patients but never pushes too far. 

What is the most challenging part about your job? 

The most challenging part is dealing with patients who are stubborn. It's hard for them and you have to understand that, and sometimes they want to give up and stop trying. It's hard to watch them want to stop trying and not get better. It's hard to try and make them want to push through. It's even hard to watch them struggle and have limitations that weren't once there. 

What kind of writing do you do as a physical therapist?

I don't really do any major writing. Nothing like essays or anything. I do have to write progress reports for patients, and evaluations of patients, treatment plans, and a lot of the time I come up with different exercise programs and write them out for a patient to do outside of physical therapy. Things like that are mainly what I write on a daily basis.




CITATIONS

Scherba, Ramona. Personal interview. 26 Jan 2014.

Week 2 Open Post

As we wrap up the second week of this blog research project, I decided that I wanted to do my open post about a story of how physical therapy helped or didn't help someone and try and understand what it's like on the other side of physical therapy. I browsed through the internet a little bit until I found the article linked below. In this article, Linda (the patient who was receiving physical therapy) had a fall and was told that her arm would pretty much never be the same again. After going to physical therapy for a while she was able to move her arm, straighten it, and it hung normally. This is a great example to see the help that physical therapists give and in a sense they definitely help people change their lives... or get back to the life they used to live before they needed physical therapy. I think that that's what it's all about: helping people. There is no better feeling out there then seeing someone happy again or see them being able to do something again that they may have thought would never happen. I find it extremely touching, heartwarming, and amazing to see this happening to see this happening in the field that I'm hopeful to enter someday.

Link to story for those who want to read it: 

http://doarpt.com/lindas-physical-therapy-success-story/

CITATIONS

Danville Orthopedic & Athletic Rehab. "Linda's Physical Therapy Success Story." Danville Orthopedic & Athletic Rehab, 27 Sep 2013. Web. 23 Jan 2014. 

Upstate Medical University. Physical Therapy-Doctor of Physical Therapy, DPT. 2014. Digital File.

Week 2 Prompt Post: Delivery and Style

This week, the blog post is focusing on the differences in delivery and style of an article that is related to physical therapy and an article that is written by a physical therapist that is already in the field. After doing a little searching online I found two articles that I thought I could easily distinguish the differences between. I found an article called "Physical Therapy for Running Injuries" that was related to the physical therapy field as a whole. The style of this article was informal and the vocabulary was moderate so that most everyone who comes across it is able to easily understand what is being said. It is formatted in a way that is giving hints, tips, and helpful advice to anyone who has suffered a running injury. Much like the style, the delivery is informal and it's in an article form online that anyone can come across if this is what they are looking for. From looking at the style and delivery of this article, I can get a feel for what the audience and purpose is. The author of the article is targeting anyone who is injured as the main audience. The purpose of it all is to give them a heads up as to what they can expect during their physical therapy process. The other article I chose was called "Health Literacy: Physical Therapists' Perspectives." This article was written by physical therapists in the field and they were conducting a study. The style of the article was very formal, detailed, and specific throughout the entire thing. The language is a bit more complex and would take more skill level and understanding to comprehend the main focus. The delivery of the article was in the form of a lab report write write up of research and study done by the physical therapists. With that being said, the audience and purpose are different for this article that the first one. This article's audience is anyone that is in the physical therapy field doing research and clinical trials etc. It is also for anyone that is looking to conduct the study themselves to see what conclusions they are able to draw from it. The main purpose of this is to inform people of what the findings were and anything they have to support their findings. The article is here to help further research for future studies in the field that are similar to this.

For more information or if anyone would like to take a look at the two articles, here are the two links:
http://ijahsp.nova.edu/articles/Vol10Num2/pdf/Billek-Sawhney.pdf
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2013/10/07/physical-therapy-for-running-injuries



CITATIONS

Sonnino, Elena. "Physical Therapy for Running Injuries." US News & World Report: Health and Wellness. US News & World Report, 7 Oct 2013. Web. 22 Jan 2014.

Billek-Sawhney, Barbara, et al. "Health Literacy: Physical Therapists' Perspectives." IJAHSP. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, 2012. Web. 22 Jan 2014.

Week 1 Open Post

In the first week of the research blog, I have actually learned a lot and am happy that most of my initial questions for this week have been answered. I've learned pretty much the overall basics of physical therapy like salary, patients, schooling, personality traits, etc. that are essential when you want to go into the physical therapy field. I was looking through youtube to try and find some videos of a day in a life of a physical therapist, and I stumbled across the video above. To me, this video was extremely helpful and it was definitely nice to learn what a day in a physical therapists shoes looks like. It reiterated in the video that you do really need to have high energy level and patience. But from this video the one thing I really learned is that you also need to have passion. You need to have a passion to want to do this, a passion to want to help people that are in need of your help, and that it's so important to love what you are doing. I learned this from just watching the physical therapist in the video. I mean look at her, it's exhausting work, but she still loves it and when she's working with the kids she has a smile on her face the entire time. It was so obvious to me that she has a passion for what she does. My main conclusion after week 1 is that I'm on the right track, and I feel like I could really be a fit in this field. The high energy, patience, passion, encouragement, and everything really. I truly do believe that I have what it takes to be a physical therapist. 

CITATIONS 

Countysandiego. (2010, November 12). Physical Therapist- A Day in the Life. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ykElSXlReU

Week 1 Prompt Post: 10 questions about physical therapy

I've compiled a list of 10 questions and answers to start off my research blog. From these questions I'm hoping to get a better understand of the surface of physical therapy as a whole.

1. What is pay like for a physical therapist? 
Over the past decade, the salary for a physical therapist has doubled. Physical therapists can be paid well in big cities and just as well in a smaller population. When physical therapists start out their salary is most likely to be between $25,000 and $35,000. As a physical therapist gains experience their salary can more than double and the highest paid physical therapists have a salary of $100,000.

2. What qualifications/schooling are needed in order to become a physical therapist?
Anyone looking to become a physical therapist needs to have an undergraduate education and enter a physical therapy program. Physical therapy schools are looking for math, communication, science, etc. classes as requirements. Once a student goes through the undergraduate education and enters a physical therapy program, they can choose to go for a masters degree or a doctoral degree. It is predicted that by 2020, most physical therapists will start to get their doctoral status.

3. What is the typical work setting for a physical therapist to work in?
More than half of physical therapists work in private practice settings like outpatient clinics, doctors office, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, schools, hospitals, etc. Sports physical therapists work in schools (high school and college) and hospitals most of the time.

4. Where in the United States are physical therapists most in demand?
COULD NOT FIND IN THE TEXTBOOKS I LOOKED THROUGH.

5. What kind of age-ranges to physical therapists generally work with?
Physical therapists work with all age-ranges. The fastest growing age range is the 50 and older group. As they grow older, the chance for limited functions and sometimes unexpected disabilities. The "Baby Boomer" population is looking to stay active and a lot of the time they need assistance from a physical therapist to help them. Physical therapists also work with the younger population, athletes who suffer from injuries need physical therapy to rehabilitate themselves.

6. What is the best graduate school to go to get a masters degree in physical therapy?
I was not able to find a list saying that specific schools were better than others but there was a list of schools included in the textbook. Some of the schools listed that have physical therapy programs are: Creighton University, George Washington University, Lorma College, Medical College of Virginia, Medical College of Georgia, Northeastern University, University of Delaware, University of Tennessee, and University of Washington.

7. Are there any travel opportunities for physical therapists?
COULD NOT FIND IN THE TEXTBOOKS I LOOKED THROUGH.

8. Does the the physical therapy work field have a promising future?
The physical therapy field is always growing and it is growing at a fast rate. Lots of people are always looking to be active and improve their abilities of movement. There are always people that are recovering and rehabilitating from an accident or an injury and physical therapists are the ones who give those people the knowledge, skills, and practice they need to gain their movement back. Physical therapy is one career field that can provide plentiful jobs.

9. What kind of work do the physical therapists typically deal with?
Physical therapists usually work with people who have had injuries, surgery, disabilities, pain, etc. They are the ones that will help patients for potentially long periods of time while they gain their full mobility back. Physical therapists work with patients through different physical stimulations and exercises.

10. What personality traits do physical therapists need to have?
Physical therapists need to have a lot of qualities and traits, including being caring, encouraging, optimistic, and especially having patience and high energy levels all the time. The patients physical therapists deal with go through a long process to get their movement back and a lot of times they will want to quit, and they will need to be the ones to motivate them to keep going.


The textbook that I used to help find the answers was VERY helpful and useful. The book helped me answer almost every question that I had. There were two questions that didn't get answered from the book, I feel like the internet or different journals or experiences that are documented from physical therapists themselves could be helpful in trying to answer those questions. Overall, I was very happy with the textbook that I found. I got a lot of questions answered and I think that I have a good base started for the rest of the research blog!


CITATIONS

Institue for Career Research. Careers in Physical Therapy: Sports Medicine. Chicago: Institute for  Career Research, 2007. Print.