My educational and professional goals have always been the same my entire college career -- to do the very best I can and to get into physical therapy school. That is a very simple way of saying something that takes a lot of work to do. I have always made it a goal to do the very best I can in every one of my classes whether the best I can do is an "A" or a B". My professional goal is to one day become a physical therapist which requires success in my educational goals. My core classes and even my major classes that I have taken have done a very good job in preparing me for all avenues of my future career including team work, technology, communication skills, problem solving, global knowledge, basic numeric calculations, and ethics and integrity.
Team work is something I was familiar with before college due to sports, but knowing how to work with teams in the work place can be different. Having to conduct group projects and presentations for classes such as KINS 1525 (aerobics), and CHEM 1112K during labs has taught me how to divide and conquer tasks that are much too large for me to do on my own. It has also taught me how to value and take into consideration other people's opinions and ideas for the greater good of the team. This can correlate back to working as a physical therapist because physical therapist work very closely with their assistants to ensure a patient is getting the highest quality of care. Technology is something that is VERY prevalent in our world today, so it is important to know how to use it in various ways. I required to use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for many of my classes including PHYS 1112K in which I had to conduct many graphs from data in Excel. This skill too can carry over into my career as paperwork and documentation is a very important aspect of physical therapy. Knowing how to communicate with your peers, your elders, professors, etc. is an aspect of education that should not be overlooked. ENGL 1102 helped me grow in my communication skills about various topics because we were required to have a debate like in class discussion once a week. This class also taught me how to communicate non-verbally through email and papers as well. Physical therapists are constantly in communication with doctors, other therapists, patients of all ages from children to geriatrics, and all of these conversations require different types of communication styles both verbally and non-verbally. Even with perfect communication skills, problems will still arise including conflict, problems that may require teamwork to be solved, and complex situations that require deep thought and studying. Working as a physical therapy aid, I have seen therapists have to use their complex problem solving skills to identify what may be causing a patient pain or injury. As I have said many times before, rehabilitation is not limited to one population or race which is why it is important to be familiar with other global contexts in order to provide proper care to all races and religions. Classes such as World History, World Literature, and Cultural Illness and Disease and Diagnosis have taught me about all global contexts to prepare for the work place. I honestly never knew I would use math classes such as algebra, trig, and physics as much as I do now in other major classes and in my work as a physical therapy aid. Basic computations are vital to know how to do as a physical therapist in order to accurately measure joint flexion, extension, and strength. Lastly, and one of the most important is ethics and integrity. To run a business or clinic, honesty and integrity are required to keep things running smoothly. Rules are put in place for a reason - to protect all employees and patients and to provide top tier care to all. If these rules are bent or broken, one's integrity should address the issue to maintain the ethics of the business or clinic.
Moving forward, I would like to experience more time in the work place, hopefully get into physical therapy school, and learn more about what it takes to be a physical therapist. I will continue to work as a physical therapy aid this summer and move into my last semester this fall as a PT intern. I hope this exposure and experience gives me a competitive edge to get into PT school. All of the things I have learned in my core classes that were mentioned above have helped me tremendously on my journey to becoming a physical therapist. I also hope this extra time in the clinic will teach me things about being a physical therapist that school may not have covered. I have always heard learned experiences are the best way to gain knowledge about a field of study, so I hope my commitment to this job does just that. As I am almost done with my undergraduate degree, I think I have learned enough in all areas to be prepared for graduate school. I feel confident in my education and where I am at in my life right now. My plan moving forward is to continue what I am currently doing such as gaining real world experiences and expanding my knowledge in the field of physical therapy.