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Exhibit behaviors including compassion and excellence, commensurate with the role of a doctoring primary care profession.
Exhibit behaviors including compassion and excellence, commensurate with the role of a doctoring primary care profession.
Inspiring and Being Inspired Through Social Media
My Role in the UVM DPT platform
Social Media
Social media continues to rise as an impactful platform for promoting health and wellness. It has given entrepenuaers in the health and wellness industry a new way to brand themselves, and reach millions of individuals all around the world. While social media has its cons, I think when social media is used in a way to help others, and improve lives, it has the potential to be an extremely powerful and useful tool.
I have a fitness page on Instagram where I post pictures and videos of my health and fitness journey along with captions about how I am doing, and any updates I may have, along with quotes and questions to engage others. I use it to share how much I love fitness, but to also share my journey in order to help others begin their own journey.
Although my intent at first was to simply share - it became very apparent how I could use this platform to help others.
In undergraduate school, I had a few friends who struggled with exercising. I offered to guide them in the gym and shortly after it became everyday that each of them joined me in the gym. Sometimes they could not all come at the same time, and so I found myself going multiple times a day just to sit there and be that support system. After graduating of course it became "What do we do!?".
I began creating workouts in my notes on my phone and sharing them with my friends. At one point they started sharing it with other people. Strangers began to ask me "what do you do and can you help me?" I started to expand my Instagram to post more than just pictures and began adding work outs, daily reminders and what I typically do to keep both my mind and body on track.
Within a week I went from sharing my workout notes with two people to twenty one. These notes were related to my goals, however I made it so when I did share it, they could edit to tailor the workouts to their capabilities.
Shortly after I was being tagged in other posts thanking me but also noting the changes they have seen both physically and mentally. I was in awe to see how many people were praising me for something that came so easy to me. This motivated me to continue my social media journey but also made me realize I was making a huge difference to others who exercise might not come so easily to.
During COVID this was helpful to keep me occupied and it was interesting to see how many people continued to follow me and ask for more ideas.
I plan to continue posting my journey for myself as well as others to continue to inspire and educate on what a health/fitness journey looks like, as we all know it is never a straight line! Social media can be used for a positive force of change and I will continue posting realistic photos, experiences and workouts to positively reach my friends and strangers.
While it is currently used for personal use, I see this platform I am creating as an opportunity for career development. By networking with other physical therapists while providing educational content online as I work as a full time therapist will fulfill me and create a space for life long learning.
Contributing to the DPT Program
From the start of my education into my third year as a student in the UVM DPT program, I have been one of the advocates for the DPT program Facebook page.
This page is a place for community members, alumni, prospective students, current students and the general public to see what UVM students and faculty are doing, along with general information about the program and the physical therapy community.
Posts include topics such as : APTA news, student activity in class, teacher recognitions, UVM DPT program updates, program activities and more! As I enter into my second clinical education, I will continue to update the community on program information and the third years educational journeys.
Keeping the community up to date and creating a platform for the program has become a passion of mine. With this type of compassion , I will be able to stand out and carry my skilled work throughout my professional career.
From September 2019 to June 2021, there has been a huge increase in followers!
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