The journey my injury took me on helped me to find myself. It was an extremely tough time in my life. Wearing my back brace to school everyday brought unwanted attention, and many questions from my classmates. After long hours of physical therapy and recovering made me agree that with the statement, everything happens for a reason, I got injured to show my team that one can overcome any obstacle. I now can find the positivity, and who will support me through any setback in my…
The field of physical therapy requires the ability to relate well to people, not only in a physician - patient scenario, but also in the constant interaction with other health care professionals. It aims to restore movement and function, relieve pain, and prevent illness and injury. APTA’s vision for physical therapy “transforming society by optimizing movement to improve the human experience” means differently for every motivated future physical therapist. For me, this vision means changing society by addressing each patient’s needs differently than the next patient. Keeping this notion in mind will help me achieve my goals as a future physical therapist.…
Despite these “bumps in the road”, I am hopeful and confident that the future of physical therapy is much better. Perhaps, the ACA’s emphasis on prevention and wellness programs will eventually lead to a wealth of new business opportunities for physical therapists, and therapists will become increasingly involved in patient care decisions, including those related to post-in-patient treatment plans. This could go a long way toward achieving complete…
Everyday in life people make decisions, whether we realize it or not. Everyday individuals are faced with adversity. For example, feeding their families, bringing home money to pay expenses, etc. “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6) Individuals must take steps to reach their potential and family success. To be a physical therapist, people must complete several courses in college and earn degrees. According to the American Physical Therapy Association, “The length of professional DPT programs is typically 3 years. Primary content areas in the curriculum may include, but are not limited to, biology/anatomy, cellular histology, physiology, exercise physiology, biomechanics, kinesiology,…
I am planning on making my career as a physical therapist. The main job responsibilities of a PT are diagnosing and managing dysfunction and improve physical and functional abilities, bring back, maintain and promote optimal physical function as well as optimal wellness and fitness and optimal quality of life associated with movement and health. PT’s also take patient’s medical history, conduct a system review, and conduct different tests to diagnose any current potential and existing issues. They create exercise programs specific to each patient and assists the patients in following them in their every PT visit. PT’s later conduct progress evaluation to examine the any improvements in patients and the extent of the improvements.…
When I was a little girl, my parents would always ask the question little kids love to answer, "What are you going to be when you grow up?" Of course, like most children that age, I would answer with "a singer" or "a policeman". It wasn’t until later, when I was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, that I had a change of heart. Every single day I was faced with pain that would cause my joints to lock up, and swell. I was unable to walk or bend my elbows for days at a time. I was being forced to do the opposite of what I loved doing, which was playing softball. The doctors told me it would be best if I searched for new hobbies. Because of my arthritis, my knees turned inward, making my running and jumping sort of awkward. I did not want to quit playing the sport I loved, so we begged for more options. For me, quitting softball was not one of them. The doctors recommended physical therapy. I agreed, and on the day I started my first session, I introduced to the profession I would dream of pursuing for the rest of my life. The therapist looked like they were having a blast doing what they were getting paid to do. It was so inspiring.…
Although I have had many injuries growing up, there is one that particularly changed my life for the better. The injury occurred when I was playing eighth grade football. It was August and we were scrimmaging Westfield; a very good team that had a lot of big players. The coach called me onto the field to play fullback, which means that I was probably going to carry the football. As I was running onto the field my heart started to beat a little faster. I had a bad feeling about getting the ball. I thought that I was going to get hurt because on the play prior the fullback ahead of me injured his knee on a run. Everything went well for the first few plays, but on the fifth play the coach called a fullback run. My heart was racing, at the snap of the ball I ran ahead for about an eight yard gain, but on the way down I felt a horrible pain in my right foot. I ended up going to the hospital a half an hour later, the doctor said that I had multiple fractures (6 to be exact), possibly some torn ligaments, and a dislocation of a few bones. I really did a number on myself. The doctor claimed to me that I would be out for at least 6 weeks, which is over halfway through the regular season. The doctor also highly recommended that I go see a sports injury specialist, or a foot specialist.…
People who oppose physical therapy usually are trying to save money by not going through therapy. If you choose not to do physical therapy the side effects can be serious. Without physical therapy you wouldn’t know what you can do and what you cannot, that means making a wrong move and you will have to repeat the whole process of the injury. PTs are professional at what they do and won’t push you to do what you can’t do and know how to treat each injury; they will give you a timeline of when they believe you will return back to normal. There is no reason anyone should choose to oppose the physical therapy treatment, other than the fact that physical therapy is a long, strenuous process that can week’s even months to correct the…
If you have a child who has recently been diagnosed with autism, you may want to look into what physical therapy options are available to your child. Here are three benefits of physical therapy that your child may experience by working with a physical therapist.…
Ever since my lifestyle change I have done all I can to enable others to improve their lives through reaching their own goals. I have utilized the avenues at my disposal: my own lifestyle change, leadership positions, as well as the knowledge I have gained through school. I believe that with the opportunity to continue my education and become a Doctor of Physical Therapy, I would unlock the ultimate avenue to reach people who yearn to be able to move without pain and live their lives. Physical Therapy needs versatile driven individuals who genuinely care about the wellbeing of patients. I believe that I have embodied the vision of APTA prior to ever being aware of the vision of APTA. I will continue to embody this vision because my passion is helping those around me optimize their movement to improve their human…
Since last year I donned a cap and gown of my alma mater's colors and said goodbye to my undergraduate career. Although graduating was a joyous and momentous occasion, the first few words on the letter from the admissions office quickly humbled me. However, this setback reaffirmed my passion for people and my fascination with the human body, and I knew I had to fight harder. It was quite unusual but in my moment of discouragement I found solace in a silly movie quote. Rocky Balboa screamed at me, “It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." My dream is to help encourage patients who have been knocked down by life and bring them transformation through movement. What better way to embody that spirit than to get up and fight after experiencing a set back myself. In hindsight, I am thankful for how events unfolded.…
I was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a disease that makes my bones very brittle. When I was in kindergarten, I had broken my Femur. I was running across the playground playing with my friends. All I hear next is SNAP! and I was on the ground, leg throbbing in pain. I immediately knew my leg was broken. Once they got me to Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, I was being brought in for x-rays. My surgeon, Dr. Rathjen had…
However, I value the relationship between doctor and patient as the best advantage. Simply working with the patients and seeing them progress due to their commitment and hard work is a breathtaking experience. In order to build a strong relationship with the patient, I will organize an innovative rehabilitation program that supports their individual goals and needs. The progression between doctor and patient goes hand in hand because as the patient begins to regain working function I can attain the confidence to work with others. Injuries can vary from patient to patient whether rehabilitation can take a short time or it can take quite a while. From my volunteer experience working at Los Feliz Country Villa hospital I observed how physical therapists are so composed and cooperative when working with a patient with major injuries. It takes more than just exercises and rehab to restore the patient’s bodily functioning but it requires trust and cooperation between doctor and patient. The purpose of the rehabilitation is to insure that the patient is able to keep up with the routine such as exercises to promote a steady recovery.…
My sophomore year while playing in a football game, I tackled a player from the other team right before half-time. While I was making the tackle, I felt a pop in my knee. It wasn’t very painful because of the adrenaline in my system at the time but the next day the pain came. It felt like there was a rubber band getting caught on my knee and coming off almost every step I took. I just put this pain aside through part of basketball season until the pain was too much and I went to get a check up, then a MRI, then before i knew it I had to get surgery for a torn meniscus. This ended my basketball season. After surgery I went to my rehab physical therapist Dr. Marty in Centralia. He got my knee back in good working order after…
I rehabbed all year, working with a AT in Vancouver by the name of Clayton Cross, working with him even then furthered my desire to become an athletic therapist. I saw him working with top class athletes from football to NHL players, this ignited the fire inside of me feeling as though I had finally found my passion, something that I knew I would be as dedicated and committed to as I was to my sports. I had just started coming into my finals week of the spring semester when I had received a call about my father, he had gone into kidney failure and we didn’t know if he was going to make it. I was rushed home with an exam in little under a week. Not only adding stress to my injury that was yet to be healed, my own father was maybe not going to make it.…