Feb 25 2013

Frederick, Betsy

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My professional goal is to become a PT that is able to use my clinical reasoning and knowledge base to treat in a variety of settings.  Ultimately, I would like to open up my own outpatient practice that is not limited in the patient population that we see.  I believe that to reach this goal it is important to feel comfortable in evaluating and treating a variety of diagnoses.   I will also be involved in the community in which I live because I value the resources that we are able to provide and believe that they can have a huge impact on an individual’s life.

 

Career Plan:

1. Doctorate of Physical Therapy August 2013

2. First job at a facility that has a comprehensive mentor program in a setting that  challenges me

3. Join APTA sections that are related to the settings that I am working in

4. Involve myself in community activities that promote health and wellness

5. Determine any certifications that I may want to work toward

6. Open up my own practice

 

Self Assessment:

Strengths:

-Clinical and volunteer experiences with focus on neurology patients

-Experience with writing/editing a manuscript

-Ability to access and use evidence in practice

-My own personal experiences with physical therapy and sports-related injuries

-Communication skills

 

Areas for Professional Development:

-Experience with financial aspects of billing

-Treatment knowledge base of uncommon diagnoses

-Knowledge of logistics of running an outpatient clinic/business practice knowledge

-cardiac/pulmonary rehab and woundcare

 

Objectives:

1. Enhance clinical skills and knowledge of neurologic injuries by participation of clinical in a rehab setting

2. Volunteer in a hippotherapy program in the fall of 2012.

3. Pass NCPTE licensure exam in July 2013.

4. Present Capstone Paper (see below) at CSM in February 2014.

5. Attend educational experiences that develop my knowledge throughout my professional career

6. Gain knowledge of business side of owning and operating an outpatient clinic

7. Become a Clinical Instructor to students throughout my career.

 

Specific Strategies:

1. Select 3rd year electives that address areas that I need more focus.

2. Immerse myself in participating in more extensive research through Capstone project.

3. Submit Capstone manuscript to CSM for presentation or poster.

4. Be proactive in gaining knowledge about the logistics of opening up a practice and running it effectively.

 

Course Plan for Clinical Core Electives and Doctoral Project:

Advanced Orthopedic Assessment:  I chose this course to further my knowledge of evaluating orthopedic conditions.  I felt as though this course was beneficial in gaining knowledge of  how to incorporate evidence in evaluating and addressing orthopedic conditions.  At the end of this course we were required to research an orthopedic condition of our choice and write a paper summarizing the evidence.  Prevention and management of Osteoporosis

Evidence Based Practice II: For this class, I chose to parallel my research with my volunteer experiences with hippotherapy in the fall of 2012.  My PICO question was: For adult people ages 30-55 years old diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, does participating in hippotherapy for 8 weeks improve balance more compared to a typical physical therapy treatment bout (intervention) for 8 weeks?  My research paper can be found here: Hippotherapy and MS

Intermediate Spanish for Health Care Professionals:  Due to the growing Hispanic population and use of Spanish in healthcare, I felt as though this course was beneficial in expanding my Spanish knowledge base to be able to utilize it more in the healthcare setting.  I utilized what I had learned from this class on my trip to Guatemala in the Spring of 2013.

Doctoral Project: My doctoral project is called “Strategies for Integrating Cultural Competency Training Among Physical Therapy Professionals in the UNC DPT Program” and was completed in collaboration with Kimberly Dale.  This project focused on two avenues (didactic and service learning) to integrate cultural competency into the UNC DPT program.  This included a powerpoint as well as formulation of a manuscript that discussed the longitudinal effects of service-learning experiences on physical therapy students.  To see the project click here.

 

Reflection:

I cannot believe it has been 3 years since my classmates and I started the journey through this program.  I have learned a tremendous amount of information and have gained unforgettable experiences through the course work provided by UNC’s PT program as well as my clinical rotations.  One of these experiences was the trip my classmates and I went on to Guatemala in the spring of 2013.  This experience impacted me personally and professionally and was a great ending to the 3 years in this program.

I am so thankful that I chose a profession that can have such a tremendous impact on patient’s life.  I feel prepared to evaluate, implement and formulate a plan of care for a multitude of patient diagnoses, as well as  to continue to advocate for the importance of our profession in the healthcare setting.  I have had the chance to volunteer in a hippotherapy program, complete 4 weeks of my 12 week rehab setting rotation, and submit an abstract to CSM for presentation.   I will continue to push myself to meet my objectives and know that I have people involved in the UNC PT program (professors, mentors, classmates) that I can count on to support me along the way.

Betsy

4 responses so far




4 Responses to “Frederick, Betsy”

  1.   Mike McMorrison 24 Jun 2013 at 8:44 pm

    Betsy,
    Great job! You’ve detailed a clear path to reaching your goals with a logical path to gain experience, mentorship and opportunity. Well done.
    mike m

    Reply

  2.   Lisa Johnstonon 27 Jun 2013 at 6:23 pm

    Betsy:
    Thank you for your portfolio submission. It is very nice to see these examples of your work. You have done a great job. I’m glad you valued the Guatemala experience so highly. You certainly demonstrated during that trip that you will be an excellent PT. Great work.
    Lisa

    Reply

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