May 29 2014
Osborn, Abigail
Abby Osborn Portfolio
June 2014
Professional Goal Statement: My professional goal is be an effective therapist and critical thinker with a diverse skill set in a variety of PT settings including both outpatient orthopedics and neurological rehabilitation.
Career Plan: My career plan is to complete my final clinical rotation, pass the licensure exam in July 2014, graduate with a DPT degree August 2014, and gain employment as a PT in either a hospital or an outpatient orthopedic clinic in NC in a setting where I work alongside experienced PTs. After my first 2-5 years practicing surrounded by excellent mentors, I hope to settle in for a longer commitment in an outpatient orthopedic or inpatient rehabilitation therapist position. In addition to working primarily in one of these areas, I also hope to develop expert knowledge in foot and orthotic interventions, common running injuries, manual therapy, spinal cord injuries, wheelchair prescription, and ergonomic office related health and wellness. After approximately 15-20 years in the field, I anticipate I would like to pursue a research career, either in the form of a PhD program, or more likely through partnering with a research therapist to translate clinical ideas that I have identified in my first 15-20 years into relevant research projects for better evidenced care by future therapists.
Self Assessment:
- Strengths:
- Research experience involving stroke patients and running biomechanics, respectively
- Experience collaborating and communicating with classmates as well as fellow clinicians and rehab teams
- Experience with an excellent mentor in neurological acute/inpatient care
- Interest in learning about and using clinical outcome measures to monitor patient performance
- Areas for further development:
- Neurologic pediatric interventions
- Advanced manual orthopedic interventions
- Business practices including insurance policies and billing
- Geriatric community care
Objectives & Specific Strategies:
- Develop clinical skills in evaluation, diagnosis, intervention, and discharge
- Continually increase knowledge and treatment skills through reading up to date research as well as learning through expert clinicians and coworkers
- Become specialty trained in an area of interest within 5 years or earning my DPT degree
- Become a certified clinical instructor and teach other PT students
- Identify potential research questions that could be answered with appropriately designed studies and clinically applicable to a specific group of PT patients
Clinical Rotations:
- W.G. Hefner VA Medical Center, Salisbury, NC – OP ortho, acute, and long-term care
- Johnston Medical Center, Smithfield, NC – OP ortho, acute, aquatic therapy
- UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill, NC – Inpatient rehabilitation
- Greg Ott Center for Physical Therapy and Sport Performance, Charlotte, NC – OP sports and orthopedics
Elective Courses:
- PHYT 875 – Advanced Orthopedics
- PHYT 800 – Independent Study – Orthopedics
Product Samples:
- In-Service PowerPoint from Rehab rotation: Shoulder Pain In Patients with SCI
- Final Paper from Orthopedic Elective Course: Tibial Stress Fractures in Runners & Associated Risk Factors
- For my Capstone Doctoral Project I completed a research project titled “Visual Determination of Running Footstrike Pattern”, more of which can be read about on the UNC DPT Capstone website.
Reflective Statement
- I have greatly enjoyed the past 3 years in the DPT program at UNC surrounded by exceptional classmates, professors, and clinical educators. I really love the UNC family and everyone involved with the program has such a genuine interest in helping one another learn and improve – not only the UNC primary faculty but also those clinicians who came over and taught one course, or even just one lecture. I also am very thankful to the general PT community in the greater Triangle area, which has so much to offer and has greatly benefited my personal education as well. In completing my Capstone project, I communicated and met with a number of practicing PTs in this area and the professional advice and tidbits I received from each of these PTs was just so encouraging and helpful, particularly as a student interested in running rehab. Lastly, I should emphasize that my classmates were really an exceptional part of the journey through school and I cannot imagine a more intelligent, fun, hilarious, promising group of new PTs entering the profession. I can’t wait to see what they accomplish!
Abby
Hard to believe that its been so many years since you were a volunteering in my lab during your Junior year. Its great to see how far you’ve come and know that you will do great things over the course of your career. I expect you to let me know how things progress and know that you will find your passion within the field of Physical Therapy. Please keep in touch!!!
mike
Abby:
Thanks for sharing all these thoughts and samples of your work. It is awesome to see all that you have accomplished. Congrats and good luck to you. Please keep in touch.
Lisa
Abby- congratulations on all of your accomplishments in the program. You got a lot out of the program because of all of the extra and special efforts that you put into your experience. Best regards, Mike Gross
Abby,
I love your professional goal statement — to be an “effective therapist and critical thinker with a diverse skill set in a variety of PT settings….” Really well stated and a great representation of the type of clinician UNC is trying to mold. Truly enjoyed working with you the past few years!
Mike M