DPT Portfolios

PROFESSIONAL GOAL STATEMENT:

My goal is to be an effective teacher.  I began this program with the goal of bringing together my clinical background and current evidence and practice standards to create effective workshops and presentations.  It is my vision I will be able to produce learning environments which are exciting, unique, memorable and content rich which will change the way a therapist practices within the field of Physical Therapy.

CAREER PLAN:

My experience in the field has been vast, though I have primarily focused clinically in the in-patient rehab setting, I have worked in a large hospital system with rotations and weekend requirements for acute care.  I have actively participated in continuing education courses in  a variety of focus areas including Women’s Health training, Maitland training, NDT Training and soft tissue work, in addition to neurological diagnosis.  I began teaching in the group exercise setting and then in in-services, workshops locally and in 2001, I began teaching nationally for two companies and on my own. I have averaged over the past 3-4 years, 40 workshops a year.

 

This January, my career took a major turn as I accepted a position as Assistant Professor at Campbell University in their Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. I have taken the information learned from this program and applied it already, using the preliminary literature search for my Capstone as the base of a study proposal at Campbell.  I am planning to take the NCS exam next March and I am actively participating in a a variety of continuing education courses to improve my ability to develop tests, rubrics, course objectives and syllabi. My path of being an effective teaching will be executed and supported by the university environment at Campbell University.

SELF ASSESSMENT

Early in my career, I was introduced to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp) and the result has served me in understanding my strengths and weakness and has been an excellent guide in terms of career decisions.

Consistent with the presentation of an ENTP (Extroverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, Perceptive):  My strengths include:

Quick thinking, knowledgeable in many subject areas, excellent brainstormer, original thinker, charismatic and energetic: These characteristics allow me to see different ways of approaching the same topic.  I am able to put together teaching opportunities which enhance a students understanding of the material.  I am creative in development of interventions and unique ways of managing challenging mobility issues and home situations.  I am able to encourage learners to link familiar ideas to strengthen their understanding and make difficult ideas simple.

Equally consistent with the presentation of an ENTP are my weaknesses which include:

Argumentative, insensitive to feelings in preference for facts/objectivity, difficulty focusing on one task, dislike practical, hum-drum daily activities, intolerance of persons who are not as energetic and enthusiastic, get bored quickly: The first time I read these, it was disheartening, as some of these characteristics are not very positive.  However, I have used the insight to modify my actions and be more self-aware of how I come across and what I say and how.  Being aware of these tendencies has influenced my habits. I am committed to planning forms with due dates to ensure I follow through, I address things immediately, to prevent it being forgotten, I think before I speak and consider the person hearing the information and how they need information relayed for effective communication. Most importantly, I strive to  put myself in positions where I can excel in brainstorming versus being responsible for details. I recognize this will be a challenge for me in my academic position, however, the benefit is I love change. I love the dynamic nature of the information in physical therapy and am excited to always add more, describe it differently, reconsider what I believe to be the “truth”.   I will continue to be aware of these weaknesses and attempt to gain skills and make habits which minimize their potential deleterious impact on my work and those around me.

Famous People with these Strengths & Weaknesses:

Famous Fictional Characters with these Strengths & Weaknesses:

 

So, as my career progresses, I am hoping to be as creative as DaVinci, be able to follow through and present a unique experience as did Walt Disney and have  enough self-reflection to know when the idea just won’t work (Wiley E. Coyote could have used that) and make life fun and easy as Bugs always did!

OBJECTIVES/ SUPPORT OF SUCCESS

One of my objectives was to synthesize my clinical experience with available research on topics which I actively instruct students and clinicians.  The course work the first year of the tDPT assisted me in obtaining this goal.   Advanced Neuromuscular Intervention provided me the opportunity to delve deeper into the ideas I had and compare them to the research to form a new understanding of numerous topics.  Pusher Syndrome has always been an interest of mine and I was able to use this topic to discuss research and from that make suggestions for possible treatments.  See this link to review this assignment: Pushers+and+Visual+Perceptual+Deficits+GREEN 

Additionally, it gave me the opportunity to look deeper into topics I had heard of, but had not taken the time to understand.  Through the guided readings and assignments, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of topics such as unilateral neglect, cerebellar ataxia and post-concussive syndrome.  See this link to review this information on post-concussive syndrome from the TBI Module: GreenTBI+Module+assignment

The Health & Wellness class reconnected me with local community resources, the Advanced Patient Cases and Patient Management classes, via the modules, enhanced my understanding of commonly seen chronic conditions such as heart failure, pressure wounds, COPD, cancer and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.  I found the information gained was immediately useful in my clinical practice.

My other objective for the tDPT program was to enhance my teaching skills.  I found the summer course, PT Education Seminar, to be most useful and found the textbook by Shepard & Jensen to be very helpful in understanding of the unique challenges of teaching Physical Therapists.  I was able to choose an elective within the School Of Education at East Carolina entitled ‘Teaching the Adult Learner” and found the information invaluable in regards to understanding the individual challenges of various age group learners and specifically, how technology is either helpful or hurtful to each. The textbook for the course by Merriam, entitled “Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide” will be a valuable resource.  I enjoyed the different focus form the education program versus the straight-up physical therapy approach.  EBP II has been an integral part of the achievement of both of my objectives as it has provided me the foundation of understanding of getting to and interpreting evidence.  It forced me (literally, forced!) me to become comfortable with the process and learn the language I need.  I found the Jewell text oddly interesting and has already been a resource in my new position.

 

REFLECTION

The transitional program has served me in fulfilling my goals and providing the skills and resources needed to enhance my ability to be an educator. When I began with program, I envisioned the enhancement of my continuing education workshops, but with the degree came opportunities I did not expect and my new journey into academics will be smoother due to the learning experiences I have had in this program. I look forward to where the future will lead me and value the set of skills I now have to take along on this journey. The final Capstone project brought together many of the new skills I acquired and allowed me to look into an area of interest I had, but knew nothing about.  My goal was to see if there were targeted manual therapy or range of motion exercises which would be beneficial to improving activity tolerance in persons with COPD.  The preliminary search of literature I performed will be used to complete a pilot study at my University on normal subjects with the goal of included abnormals as time progresses.  Feel free to review my Capstone project if you are curious about the topic:  http://dptcapstone.web.unc.edu/category/current-students-spring-of-2014/transitional-students-current-students-spring-of-2014/green-michelle/

I am most excited to have more time to spend with the three most important people in my life:  My husband, Chris and my boys, Cole & Jacob.

 

Trackback URI | Comments RSS