DPT Portfolios

• Professional Goal
  • My goal is to become a competent, compassionate, evidence-based doctor of physical therapy. I aspire to work in pediatrics, either outpatient, hospital setting or school-based. I am also interested in neuromuscular physical therapy since much of pediatric physical therapy is associated with neuromuscular disorders.

 

• Career Plan
  • May 2013: Bachelors of Science in Exercise and Sport Science, University of Georgia
  • August 2016: Doctor of Physical Therapy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
    • Clinical Rotation I: Physical Therapy Associates, Southport, NC- Outpatient Orthopedics, Underserved
    • Clinical Rotation II: Cabarrus County Schools, Concord, NC- Outpatient Neuro
    • Clinical Rotation III: Triangle Orthopedics Specialty Hospital, Durham, NC- Acute Care
    • Clinical Rotation IV: Duke Children’s Hospital, Durham, NC- Pediatric Inpatient
  • April 2016: UNC Physical Therapy Outreach Service Learning Trip to Guatemala
  • October 2016: pass National Physical Therapy Examination to become a licensed DPT in the state of North Carolina
  • November 2016: begin working as a pediatric physical therapist
  • 2018: complete a pediatric/NICU residency program

 

• Self Assessment
  • Strengths:
    • Wide range of clinical experiences through clinical rotations, volunteer positions and observation experiences
    • Strong communication skills with patients, family members and other medical professionals.
    • Highly professional with both patients and colleagues
    • Provide creativity during interventions to maximize compliance and outcomes
  • Areas for further development:
    • Exposure to outpatient orthopedic physical therapy
    • Experience with billing, charges and reimbursement from insurance companies
    • Involvement in professional advocacy and physical therapy policy in government

 

• Objectives
  • Special areas of interest: pediatrics, neuromuscular, NICU
  • Sit for and pass the NPTE Licensure Exam in October 2016
  • Obtain a job as a pediatric physical therapist by November 2016
  • Earn a pediatric specialist degree by completing a residency program by 2019

 

• Specific Strategies for addressing your development needs and interests.
  • Choose elective classes focused on pediatrics, developmental disabilities and neuromuscular disorders
  • Partake in national conferences, such as APTA NEXT and CSM.
  • Maintain an APTA membership
  • Research and gain a better understanding of possible pediatric residency programs 

 

• Electives
  • Fall 2015: Child and Family Assessment and Intervention
  • Spring 2016: Introduction to Spanish for Healthcare Professionals, UNC DPT Service Learning Trip to Guatemala

 

• Capstone
  • For my capstone project I created four pamphlets intended for the parents of infants leaving the NICU. After being discharged from the NICU, an infant will return home, often times to begin early intervention care. Sometimes it can be several months before an early intervention therapist is available to begin treating the infant. This gap in care can result in further developmental delays and impairments. The parents are often unaware of typical versus delayed development as well as ways to encourage proper development. Because of this lack of knowledge and resources, I created educational pamphlets for parents following their infant’s discharge from the NICU. Each pamphlet is focused on a specific topic related to development; they are intended to be a quick reference guide to answer common questions or give basic information and tips to parents upon returning home with their infant. Additional resources are included on the back page of each pamphlet for parents to reference more detailed information.

 

• Product Examples
  • The four pamphlets I created for my capstone project can be found here:
    • Typical Development Pamphlet
    • Sleep vs Play Pamphlet
    • Promoting Development Pamphlet
    • Comforting Techniques Pamphlet
  • In the Managing a Contemporary Practice class, my partner, Chelsea Parker, and I created an “After School Physical Therapy Program.” We wrote a proposal for the program involving an environmental analysis, legal structure, personnel requirements, market analysis, marketing strategy, budget, revenue projections, collection rates based on payers, break-even analysis and more. The complete proposal can be found here:
    • After School Physical Therapy Program

 

• Reflective Statement
  • I am beyond grateful for the past three years at UNC. This time would not have been the same without the amazing people I was surrounded and supported by; from the UNC professors, to my clinical instructors, guest lecturers, clinicians and my 29 amazing classmates, each person had a significant impact on my experience in this program. There were countless opportunities over the last three years that allowed me to learn more about the profession as well as give back to the community and help others. The clinical rotations I’ve had have been so unique I feel that I’ve been exposed to many different sides of PT. One of the great parts of this program was that while I feel I have received a very well-rounded, generalized education in physical therapy, I was able to choose electives and project topics geared toward pediatrics, my area of interest. Thanks to the UNC DPT program, I feel prepared for and am looking forward to my career as a physical therapist.

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