Apr 27 2020

Chaus, Matthew

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Professional Goal Statement

Upon successful graduation from the DPT program at UNC-Chapel Hill, I plan to practice in an outpatient orthopedic clinic setting. Within this setting, I hope to enhance patients’ lives by helping them obtain appropriate movement patterns and decrease the daily burden injury or impairments can cause. I plan to do this by establishing trust and a good working relationship to show future patients the benefits of exercise and to help promote the field of physical therapy as a movement expert. I plan to gain experience for 2-3 years to identify my strengths and weaknesses as a clinician. I then plan to undergo a residency program to further my knowledge as a clinician, work on my identified weaknesses, and obtain my OCS or SCS certification.

Career Plan

Past/Current:

Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Sports Science with Phycology minor:  University of Utah 2011-2015

Doctor of Physical Therapy: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2017-2020

Clinical Experiences:

  • Clinical Affiliation I: Acute Care Rotation (8 weeks): Greer/ Greenville Memorial hospital, Greer/Greenville, South Carolina
  • Clinical Affiliation II: Outpatient Orthopedic Rotation (8 weeks): UNC Therapy Services, Carolina Pointe II, Chapel Hill North Carolina
  • Clinical Affiliation III: Outpatient Neurologic Rotation (8 weeks): Duke Specialty Rehab Services, Raleigh, North Carolina
  • Clinical Affiliation IV: Outpatient Orthopedic Rotation (8 weeks): Salt Lake City VA Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah

Future Plans:

  • June 2020: Level one blood flow restriction certification course:
  • July 2020: Take and pass the NPTE
  • August 2020: Graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Doctorate of physical therapy degree
  • By October 2020: Begin working in an outpatient orthopedic clinic
  • By August 2023: Be admitted to a physical therapy residency program for sports or orthopedic clinical specialist.
  • August 2024: Pass the OCS or SCS examination
  • 2024-Future Become a certified Clinical instructor and work in the desired clinic
  • 2030- Future: Own and operate own physical therapy/wellness gym that focuses on rehabbing and preventing future injuries and promoting overall health and wellness

Other Professional Activities:

  • Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC) Pro Bono Clinic
    • Interdisciplinary Student Representative (2017-2018)
      • Met with the multidisciplinary team to help coordinate and discuss the student-run health clinic once a month
      • Acted as liaison for the physical therapy program with regards to the student-run clinic.
    • Student Physical Therapy Association (SPTA)
      • Co-events Chair
        • Planned and organized social events for UNC physical therapy students.
      • Legislative Advocacy: NCPTA Legislative Day
      • Conference Attendance: APTA Combined Sections Meeting (CSM)

Strengths

  • Excellent communication and people skills to make patients feel comfortable
  • Extensive background in movement, athletics, and exercises
  • Highly motivated to continually learn and expand my clinical knowledge
  • Familiarity with current research and how to effectively stay active in finding appropriate research

Weaknesses

Understanding of billing practices and reimbursement

Improve clinical reasoning and being able to apply current research to patient treatments

Ability to treat chronic pain patients effectively

Improving advocacy involvement through the professional body

Special areas of interest

  • Outpatient orthopedics specifically injury/surgical prevention in non-athletes and athletes
  • Role of “words that hurt” and how words can impact treatment outcomes
  • Improving the therapeutic alliance between patients and clinicians.
  • Role of training and physical activity in the prevention of injuries in young athletes
  • How fear following an injury can impact performance in sports.
  • Improving patients’ chronic pain to improve the overall quality of life in patients.

Objectives

  • Become certified in blood flow restriction therapy June, 13th 2020 to improve my clinical ability to treat patients with strength deficits.
  • Sit and pass the National Physical Therapy Examination on July, 28th 2020
  • Graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with my DPT degree in August 2020
  • Within 3 months of obtaining my physical therapy licensure, I will obtain a career in an outpatient orthopedic setting. August 2020-October 2020
  • Obtain my CSCS licensure to further my ability to train and work with athletes by January 2020
  • Obtain my SCS or OCS

Specific strategies

  • Make a routine and a plan to study efficiently for the NPTE examination
  • Maintain relationships with past CIs and professors to allow for continued professional development.
  • Obtain a good working relationship with a mentor in my desired field
  • Always ask why and question make sure you can validate why I am doing the treatments I am doing.
  • Complete 8-week clinical rotation in an outpatient orthopedic setting
  • Obtain education on residency programs to find the appropriate fit for my professional goal
  • Continue to stay up to date with research by making a goal of spending 2-3 hours per week looking through up to date research.

Electives  

Fall 2019

Advanced Orthopedic intervention (3 Credits)

Teacher-Scholar program (Musculoskeletal Intervention II) (1 Credit)

Spring 2020

Integrated Clinical Experience (ICE) (1 Credit)  

Multidisciplinary Service Learning Trip to Tyrell County (1 Credit)

Product Examples:

Diagnosis and Treatment of Patellar Tendinopathy to Improve Clinical Outcomes in Jumping Athletes:  (My final research paper for Advanced Orthopedic Assessment and Intervention)

CAT Therapeutic Alliance: Critically Appraised Topic (CAT) on the Role of Therapeutic Alliance on Chronic Low Back Pain

UNC DPT Capstone Website/Project Therapeutic Alliance: Definition and Implementation into Patient Care

Reflection Statement:  

Before enrolling in the UNC DPT program, I was always intrigued by the idea of a career that allows me to provide people with a service that improves their daily lives and overall function. I was exposed to physical therapy in a minor sense following my injuries from past athletics.  It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to work in an outpatient physical therapy clinic that I saw how grateful patients were that physical therapy allowed them to have their lives back and move without pain. From this experience, I was sold that physical therapy was the career choice for me. The UNC DPT program exposed me to the many different opportunities this illustrious career has to offer over the past 3 years. One of the most valuable lessons this program taught me was empathy and understanding. The program at UNC has shown me how important looking at biopsychosocial factors are and the immense implications they can have on physical therapy outcomes. By demonstrating understanding and getting to the underlying cause of the problem this leads to completely caring for the patient, which in turn leads to far better and long-standing outcomes.

Each of the faculty and clinical instructors I have interreacted with had an extensive influence on my desire to improve the lives of my future patients. While there were multiple hardships and the schooling was as challenging as I have heard the faculty and mentors were supportive, caring, and motivating. The gratefulness I have for the mentorship I received cannot be understated. The knowledge I have received has truly set a framework that will guide me to become the best clinician that I can be. My classmates and friends have been motivating and often I am amazed at all the accomplishments they have already achieved and will likely achieve in the future. The 2020 cohort will always be a driving force and I am eagerly looking forward to all the astonishing things this class accomplishes for the field of physical therapy.

I have grown and matured my scholastic abilities immensely over these past three years and am looking forward to more professional growth in the future. This program set the foundation necessary for me to feel confident as an entry-level clinician and being able to contribute to this profession.

 

 

 

 

 

One response so far




One Response to “Chaus, Matthew”

  1.   Lisa Johnstonon 30 Jun 2020 at 7:17 pm

    Matt: Congrats on your accomplishments! You have done a great job and that shows in your portfolio. So nice to see. Good luck to you!! Take care Lisa

    Reply

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