DPT Portfolios

Resume and Curriculum Vitae: Brandon Surber ResumeCV 2021

Website: Link 

LinkedIn: Link

Professional Goal Statement:

After passing my licensure exam and graduating from the DPT program at UNC, I aim to work in the sports medicine and orthopedic sectors where my main goal will be to treat each individual based on their needs, the best available evidence, and the resources available at my disposal. I am passionate about evidence based practice and scientific principles which I believe will allow me to serve my patients to the highest ability I can, reduce over-utilization within the healthcare system, educate patients efficiently, and provide reassurance and actionable strategies in the midst of uncertainty that many patients face. I hope to be a provider who empowers my patients and gives them the tools they need to return to the activities that bring joy to their lives or that are necessary for their current situations.

Career Path and Future Plans:

• Past accomplishments:
  • April 2018: Passed Board of Certification (BOC) Examination to become a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC)
  • May 2018: Graduated from Emory & Henry College with a Bachelor’s of Science in Athletic Training (magna cum laude)
    • Clinical Experience:
      • 1000+ hours of direct care consisting of rotations with multiple teams at Emory & Henry College such as football, men’s soccer, baseball, softball, and others. Specialty direct care experiences included one semester rotation in an outpatient orthopedic physical therapy clinic and one week in a primary care physician’s office.
  • August 2018: Entrance into Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program (Class of 2021) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH)
    • Clinical Affiliations
      • UNC Rehabilitation Services, Carolina Pointe II, Chapel Hill, NC (Ongoing)
        • Outpatient Orthopedics, May 2021-July 2021 (12 weeks)
      • UNC Rehabilitation Services, UNC Medical Center, Chapel Hill, NC
        • Acute Care: Neurological Focus, March 2021-April 2021 (9 weeks)
      • North Carolina Center for PT, Durham, NC
        • Outpatient Orthopedics, March 2020-March 2020 (2.5 weeks)
        • Clinical rotation terminated due to COVID-19 pandemic
      • WakeMed Health, Cary, NC
        • Acute Care, Jun 2019-Aug 2019 (8 weeks)
    • Other experiences:
      • Graduate and Professional Student Federation (GPSF) Senator representing the Physical Therapy Department (2018-2019)
      • Student Physical Therapy Association (SPTA) Continuing Education Committee Chair (2019-2020)
  • October 2018: Became a Licensed Athletic Trainer (LAT) in the state of North Carolina
  • January 2019: Began working as a per diem Athletic Trainer with club sports at UNC-CH
  • January 2019: Cofounded Sports and Orthopedic Journal Club
  • January 2020: Obtained Champion Certified Performance Specialist (C-PS) certification through Champion PT and Performance
• Future Plans
  • July 2021: Pass the Federation of State Boards Physical Therapy (FSBPT) Examination
  • August 2021: Graduate from UNC-CH with DPT Degree
  • August 2021: Sit for the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) Examination from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)
  • August 2021: Obtain a full-time physical therapist position in a sports medicine and/or outpatient orthopedic setting
    • Early career development goals (1-5 years)
      • Identify and collaborate with a mentor at my work site
      • Take on a leadership or committee role within the Performance Enhancement Special Interest Group (SIG) of the American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy (AASPT)
      • Assist with teaching and/or delivering lecture content within a physical therapy or athletic training program in the following area(s):
        • Exercise prescription
        • Sports medicine principles
        • Musculoskeletal
      • Sit for the Sports Certified Specialist (SCS) Examination

Self Assessment:

• Areas of Strength:
  • Ability to find common interests with patients to leverage therapeutic alliance
  • Dedicated to continuing education due to background in athletic training and drive to have clinical practice driven by the best available evidence
  • Clinical experience with athletic and orthopedic populations
  • Application of theoretical frameworks within clinical practice
  • Understanding of strength and conditioning principles and their application in the rehab setting
  • Ability to operate within my role effectively in an inter-professional team framework
• Areas for Further Development:
  • Improved understanding of the intricacies of billing for different insurance providers
  • Increased involvement with advocacy for the profession outside of sports physical therapy and the AASPT
  • Explaining current evidence for certain conditions (especially chronic pain conditions) to patients who have been educated with less favorable narratives and/or information that has not held up in the literature
  • Understanding and implementing supervision of physical therapy assistants and aides in the clinic
  • Continued learning and understanding of clinical examination skills, designing rehabilitation plans of care, and developing patient-clinician relationships during episodes of care (always room and need for further improvement!)

Objectives:

• Special areas of interest:
  • Sports medicine and rehabilitation
  • ACLR rehabilitation
  • Tendinopathy rehabilitation
  • High performance competitive athletics
  • High performance recreational athletics
• Main Objectives for Graduate Study
  • Earn DPT Degree and pass NPTE Examination in 2021
  • Improve analytical and synthesizing skills for research by graduation in 2021
  • Improve critical thinking in the face of uncertainty that is inherent in clinical practice by graduation in 2021
  • Participate in clinical experiences within varying speciality areas in the Triangle prior to graduating in 2021
  • Participate in a longer duration clinical experience in the sports/orthopedic realm prior to graduation in 2021

Specific Strategies:

• Mentorship
  • Rehab Learning Center Academy (January 2021 – Present)
    • Currently participating in a 11-month guided online learning opportunity created by Michael Reiman of Duke University.
    • The academy is focused on education related to sports medicine and sports rehabilitation and includes members who are students, clinicians, strength and conditioning coaches, and educators.
    • Creator: Michael Reiman, PT, DPT, PhD, MEd, OCS, SCS, ATC, FAAOMPT, CSCS
  • American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy (AASPT) Mentorship Program (March 2020 – October 2020)
    • Participated in mentorship program through the Performance Enhancement Special Interest Group of the AASPT.
    • Included bi-monthly meetings to discuss topics related to increasing performance in the rehab process of athletes.
    • Mentor: Taylor Douthit, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS (Stanford Health Care)
• Capstone Project
  • Link to website: Link
  • Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction (ACLR) Return to Sport Testing and On-Field Rehabilitation
    • Completed a capstone project with fellow student Ryan Brooks consisting of creating guidelines for use in UNC outpatient orthopedics for improving testing batteries following ACLR (Ryan Brooks) and for incorporating on-field rehabilitation (OFR) strategies (myself).
    • The OFR portion of the project was focused on providing clinicians with a clear, criterion-based progression for the athlete to resume on-field activities such as, but not limited to, deceleration, sprinting, change of direction, agility, and technique and skill-based work.
    • Project was finalized in April 2021
    • Advisor: Louise Thoma, PT, DPT, PhD
    • Committee Members
      • Madison (Madi) Franek, PT, DPT, CSCS
      • Michael Lewek, PT, PhD
• Third Year Electives
  • Fall 2020
    • PHYT 870: Integrated Clinical Experience (ICE)
      • Participated in 60 hours of hands-on patient care in outpatient orthopedics with conditions such as, but not limited to, acute and chronic low back, lumbar radiculopathy, cervical radiculopathy, Achilles tendinopathy, hip and knee osteoarthritis, and patellofemoral pain syndrome.
      • Faculty supervisor: Michael McMorris, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT
    • PHYT 875: Advanced Orthopaedic Assessment and Treatment
      • This course is intended to provide a greater depth of understanding the evaluation and treatment strategies for various musculoskeletal impairments and injuries.
      • Topics covered included the structure, function, mechanical properties, and healing of bone, articular cartilage, fibrocartilage, labrum, tendons, ligaments, muscles, and skin.
      • Final project for course included an evidence-based paper on the diagnosis and/or treatment of a musculoskeletal condition.
        • Brandon Surber: An Evidence-Based Return to Sport Program for Athletes with Patellar Tendinopathy
      • Professor: Michael T. Gross, PT, PhD, FAPTA
  • Spring 2021
    • PHYT 738: Topics in Sports Physical Therapy
      • This course is intended to provide an understanding and appreciation of the current practice of Sports Physical Therapy.
      • Multiple guest lectures who are leaders in the field of sports physical therapy and experts in their respective topics spoke during the course.
      • Professors: Louise Thoma, PT, DPT, PhD and Deidra Debnam, PT, DPT, SCS
    • PHYT 800: Independent Study-Teacher/Scholar Program (MSK I)
      • Primarily responsible for assisting with hands-on skill-based labs, holding exam review sessions, and delivering lecture material on glenohumeral instability and labral lesions to the DPT class of 2023.
      • Teacher Scholar Program Director: Jon Hacke PT, DPT, MA, OCS, ATRet.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion

How racism makes us sick

Dr. David R. Williams

This was a very informative talk from Dr. David R. Williams, who is professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, focusing on the ways in which racial disparities in many areas correlate to poorer health care and decreased life expectancies in non-white populations. While income and education play a role in this discrepancy, Dr. Williams points to other areas that may not be considered as commonly such as implicit biases, institutional racism, and residential segregation. This was very eye opening for me as our training at UNC has led to a better understanding of implicit biases and impacts that they may have on healthcare delivery, but I have now realized that this is only one small piece to this issue. Some of the key examples provided by Dr. Williams include information such as the worst urban living situations for white individuals being substantially better than the average living situations for urban communities of black individuals. Another example to consider from Dr. Williams includes a database he refers to that gives examples of words commonly associated with different races in common media forms. It was surprising as well as disheartening to see the examples provided of the most common words that occur along with the word black in the media such as poor, lazy, and dangerous while words associated with the word white were progressive, successful, and wealthy. This talk provides a concise explanation of many of the facets that lead to the current state of healthcare delivery and outcomes associated with different racial groups and includes examples of programs that are working towards creating equality in this area, such as The Abecedarian Project here in Chapel Hill.

The problem with race-based medicine

Dr. Dorothy Roberts

This was an incredible talk focusing on race-based medicine from Dr. Dorothy Roberts, a social justice advocate and law scholar. In her talk, she discusses how race-based medicine with many issues such being non-evidence-based and dangerous to those of different races. One of the key points of the talk, and one that I found to be incredibly informative, is the importance of critically analyzing how we view race in this area. Traditional medical practice often viewed (and likely continues to view) race as a biological construct rather than a social one. Dr. Roberts discusses this at the start of the video with a personal story of participating in a research project with a focus on genetic testing. She recalls a question checkbox for her race, one that we are all likely familiar with seeing on a medical intake form, which caused her to paise for consideration. She states that she felt that this question was strange as she identifies as black woman socially, but states that she is as much European as African. She uses this a jumping point to discuss many areas in medicine with race where is unscientifically used to determine the likelihood of certain diagnoses and treatments utilized. She discusses how this has shaped the technical aspect of medicine (such as drugs and measurement techniques) as a means to “treat” the biological issues as opposes to medicine taking a look at the social determinate side of the issue. Being in a healthcare field, this really made me pause for reflection of what we do with information on race we collect and how it impacts the care we deliver. It also highlights, in my mind, the issue of correlation not equally causation with many of the things we observe within the healthcare setting. Dr. Roberts finishes her talk with the following powerful quote: “Race medicine is bad medicine, it’s poor science and it’s a false interpretation of humanity. It is more urgent than ever to finally abandon this backward legacy and to affirm our common humanity by ending the social inequalities that truly divide us.”

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