Apr 06 2022

Kress, Mike

Published by

  • Professional Goal Statement
    • Upon graduation from the UNC DPT program, my plan is to practice in a home-health setting. During this experience, I plan to enhance my skills in providing care with minimal extra equipment and facilitating increased functional independence for each patient. This setting allows me to continue to provide care for a variety of medical diagnoses which will enable me to become a more well-rounded clinician. I plan to continue my professional development by earning my CSCS, become certified in advanced competency in home health and credentialed as a clinical instructor through the APTA, as well as my OCS to eventually attain my goal of opening my own practice to provide care to underserved populations by addressing the barriers of access to healthcare including transportation, time and financial burden.

 

  • Career Plan
    • Previous Accomplishments
      • January 2016: Honorable Discharge from USMC
      • May 2019: Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
      • July 2022: Doctor of Physical Therapy from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
    • Future Goals
      • Less Than 1 Year
        • Pass NPTE July 2022
        • Graduate From UNC DPT Program July 2022
        • Gain Employment with a Home Health Agency
      • 1-3 Years
        • Obtain CSCS
        • Become credentialed as clinical instructor through APTA
        • Begin PRN work in outpatient setting
      • 3-10 Years
        • Take on PT students as a clinical instructor in home health
        • Become certified in advanced competency in home health
        • Obtain OCS certification
        • Begin to build foundation for starting my own private practice
        • Begin to become more involved in advocating for the PT profession
      • 10+ years
        • Open up private practice while continuing to work in home health
        • Sit on state or national board for APTA
        • If private practice does not pan out, become rehab director or other leadership role within home health setting

 

  • Self-Assessment
    • Strengths
      • Bedside manner / Interpersonal skills
      • Application of Evidence Based Practice
      • Self-motivated / Ambitious
      • Prideful in my work
    • Areas for Professional Development
      • Understanding of Self-employment Aspects
      • Understanding of Insurance Coverage / Reimbursement
      • Involvement in Physical Therapy Advocacy
    • Objectives
      • Graduate from UNC DPT Program in July 2022
      • Pass PT Licensure Board Exam in July 2022 and fulfill other requirements to attain PT Licensure
      • Attain Certification of Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)
      • Complete Certification Program in Advanced Competency in Home Health through the APTA
      • Become an Orthopaedic Clinical Specialist (OCS)
      • Continue professional development to become a well-rounded clinician
      • Become credentialed through the APTA as a Clinical Instructor
      • Give back to the profession by advocating for our profession and mentoring future PT students

 

  • Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
    • Becoming more aware of discrepancies within healthcare based on socioeconomic demographics has been eye-opening and disturbing. From my experiences, I have witnessed, learned about, and experienced first-hand the prejudice that still exists in the world today even in the healthcare setting. This has led me down the path to one of my long-term goals for my professional career of opening my own practice that provides healthcare to underserved populations specifically targeting access to healthcare. I would like to provide care by traveling to these populations to eliminate the barrier of transportation and work out the logistics to make it more affordable for this patient population to limit the burden of cost for these necessary services. I have become more and more interested in the home health setting as well as this gives me experience in providing care in this setting and working with the equipment available to the patient on a daily basis. The strong interest that the UNC DPT program has in educating us in this topic generated hope that one day this will hopefully no longer be an issue.

 

 

  • Reflective Statement
    • During my time in the UNC DPT program, I have gone from a PT student unsure of what setting or patient population I would like to work with for my career to a soon-to-be entry-level clinician with the desire to work with patients in the personal setting of their homes. Early on in my education, I was mainly focused on learning general skills any physical therapist should have and adding tools to my repertoire for evaluating and treating patients of all medical diagnoses. From there I was able to be exposed to these different populations and learn to critically think and realize things are very rarely textbook cases. Throughout the program, regardless of the medical diagnoses, it was instilled in me to treat the patient as a whole and realize the importance of treating the patient as an individual and not the diagnosis. After my education and clinical experiences, I have been led down the path to pursue home health care as my desired career path because I felt that there is no better way for me to incorporate these foundational concepts than in one’s home especially since it is usually their immediate time at home following a hospital stay. This has also motivated me to set a goal of opening my own outpatient practice that continues to treat patients in their home with the goal to eliminate barriers to care that are commonly seen. This includes the financial burden, transportation to appointments, and time as there are many people who need care but cannot find childcare or time during normal working hours to go to an appointment because they cannot miss work. UNC’s DPT program has made resources available to me that can help guide me on this path as well as the opportunity to experience this setting which has confirmed my choice. For that, I am truly grateful and plan to give back by continuing to advocate for our profession as well as be involved with my future peers by being a clinical instructor.

 

  • Electives
    • Advanced Orthopaedic Assessment and Intervention
    • COVID-19 – From Benchtop to Injection
    • Research Experience – mTBI RADAR in a military population

 

  • Other professional activities
    • May 2022 – July 2022: UNC Home Health Care Clinical Rotation
    • April 2021 – June 2021: UNC Rex Hospital Neuro ICU Clinical Rotation
    • March 2021 – April 2021: Orthopaedic Specialists of NC Outpatient Clinical Rotation
    • October 2020 – December 2020: UNC Healthcare – Johnston Health Acute and Underserved Population Clinical Rotation
    • February 2017 – April 2019: Certified Personal Trainer

 

2 responses so far




2 Responses to “Kress, Mike”

  1.   Lisa Johnstonon 06 Jun 2022 at 10:24 am

    Mike:
    It is so awesome to see all your work. I am excited for you and your career plans. Home health will be a great match for you and we will be more than happy to have you work with UNC students one day. Great job on all your amazing work and good luck to you! Lisa

    Reply

  2.   Mike Lewekon 29 Jun 2022 at 5:11 pm

    Hi Mike
    You are going to do great things. You have all the ability, desire, and intangibles to make it happen. I’m sure you will be a great fit with home health. You’ve had a lot of successes and setbacks in PT school, but have more than persevered. Congrats to you on a job well done.
    Mike

    Reply

Comments RSS

Leave a Reply