Apr 06 2022

Greaney, Abby

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Professional Goal Statement

After graduating from UNC DPT, my professional goal as a licensed physical therapist will be to provide the most holistic, patient-centered care that I can to every patient that I treat. I will treat every patient with respect and do my best to try to be unbiased and understanding of every patient’s background and life circumstances. I desire to work in an out-patient sports ortho setting where I hope to see a broad variety of patients, from pediatric to geriatric athletes (and non-athletes). I will use my coaching and exercise background to help motivate all patients with the same enthusiasm and energy as athletes that I used to coach. Ideally I will be able to build my career and eventually run or even own part of a practice in the future if I can get into a company that is the best fit for me and will allow me to grow with them.

Career Plan

  • July 2022
    • Obtain license of PT after passing the NPTE
    • Graduate from the University of North Carolina with a Doctorate of Physical Therapy
  • August-October 2022
    • Start a job with a sport-ortho clinic in North Carolina (preferably the Charlotte area)
  • Long Term
    • Become a partner or part owner in a sport-ortho clinic to help the management side of the PT practice and allow myself to have more free time in order to have a family

Self-Assessment

  • Strengths
    • I have strong interpersonal skills and I am able to build rapport with every patient that I see. I have a passion for people and care a lot about them and what they are interested in. I believe the strongest part of our profession is building a relationship with our patients.
    • I have a pretty extensive background with coaching and exercise/athletics, so I find it easy to be a “coach” to my patients and motivate them to work hard without pushing past any limits they may have.
    • I am constantly wanting to improve myself for my patients. I am constantly learning, performing self-assessment and challenging myself to get better at something. I want to continue this even as a practicing PT.
    • I have been told that I am a great leader- that I know how to direct and give instruction without being bossy but still maintaining a sense of authority.
  • Areas for Professional Development
    • I still tend to think of myself as someone who is inexperienced, with “imposter syndrome”,  and need to refocus this and understand that I am a young professional in this field and am qualified for work in the PT field.
    • I need to work on my communication with other professionals- specifically making contacts with doctors, chiropractors and other referral sources. Both for new patients as well as returning patients that I have been seeing for some time.
    • More hands-on experience with all different manual techniques.
    • Other certifications (dry needling, PRI, etc.)

Objectives

  • Specific Area of Interest: Sport Ortho
  • Graduate from UNC PT in July 2022
  • Pass the NPTE July 2022
  • Obtain employment in Charlotte area in sport-ortho clinic Fall 2022
  • Gain experience in the sport-ortho field and work my way up in a company that shares my values

Specific Strategies

  • Obtain more knowledge of sport-PT and protocols to follow in the field as well as common manual techniques for the athletic population in order to make myself a more desirable candidate.
  • Graduate from UNC DPT and study for NPTE in order begin my career as a licensed PT.
  • Apply for employment in the Charlotte area starting summer of 2022 in order to secure a position around/shortly following graduation

DEI Reflection:

The Most Sacred Right Podcast

            https://www.npr.org/2020/10/02/919532810/the-most-sacred-right

            Voting is a privilege, and like me, a lot of people in our society feel that voting is a “natural right”, but this podcast shows that it should be taken much more seriously. Fredrick Douglass knew this. They use a wonderful quote about voting, “He said natural rights are like the air you breathe. They belong to no one group, no one person, no one country. They belong to everybody. And the right to vote, to Douglass, in something called a republic, if it could ever live up to those creeds, was the most sacred right of all. He saw it not just as a kind of human right to participate in one’s political system, but he saw it as a power by which people could protect themselves.” I have never felt this strongly about voting, but others, like Fredrick Douglass, become much more invested because voting truly does change things and affect the way that people live. The rest of the podcast highlights the extent of racism, sexism and other problems that occurred throughout the multiple suffrage movements, and although these are things that we think are not problems in today’s society, they continue to be. I will try to keep this in mind for present and future elections and making voting a priority in my life so that I can affect change for the betterment of future society.

Clinical Rotations:

  • Clinical 1: Acute Care at Atrium Health Cleveland
  • Clinical 2: Out-patient Ortho at Novant Health at Waverly Plaza
  • Clinical 3: Out-patient Neuro/Sport Ortho at Architech Sports in Indian Trail
  • Clinical 4: Out-patient Sport-Ortho at Upright Athlete in Durham

Electives:

  • Advanced Ortho (2 credit hours)
  • Teacher Scholar for MSK 2 (1 credit hour)
  • Topics in Sport PT (2 credit hours)
  • Integrated Clinical Experience with Mike Gross (1 credit hour)
    • Focus on lower extremity evaluations and prescribing orthotics

Project/Products: 

Reflective Statement:

Throughout my entire experience in the UNC DPT Program, I have constantly been challenged to learn more about myself and how I can improve in order to be helpful to those around me. Whether it was by participating in group projects, clinical rotations, volunteering, or making new friends- I was always finding out something new about myself that allowed me to be better for everyone around me. I had several big life changes occur while in the program, and if my classmates, professors and family hadn’t been such a great support system, it would have been very difficult to make it through the last 3 years while being a full-time student. I have always been used to doing everything myself, but the last 3 years taught me that working as a team is more important in the long run because it prevents feeling worn down or burnt out. I plan to continue with this philosophy as I move into my career, by working as a team with my peers and other colleagues, so that I can hopefully prevent “PT burnout” that so many of our fellow PT’s experience. Each experience that I had led me to be where I am today, about to graduate from PT school and look for my first job. I hope to work in the sport-ortho field and be able to share all of my past experiences with young athletes so that they can continue their sport and be healthy. I’m so thankful for UNC and the opportunity to pursue my dream job as a PT. On to the next adventure!

2 responses so far




2 Responses to “Greaney, Abby”

  1.   Lisa Johnstonon 06 Jun 2022 at 11:48 am

    Abby
    Thanks for sharing your portfolio. It is really cool to see all your work. You have done a good job accommodating to all sorts of changes and challenges including seeing COVID patients early on! Great job and good luck to you and enjoy that next adventure!
    Lisa

    Reply

  2.   Jennifer Cookeon 14 Jun 2022 at 9:18 pm

    Congratulations Abby! It has been great to work with you as an advisee, student, teaching assistant and Capstone advisee. You have grown through this program and I look forward to seeing what you do in this profession. Best of luck!
    Jennifer

    Reply

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