DPT Portfolios

Professional Goal Statement

I strive to be a clinician that puts the needs of my patients above not only my personal biases, but my professional preferences for treatment. I believe that every patient necessitates individualized intervention approaches due to their own psychosocial factors and symptom presentation, and that it is up to me to fill those needs as best as I can by examining the entirety of each individual. From personal experience, I understand that this process may involve veering from traditional standards of care in physical therapy, and that is a duty that I now have to pursue for my future patients. For certain patients, ordinary methods may be all that is required. For others who may have undergone multiple attempts of therapy that did not yield success, I have an obligation to explore alternative options to best serve those patients that have nowhere else to look for assistance. Through integration of my entry-level knowledge with continuing education coursework, I hope to be a light for those in need.

 

Career Plan

Past Experience:

• May 2020: Graduated from NCSU with a BS in Human Biology and a minor in Sports Science
• December 2018-May 2020: NASM-certified Personal Trainer at NCSU
• August 2020-September 2023: Enrolled in the DPT program at UNC Chapel Hill

Clinical Affiliations:

• June-September 2023: UNC Ambulatory Care Center (Chapel Hill, NC) – Outpatient Orthopedics
• May-June 2023: UNC Main Hospital (Chapel Hill, NC) – Acute Care
• March-April 2022: Moses Cone Hospital (Greensboro, NC) – Inpatient Rehabilitation
• June-August 2021: Pivot Physical Therapy (Fuquay-Varina, NC) – Outpatient Orthopedic

Future Plans:

• September 2023: Earn DPT from UNC Chapel Hill
• October 2023: Sit for national DPT board exam
• January 2024: Obtain a full-time outpatient orthopedic PT job

 

Self-Assessment

• Strengths
  • Compassionate and empathetic towards all patients
  • Sympathy for each patient due to my own history with PT
  • Cultural competence and strong patient communication skills

• Areas for Professional Development
  • Speed and efficiency of clinical decision making
  • Confidence with patient treatment and examination sessions
  • Widened intervention toolbox

 

Objectives

• Earn DPT from UNC Chapel Hill in September 2023
• Pass NPTE in October 2023
• Obtain a full-time outpatient orthopedic PT job in January 2024

 

Specific Strategies

• Stay focused on my core coursework and integrate my knowledge from previous courses
• Review origins and insertions from gross anatomy
• Begin continuing education coursework during my 3^rd year of the DPT program
• Build a plan that allows me to consistently study for my NPTE throughout my final rotation

 

Electives

• Fall: Introductory Spanish for Healthcare Professionals, Advanced Orthopedic Assessment and Intervention
• Spring: Topics in Sports Physical Therapy

 

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

For this reflective statement, I will be reviewing a video seminar about race and medicine conducted by Dr. Damon Tweedy. Personally, this seminar gave me a lot of insight into what the life of a black healthcare professional can look like, which resonated deeply since I myself will also soon be a healthcare professional. From the start of his medical career as a student, Dr. Tweedy believed that he had finally escaped the stereotypical “black treatment” that he had experienced all of his life; that he would be in a classroom with his fellow medical students and gain equal respect from them and from the public. Right away, this was shut down as his teacher walked in on the first day and asked him why he was there because he subconsciously didn’t believe that there would be a black person who is a student in the class. One could just imagine how frustrating of a life is set up when even your teachers don’t seem to respect you just from the initial observation of your race. From that point on, Dr. Tweedy explains that aside from the stress of succeeding for himself, he knew that he needed to succeed for the future black medical students that would come after him because they could not afford to have him as a failed example of a black doctor if his experience was anything short of excellent. Moreover, as a resident, he was trying to learn but had the extra challenge of being flooded with requests from black patients because they felt he was the only one at the clinic that they could trust and receive proper care from. So now, in his medical school experience alone, Dr. Tweedy had a personal chip on his shoulder to thrive and prove others wrong, a pressure from the black community to succeed and break the mold for future generations, and a plea from all of his black patients to be seen/helped while still learning himself because they thought he was the only one that could give them just care. On top of all of that, he beat all of the odds that were against him to even be a medical student in the first place.

Before this watching this video, I had given thought to the challenges that black patients face in the American health system, but my biggest lesson from this seminar was the extent to which black healthcare professionals also face large challenges that the majority of us in this field simply do not. I think it is highly important that Dr. Tweedy shined a light on this matter as it enhanced my cultural awareness in a way that I probably would have not understood otherwise, and gave another reason for why having more black healthcare professionals as a part of the societal norm is necessary. Moving forward, this is a topic that will definitely be in the back of my mind during my interactions with my peers, and during my personal reflections on those interactions.

Reflections on Race and Medicine in the Year of COVID-19 and Nationwide Protests – Damon Tweedy, MD – YouTube. Accessed January 5, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xyadm9Mhqk&feature=youtu.be

 

Products

• Product 1: The Implementation and Manipulation of Squatting
  • With this project, I worked with Bria Dunn, Jon Hacke, and Josh Torrey to create a presentation on squatting, and how this exercise can be applied in the clinical setting. Additionally, I examined how this exercise and its variants can be altered to better target different goals.
• Product 2: Lateral Ankle Sprains and Return to Basketball
  • Lateral ankle sprains are extremely prevalent in basketball players. However, no criteria-based guidelines for return-to-sport exist following this injury. With this presentation, my partner Trey Miles and I used current evidence and clinical reasoning to compile a pertinent set of measures that clinicians can utilize given the absence of formal guidelines.

 

Reflective Statement

These last three years in the program have shaped me in an unthinkable way. Prior to starting the program, I was gearing up to flip my entire identity to fit the challenges of what graduate school life will entail. Indeed, there have been several challenges along the way, and many difficult times where it was hard to see the light, but I was able to bounce back and build several layers of resiliency because of those moments. Moreover, I never lost my identity in the process. Rather, I was able to slowly change it into one that I am much prouder of today: a mentally and physically-whole individual who is more motivated than ever to be a lifelong learner, and to serve the greater good. For this growth, I give all the thanks to my classmates and to the UNC DPT faculty. If it weren’t for the countless formal and informal hours that these teachers, friends, mentors, etc. had provided me, I wouldn’t have gotten to where I currently am.

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