DPT Portfolios

Professional Goal Statement

My goal is to become a practitioner of choice for musculoskeletal related conditions for individuals of all ages and backgrounds. To become the best clinician that I can be for the population I plan to serve, I hope to complete an orthopedic residency and obtain my OCS certification. As a physical therapist, I recognize that my education will never truly be complete. Therefore, I will uphold my commitment to being a perpetual learner for the good of my patients and my profession. I hope to expound the value of physical therapy to society and to conduct myself as an expert of human movement. I believe that completion of an orthopedic residency is the next logical step in order to fulfill my future goals and commitments to this profession and will serve as a foothold to achieve the clinical expertise I hope to obtain throughout my career.

Career Plan

Past Accomplishments

• May 2013: Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science with a minor in Psychology and Biology from Appalachian State University
• June 2015: clinical affiliation – Outpatient Physical Therapy department at Davis Regional Medical Center in Statesville, NC
• March 2016: clinical affiliation – Acute orthopedic rehabilitation department, Hillsborough Hospital in Hillsborough, NC
• May 2016: clinical affiliation – UNC Home Health Physical Therapy in Orange County, NC
• May 2017: clinical affiliation – Greg Ott Physical Therapy, Charlotte, NC

Future Plans

• July 2017: Sit for Physical Therapy Licensure Exam
• August 2017: graduate from UNC Chapel Hill with a Doctorate of Physical Therapy
• August 2017: September 2018: Orthopedic residency with ATI Physical Therapy in Greenville, NC
• March 2019: Sit for OCS examination
• 2022: Seek entrance into a manual orthopedic fellowship

Self-Assessment

Strengths	Areas for Professional Development
Dedication to lifelong learning and achieving clinical excellence	Improve understanding of insurance policies as they relate to billing procedures, documentation, etc.
Interpersonal and communication skills with patients and colleagues	Increase involvement in local, state, and national issues related to physical therapy and healthcare
Patience with difficult individuals and stressful situations	Increase my evaluation and treatment skills in order to provide more efficient and effective care
Adaptability and willingness to be accommodating

 

Objectives

1. Pass the NPTE in July of 2017 and become a board certified physical therapist in the state of North Carolina
2. Graduate from UNC Chapel Hill with a Doctorate of Physical Therapy in August 2017
3. Complete an orthopedic residency with ATI Physical Therapy in September of 2018
4. Become a board certified orthopedic specialist by 2019
5. Seek entrance into a manual therapy fellowship by 2022
6. Become a recognized expert in my community in the area of running related rehabilitation and injury prevention

Strategies

1. Begin a NPTE study program using the Score Builders and TherapyEd study guides, allowing me to sit for the NPTE in July of 2017
2. Seek out reputable study material for the OCS examination
3. Research manual therapy fellowship programs around the country and seek entrance into a program that fits my career objectives
4. Build relationships with physical therapist at ATI Physical Therapy’s running Institute in Greenville, NC and seek out continuing education courses with a focus on running injuries and injury prevention

Third Year Outline

Electives

• Advanced Clinical Assessment
  • Final Assignment: Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
• Integrated Clinical Experience – outpatient clinic with emphasis on manual therapy
• Teaching Scholar: MSK I teaching assistant
• Research elective with Debby Given’s to conducting preliminary research for my capstone project

Capstone Project

For the past year, I worked on a collaborative project between the Duke University DPT and UNC-Chapel Hill DPT programs. The purpose of the project was to foster a relationship between our two programs. Under the guidance of my mentors, Dr. Givens and the director of Duke’s DPT program director, Dr. Chad Cook, Chris Green and I worked closely with two Duke students to conduct a research project using data from ATI Physical Therapy’s Patient Outcome Registry. Our team was provided data from patients seeking physical therapy treatment for low back or neck related pain. Chris Green worked with one Duke student in the arena of low back pain while I and another Duke student focused our research on the cervical spine. Our aim of this project was to uncover prognostic factors that predict both patient outcomes and cost related to the treatment of individuals with spine pain via direct access. Our work over the last several months has culminated in a manuscript that we plan to submit to a peer-reviewed journal.

Several products emerged as a result of my work over the past year. In the Fall, I performed a critically appraised topic regarding prognostic factors for neck related pain as part of the Evidence-Based Practice II course. Additionally, I begin conducting a review of literature as part of a research experience with Dr. Givens that I continued working on throughout the Spring semester. Most of the work completed in the spring included an abstract to be submitted to Combined Sections Meeting in 2018 and a manuscript draft. Our group is currently editing a manuscript that we intend to submit to a peer-reviewed journal in the near future. Unfortunately, I am unable to share our manuscript or data until it has been published.

Reflective Statement

The time I have spent obtaining my Doctor of Physical Therapy degree has been a period of rapid personal and professional growth. While I have learned more than I thought I ever would over the past three years, I quickly came to the realization that dedicating one’s life to the profession of physical therapy is also dedicating one’s life to lifelong learning. As the saying goes, “The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.” I used to be daunted by the fact that achieving clinical excellence will be a career-long objective, that I will be spending the rest of my career trying to hone my knowledge and skills as a physical therapist. Now, however, I am wholly excited to be entering a field whose body of knowledge is always evolving in order to better serve its patients. In order to uphold my responsibility as a perpetual learner of physical therapy, I have chosen to complete an orthopedic residency and become an orthopedic certified specialist. Completion of a residency program with ATI Physical Therapy will also put me on the right track towards becoming an expert in running related injuries and injury prevention. Furthermore, within the next five years, I hope to begin an orthopedic manual therapy fellowship to further develop my clinical expertise in orthopedics.

Completion of UNC’s DPT program is something I have dreamt about for the past eight years. I cannot begin to stress the gratitude I have for this program and the hard work, kindness, and dedication each of its faculty members have demonstrated to me over the past three years. As I enter my career, I do so on the shoulders of all the faculty who helped make this accomplishment possible. I am forever grateful to this program and hope that I can represent our program well in the years to come.

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