Mar 28 2023

Bosserman, Jennifer

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Professional Goal Statement 

I seek to be a physical therapist who provides care that positively influences my patient’s movement and lives by providing respectable and unbiased care. My goal is to be a skilled clinician that demonstrates compassion, knowledge, and kindness towards all patients. I plan to remain up to date on literature and research in the field and serve as an advocate to provide the best care possible to my patients. I aim to provide high-quality care and to treat all patients with the same respect no matter their culture, ethnicity, or values. I plan to give back to my community through volunteer and community service events locally and would love to someday be able to start my own initiative in pediatric physical therapy. I have a strong passion to work in the early intervention setting as a pediatric physical therapist and will be seeking out further certifications and learning experiences upon graduating from UNC to advance my knowledge in this area.

Career Plan 

Past Accomplishments

  • May 2020: Graduate from University of Mary Washington University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology
  • August 2020: Enrolled in UNC Chapel Hill Doctor of Physical Therapy Class of 2023

Clinical Rotations

  • Duke University Medical Center (outpatient orthopedics and neurologic, underserved population – Knightdale, NC)
  • Atrium Health Cabarrus (Acute Care in the post-surgical unit – Concord, NC)
  • Total Rehabilitation (Early Intervention Pediatrics – Chapel Hill, NC)
  • Levine Children’s Hospital (Inpatient Rehab – Charlotte, NC)

Professional Development

  • APTA NC Community Service Project Committee
  • Student Physical Therapy Association Events Chair
  • Student Health Alliance Coalition Triage Representative
  • Allied Health Interprofessional Students Committee
  • Surestep Orthotic Continuing Education Course

Future Goals

  • July 25, 2023: Pass the Federation of State Board Physical Therapy Examination
  • July 29, 2023: Graduate with a Doctor of Physical Therapy from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • August 14, 2023:  Begin pediatric residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital
  • 2024: Complete residency program and sit for the PCS
  • 2024: Obtain a job in NC as an acute care pediatric PT

Self Assessment

Strengths

  • Highly motivated in bettering my career and studies
  • Effective communication with patients, caregivers, clinicians, and interprofessional staff
  • Excellent time management and organization skills
  • Personal experience in a wide variety of clinical specialties including early intervention pediatrics, wound VAC’s, post-surgical units, and outpatient neurological cases.
  • Creativity in creating treatment plans and new interventions
  • Compassionate and caring personality towards my patients and their families
  • Passion for pediatrics

Areas for Professional Development

  • Increased knowledge in billing, insurance, funding, etc.
  • Learn new techniques such as DMI and TMR
  • Continue research and staying up to date on new literature
  • Improve my outreach and community service participation

Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

While obtaining my DPT degree, I read “BlindSpot: Hidden Biases of Good People” and was able to discuss this reading with my peers. This book allowed me to become aware of how ignorant I was to my own implicit bias and those that occur in society every day. This enlightened me about gender bias, racial bias, ethnic bias, and many others. It also helped to guide my journey of softening the biases that I hold. This was an extremely educational experience and opened my eyes to the bigger problem of bias in health care and underserved/underrepresented populations.

During my first year in the DPT program, I read an article titled regarding the stigmatizing language often seen in chart notes and how that impacts our patients. The language that health care professionals use when documenting can change the way the patient is cared for and also create bias around that patient. This article made me realize how important it is to monitor and be aware of the language we are using not only when we are talking to our patients but also when we are talking about them. Documentation is such a huge part of our profession as physical therapists and there are many people who will review and read our notes. We have the ability to dictate and render how these individuals will be viewed based on the way we talk about them in our documentation. This is a problem that is not only relevant to the physical therapy profession but to many others as well. It is increasingly important that all health care professionals are educated on this topic and do their part to eliminate bias.

Project Examples 

Capstone Manuscript: Capstone

Research Abstract Table: BossermanDataAbstractionTable

Cerebral Palsy Community Program: CP Community Program

Reflective Statement: 

Since beginning the DPT program 3 years ago, I have learned much about the practice of physical therapy but also about myself. My experiences with faculty and clinical educators have taught me not only how to be a great clinician but also to trust myself and my clinical judgement. I now have the confidence to treat an array of diagnoses with confidence and am thrilled for what the future has to offer. Specifically, this program and my faculty mentors have supported and helped to grow my passion for pediatrics. In the next year, I will be attending the Pediatric Residency Program at John’s Hopkins and expanding my knowledge and expertise in this area. I plan to move back to North Carolina after the completion of this program and the accomplishment of obtaining my PCS to work as an acute care pediatric PT. It is my goal to become a clinical educator so that I may be a part of educating the next generation. I would also like to continue my work in pediatric research. I have thoroughly enjoyed my growth as a researcher and hope to be able to continue to provide the pediatric physical therapy community with evidence to support our practice.

2 responses so far




2 Responses to “Bosserman, Jennifer”

  1.   Lisa Johnstonon 31 May 2023 at 6:21 pm

    Jenny- It is very exciting to see some of your work over the last few years. You have certainly learned a lot and have much to be proud of. Good luck on your residency program! Lisa

    Reply

  2.   Vicki Merceron 19 Jun 2023 at 5:38 pm

    Jenny – Congratulations on your acceptance to the Johns Hopkins Pediatric Residency! That is super exciting! I’ve enjoyed seeing your growth throughout the DPT program, and I’m looking forward to hearing about your future accomplishments.

    Best,
    Vicki

    Reply

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