DPT Portfolios

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 

Doctor of Physical Therapy

Professional Goal Statement

• After graduating from the UNC DPT program, my goal as a licensed physical therapist will be to provide patient centered, positive, encouraging treatment to as many patients as I can properly manage. I want to help people better themselves and improve their overall quality of life not only by helping them recover from injuries and ailments, but also by educating them on future techniques to remain as healthy and happy as possible in life. I would like to work in an outpatient ortho/athletic clinic in the future and use my extensive background as a trainer and exercise content creator to help patients by using a variety of exercise and training methods I have learned over the years. One day I would like to own part of my own practice and use it to help as many people as possible achieve a healthier, happier lifestyle.

 

Career Plan

• Ultimately I would like to be able to become a clinic director for a larger sport/ortho practice in order to have more influence over other therapists since I believe I can be a good role model one day. First, for years I would like to work in the setting under well-practiced mentors in order to hone my clinical skills and learn as much as I can.

2023

• Finish school and complete my last clinical in an outpatient ortho/athletic setting
• Pass the NPTE exam and interview at multiple jobs so I can find the best fit
• Start work in an outpatient ortho/athletic clinic and begin to gain experience
• Work for at least 2-3 years to put all my focus on honing my skills as a practitioner before trying to run/own a clinic

Long Term

• Gain experience in the outpatient setting
• Move up the ranks and learn how to direct a clinic appropriately
• Open or run my own clinic in the outpatient sport/ortho setting

 

Self-Assessment

Strengths

• I have strong interpersonal skills and I am usually able to build strong relationships with patients. In multiple settings I have had plenty of patients want to work specifically with me and I have been able to have many emotional conversations with patients, allowing them to open up to me. One of my biggest strengths is definitely building patient rapport.
• I have an extensive background in exercise prescription and I have created a 6000+ video exercise library for a commonly used HEP app.
• I have a solid foundation in personal training and coaching as well as group fitness instruction which I feel carries over well to physical therapy and helping keep patients motivated and positive.
• I have a background running multiple gyms at a time at UNC and I have been a manager of over 100 students on shifts. I believe my ability to direct other personnel and be personable and reasonable with them at the same time is a great strength of mine.

Areas for Professional Development

• I have a lot of room for development in the areas of extra certifications such as dry needling and there are plenty of more specific techniques and styles I can learn.
• I could use as much experience as possible with different post-ops and protocols because I feel like it helps so much to get a good idea of general timelines for patients and where they need to be at different stages of recovery.
• I occasionally rely too much sometimes on my own exercise background and this can be less helpful with more involved patients. I would like to learn to take new information in more fluidly in order to allow myself to expand my knowledge in areas I already feel comfortable in.

 

Objectives

• Graduate with DPT from UNC in 2023
• Pass the NPTE in 2023
• Begin working in NC as a licensed PT in a sport ortho setting by September of 2023
• Get a dry needling certification by 2024
• Begin working on opening my own practice or becoming a clinic director by 2030

 

Specific Strategies

• Create a solid study plan for the NPTE
• Create a network with clinics in the Charlotte area throughout my third year using my prior connections with PT Wired
• Take a dry needling course through work if possible
• Get in touch with family that has already opened practices in NC and inquire with other professionals about ways to start working on it
• Build up clients using my side online personal training and coaching jobs

 

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

• My experience with DEI mainly came from an elective class I took in the field of Social Work called “Older Adults: Theory and Practice” and this class really delved into the JEDI principles. We had multiple lectures covering how older adults are often mistreated in the healthcare system and we talked extensively about inclusion and equity of adults with different cultural backgrounds, sexual preferences, and more. Everyone in the class was required to read a book called “African Americans Aging in the Rural South”  by Iris Carlton-LaNey and it shared many deep stories of discrimination and its long-lasting effects. We also were required to watch a movie titled “Gen Silent” about older adults who classify as LGBTQ and how their lives were growing up in an era that had even less tolerance and understanding than the current one. These media pieces were extremely striking to me and I feel my thoughts and considerations regarding JEDI became significantly stronger since taking this class. I keep these things in mind much more frequently and I feel more passionately about them than I ever had before.

 

Product Example 1: Capstone Project on Understanding and Treating Chronic Pain

• With this project, I worked alongside Dr. Jessica Cassidy, Dr. Rebecca Zhang, and Dr. Erin Morstad to create a detailed lecture and brochure for physical therapy professionals to use in order to learn more about chronic pain and how we can best go about helping patients who experience it. This project also includes information regarding two detailed patient interviews and some example subjective questions for therapists to utilize when evaluating patients with chronic pain.

Product Example 2: Treatment Methods for Patients with Cerebellar Strokes to Traverse Stairs

• I gave this presentation as an in-service for my third clinical rotation at UNC Hillsborough’s inpatient rehabilitation facility. On that rotation, patients with cerebellar strokes always fascinated me and throughout school, I had heard minimal specific treatment strategies for patients with things like ataxia due to cerebellar legions. Traversing stairs was a common test we used on that rotation and I ended up becoming extremely interested in cerebellar stroke treatments which is how this idea came about. This project is also special to me because I had to complete it during a rough time with a lot of other things going on and it showed me that I am still capable of producing effective materials even when I am struggling myself.

 

Reflection

• Looking back on the past 3 years, I feel like I have grown so much as a person and a professional. I have learned to practice with my focus on the patient as a whole and not only on the problem at hand and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. Throughout the past 3 years, I feel like I have been on a roller coaster with all the highs and lows of life and I can now confidently say that I made it through PT school during some of the hardest times of my life. In terms of what I have learned, there is way too much to put on this page about how grateful I am that I got to learn from the very best. I am confident that I have been prepared to practice as a physical therapist who can provide an extremely high level of care with a vast knowledge base gained from didactic and clinical experience at UNC. Thank you to all the faculty and my fantastic clinical instructors for preparing me the way that every PT should be prepared. I am so excited that now I can finally start my career doing what I love, helping people feel better, every day.

 

 

 

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