DPT Portfolios

Professional Goal Statement: My goal as a professional is to provide excellent patient care backed by the best available evidence while considering the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs of my patients, in order to promote and optimize human movement and overall quality of life for all members of my community.

Career Plan: My ultimate goal is to own outpatient physical therapy practice which will assemble a group of “jack-of-all-trades” therapists with specializations in a breadth of clinical topics.  Specialties represented will include orthopedics, sports, vestibular, neurological, geriatrics, manual therapy, and nutrition.  My personal specialties will be orthopedics, sports, and custom foot orthoses.  This practice will serve a broad spectrum of adults and adolescents, providing holistic, evidence-based interventions following acute musculoskeletal or neurological events, as well as long-term management of musculoskeletal/neurological conditions in the outpatient setting.  I believe my “from the pack” leadership style makes me well suited to manage a clinic of this nature.  My core mission will be to foster a clinical atmosphere that is equal parts professional and fun, establishing the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of both our patients, as well as our clinical staff, as our top priority.  In the meantime, I plan to hone my clinical knowledge and skills working in the outpatient orthopedics setting on the North Carolina coast.

5 Year Plan:

In the next 5 years, I will:

• Graduate, becoming a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in July, 2023
• Pass boards, becoming a board-certified Physical Therapist in the State of North Carolina in Fall, 2023
• Begin practicing in an outpatient PT clinic in Fall, 2023
• Become McKenzie certified by Fall, 2024
• Obtain my CSCS by Fall, 2024
• Become a clinical instructor by Fall, 2026
• Obtain my OCS by Fall, 2026
• Begin fabrication of custom foot orthoses by Fall, 2028

Strategies to Achieve 5 Year Plan:

• Create and maintain a study calendar for the NPTE
• Create and maintain a weekly time-budget to prioritize professional development and avoid burnout
• Seek and obtain employment with a clinic/company that prioritizes professional development, patient centered care, and work/life balance

Self-Assessment:

Strengths:

• Professionalism
• Patient rapport
• Communication skills
• Patient centered care

Areas for Development:

• Professional advocacy
• Insurance/reimbursement
• Time management/documentation
• Consumption of literature

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion:

The most valuable lesson I have learned about JEDI in healthcare is the way in which our unconscious biases can affect clinical decision making, negatively impacting outcomes for marginalized people groups.  I became aware of my own unconscious biases after reading the book “Blindspot” the summer before we began our DPT journey.  I remember feeling frustrated after finishing the book, as it did not offer many helpful tools to overcome this “problem” that I now perceived I had.  However, as time went on, I began to understand that the knowledge of one’s own capacity to have and hold unconscious biases is, itself, the tool.  I believe that all human beings are flawed.  I don’t believe any amount of training can fully eradicate unconscious opinions or beliefs we have about groups of people with the incomprehensible variability in thought and experience that exists within people groups and the individuals that comprise them.  In my experience, the best way to untangle a complicated problem is by simplifying the solution.  For me, that solution is to treat everyone with kindness, grace, dignity, and respect regardless of race, religion, culture, orientation, background, or creed.   Personal differences in these categories should never alter our standard of care; and the awareness of our unconscious biases should keep us vigilant to this danger.  We can’t expect our patients to conform to our own values, beliefs, and convictions; however, we should never have to sacrifice our own values, beliefs, and convictions to facilitate a healthy patient-practitioner relationship.  The top priority should always be working with the patient to determine their therapy needs/goals, then providing the best possible care to achieve those goals.  Finally, after completing the service-learning trip to Tyrell County, I learned that disparities in health and wealth in a community are often hidden from plain sight.  Wherever we end up working as clinicians, there are bound to be marginalized people groups who aren’t getting the care they need.  As leaders in healthcare, we must do our part to identify these groups and put to use our individual skillsets and resources to improve their health outcomes and overall life experience.

Product Examples:

• Capstone: Foot and Ankle Capstone
• Business Project: Balanced Physical Therapy & Wellness Solutions PDF
• Critically Appraised Topic: Atypical Parkinsons Inservice

Reflective Statement:

Reflecting on the past 3 years, I feel the need to say thank you at large.  To the program faculty and staff, thank you for your passion for this field.  Thank you for pouring out so much of your time and effort into the development of your students.  You are all wonderful educators and mentors in this profession, and in life.  Thank you for showing us what it means to chase excellence, we have some big boots to fill.  To my dear classmates, thank you for all of the laughs.  You were a special class.  I have no doubts that each one of you are going to color the future of the physical therapy profession in a unique and positive way.  I will miss you all but look forward to our yearly reunions.

Through didactic work, course electives, and clinical work, this program has helped me grow in many ways as person and healthcare professional.  This program has given me all the tools and experience I need to blossom as a young clinician.  I’ve learned many valuable lessons throughout my time here, but some of the most impactful are treating the whole patient instead of the tissue and becoming comfortable with ambiguity in clinical practice.  I am eager to continue to hone my knowledge and skills as I get to work helping people live more engaging and fulfilling lives by moving better!

Comments RSS