Summary - 2/15

Hayhurst, Chris, and Donald E.Tepper. “Physical Therapy’s Emerging Leaders.” PT In Motion 6.9 (2014): 36-42. Consumer Health Complete – EBSCOhost. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.

            The article I found is called “Physical Therapy’s Emerging Leaders.” The article begins

by introducing two physical therapists that were athletes when they were younger. Both of them were injured and required physical therapy at some point, which sparked their desire for this career. In the article they share a few experiences. First they answer the question “what is a natural leader?” Natalie Garland explains how important it is to build relationships and help out in the community in which you work. It is impossible to lead if no one follows, so get involved. Also putting patients first is key. If the needs of the patient are put before the needs of the PT, then the more likely they are to return, and the more likely you will be a successful PT. The main points of this article touch on the desire of physical therapy and how they develop over the years.

            There are also a few potential quotes in this article. The first one being: “Nathan Nevin, PT, DPT, discovered physical therapy in high school when he tore his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow…” (1). This quote is significant because he found physical therapy in the same way I did, from a sports injury. Another quote is: “It’s key to build relationships of familiarity and trust quickly. As someone with a marketing background, I believe it’s even more vital to start building relationships before physical therapy is even needed.” (2). This quote means a lot to me because I learned the same thing at church. You cannot be a good leader without building relationships first. Learning this from two different sources makes my thoughts on the validity of it even stronger.

            This article credible because it is written by a group two people that have written numerous articles on physical therapy, each one posted on a credible research sight. All of the information gathered are accounts from different physical therapists. They talk about their experiences and thoughts on what it is to be a physical therapist, and how they got to where they are today.

            This will help me with my research because it is on the topic of my essential question. It helps me with my point that most physical therapists have an athletic background, and what drives those who do not. It also presents skills that are most beneficial to PT’s and what it takes to be very successful in this career field. Knowing these things will help me as I develop my resume in physical therapy, and when it comes to interacting at my mentorship. 

Summary - 1/25

Malone, Daniel, et al. "Physical Therapist Practice In The Intensive CareUnit: Results Of A National Survey." Physical Therapy 95.10 (2015): 1335. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 30 Jan. 2016.

The article I researched is called "Physical Therapist In The Intensive Care Unit." This article describes the lack of training certain physical therapists have in the ICU. It explains how PT's in the ICU have the same amount of training as those that work in the typical rehabilitation center. This is an important topic because the hardest patients to treat are the ones fresh out of the ICU. It is said that the safety of the patients relies on the skills of the Physical Therapists. Special training should be required to operate in the ICU in order for the doctors and patients to thrive.

I have also gathered a few potential quotes from the article for my research. They include:“In the United States, however, there is a paucity of information describing how ICUbased physical therapist services are implemented…” (2). “The purpose of this study was to characterize current physical therapist practice, specifically, practitioner demographics, ICU staffing patterns, methods of training for ICU practice…” (2). These quotes express the idea that PT services are not recognized when placed in the ICU, as well as methods of training are not really apparent. These are a few things that need to be fixed in order for patients fresh out of the ICU to receive the most benefits.

The source I chose is valid because I obtained it from a school sponsored research cite. This is also an article written by a group of PT's that are serious about their careers. They believe that for the safety of all patients, training must be necessary. They have also used a variety of experiments and studies to test the validity of the problem, and how it should be solved. This article gave me insight on other areas that physical therapists study. I was not informed that PT’s operates in the ICU before reading this article. I will be able to use this article in the research of my capstone project and for future reference in my field of study.

2/1 Assignment

I have been working on my project so far by gathering information. At my mentorship I have been very observant and attentive when it comes to helping out. I have also began to ask more questions about the career field, ensuring that I get all the information I need. So far I have not gotten much on paper, but I am benefiting a lot by my time at my mentorship. All of this is going to help me out when it comes to my final project, and I can not wait to begin working on the visual aspects to get this project along further.

Graphic Organizer - 1/19

Bibliography	Malone, Daniel, et al. "Physical Therapist Practice In The Intensive CareUnit: Results Of A National Survey." Physical Therapy 95.10 (2015): 1335. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 30 Jan. 2016.
Annotation:	This article contains various studies on the training of Physical Therapists in the intensive care unit. It describes how there are several different types of training for PT’s in the ICU, but only in foreign countries. There have been few instances in the United States where training is clear. It is said that the safety of the patients relies on the skill of the Physical Therapist, and proper training should be required for them to operate in the ICU.
Potential Quotes:	“In the United States, however, there is a paucity of information describing how ICUbased physical therapist services are implemented…” (2) “The purpose of this study was to characterize current physical therapist practice, specifically, practitioner demographics, ICU staffing patterns, methods of training for ICU practice…” (2)
Assessment:	This article is credible because it is written by a group of PT’s that are serious about their careers. They believe that for the safety of all patients training should be necessary, and they used a variety of experiments and studies to test, and reveal that it is a problem.
Reflection:	This article gave me insight on other areas that physical therapists study. I was not informed that PT’s operates in the ICU before reading this article. I will be able to use this article in the research of my capstone project and for future reference in my field of study.

1/5 Assignment

There has been a lot of things driving my research this year. The biggest one is the thought that Physical Therapy might be a part of most of my life. The more I know and participate in now, the easier it will be in the future. My current essential question is -What drive's a person to become a physical therapist? It has changed a little since the beginning of the year, mainly because I will be able to get a little more information out of this one. The good thing is that I can still get the answer out of the new one that I wanted from the last one (In blog post labeled essential question). And for my final project I intend on creating some handouts as well as a type of presentation for further enhancement. For the real inquiry part of the project  I will most likely interview one of my mentors or a family member. I can not wait to dive deeper into this career field!

Skills and Assumptions - 12/7

When I pictured myself in my mentorship a few months ago I thought it was going to be very difficult. I imagined that it would be really hard to make friends with my mentors as well as talk to the patients, and I thought all I would be doing was running errands. At this point I realized I was very wrong. Making conversations with my mentors came easy, they were very nice and understanding. Furthermore, the patients were very nice and easy to talk to as well. I haven't met a single person that wasn't afraid to talk about why they were in rehab in the first place. And instead of just running errands for my mentors, I actually get to perform exercises for different patients. It feels like just another job and it is very fun. What I pictured to be very difficult and frustrating, actually turned out to be very fun and entertaining, and I look forward to helping out at Atlanta Rehab each and every week. There are also skills that I see are very important, those being knowledge and communication. It is important to be knowledgeable of all the body parts and exercises to perform for each injury.It is also very important to communicate appropriately with each patient, insuring that they trust you and your procedures. Knowing all this has made my mentorship quite the experience.

Essential Question - 11/30

How some physical therapists with no athletic background decided on their career choice?

I selected this as my essential question because I expected most physical therapists to have some sort of athletic background. My passion for sports is what drove me to pursue physical therapy, yet I work with a couple physical therapists that have no athletic background.  I know a few other interns that are student-athletes and excites my interest in what pushes non-athletes toward physical therapy. I believe this question gives me a desire to dive deeper into this topic and further research my career choice. I hope to find out what it is that truly excites people about physical therapy, and maybe I will find my true passion for this career. I will also soon ask what drove my mentor's to this career field and hopefully they will enlighten me on the subject.