Reflection and Response to 1/12 Assignment/Interview

This is a reflection and response to my interview with physical therapist, Nicole Burkett:

After interviewing Mrs. Nicole, I learned so much information for my Spring project.  The questions I had asked her were not only for the assignment sake but for my own knowledge.  I wanted to learn more about physical therapy and absorb information from someone who experiences it everyday.  Mrs. Nicole's answers to my questions were definitely the answers I wanted to hear.  By having the knowledge of her being a physical therapist for some number of years, I knew I could ask her anything about physical therapy.  By learning about schooling to why she enjoys the career, it helped me gain more excitement for the career in my future.  This interview  definitely opened my scope of what physical therapy is and how people take on this career everyday.

1/12 Assignment

I interviewed a member of my church, Nicole Burkett, who is a licensed Physical Therapist.  Here is what she answered below:

1) Do you like what you do  on a regular basis (i.e. Physical Therapy)?

•     I loved what I do and it is rewarding to help patients get better.  It is also a wonderful Mommy career because I can be a Mom and work as well.  As I have had my children, I have been able to work as much or as little as I have wanted to because it is so much in demand.  

2) What do you like about Physical Therapy?

• I like the flexibility to work as many hours as I would like.  I have worked anywhere from full time to one day a week.  Also I love the flexibility in my hours as a Mom.  Then again, I love helping people, in chronic pain, get better.  It gives me a sense of reward when I get to send someone back into the community, going back to their normal life and daily activities.

3) How many years of schooling do Physical Therapists need? What kind of schooling?

• Right now, most programs have gone to a Doctoral level.  So, you have to have four years of Undergraduate School (Bachelor's Degree) to start off with.  Then, most programs are doing their Doctoral level in an additional three years at Physical Therapy school.  

4)  How do you, as a Physical Therapist, can evaluate and construct a workout plan for a patient?

• The first time that a patient comes in, we do a total body evaluation.  Then, we determine the areas that are weak, the muscles that are weak and that are tight, and any skeletal mal-alignment.  From that objective data, I will find out where the patient has pain and what their goal(s) are/what they want to achieve in the end of therapy.  Lastly, I customize a plan based on all of that information that suits the patients needs.

5) Do you work with any other health professionals such as: Athletic Trainers, Surgeons, etc?

• In the outpatient clinic that I am working at right now, we work closely with neurologists, orthopedic surgeons and pain specialists.  If I am seeing one of their patients and I need to know something immediately, I will call their office and talk to them or a nurse.  If I am just trying to communicate with them about their patient's progress, I will write them a progress note and send it with the patient when they go back to that particular doctor.  I also work closely with Occupational Therapists and Speech Therapists as well.  It mainly depends on the location of where you work at and what kind of care they provide.

6) Are there any differences in a workout plan for a patient that is a 20 year old athlete and a 75 year old woman?

• With each patient, you are basically trying to get them back to their ADLs (Activities of Daily Living).  The ADLs of the 20 year old are going to be different than the 75 year old.  Their plans are going to be customized based on their age and their goals of they need to get back.  

7) For two people that have the same injury (ACL injury), do they have the same workout plan or not? 

• With the 20 year old vs. the 75 year old with a torn ACL, there is the same goal of minimizing swelling, decreasing pain and increasing range of motion.  But, the ways you go about to achieve those may be different based on their age.

8) What are the steps in the process of rehabilitation?

• It is very diagnostic and diagnosis specific when you start out with a new patient.  With an orthopedic injury, you start out with an acute care phase (minimize swelling, decrease pain and get the soft tissues to heal).  You try to maintain as much range of motion as possible.  Next, there is a sub-acute phase (begin strengthening of the injury).  Towards the end of the sub-acute phase, the patient tries to regain balance and then introduce plyometric exercises (jumping, stair-climbing, running, etc.).

9) When can you tell that a patient is ready to be finished with Therapy?

• It depends upon the goals that the patient has set in the beginning and the goals you, as the therapist, has set.  If the patient has met their goals and the goals I have set for them,  we will then consider discharge.  

10) What is the success rate for your patients with rehabilitation?

• I am currently working with a Sacrum-Iliac Stabilization Program and every patient that comes in with this disorder comes in for therapy two times a week for six weeks.  85% of our patients that go through the stabilization protocol return to normal, be pain free and be stabilized in their sacral-iliac joint.  The other 15% consider having surgery, where they will fuse the joint, or they will go along with their life until they need therapy or other treatment.

1/5 Blog Post

Essential Question: How do athletic trainers evaluate and conclude the symptoms of a concussion on an athlete? My question has changed to:  How do physical therapists evaluate and construct a workout plan for a patient?

My Driving Question for Research: How would you test or formulate a theory for...?

Other tools used for the Project: A Powerpoint, a brochure/pamphlet, and possibly a website containing information about the topic.

Real Inquiry: For my real inquiry, I will be asking relative questions to my mentor about my topic.  I will research while having my own questions in mind about my topic.  I want to find answers to my own questions prior to finding something on a website, for instance, and not learning nothing from it.