To be a patient is to be vulnerable, to trust, to need, to suffer and to worry. I know from experience. My mother ankylosing spondylitis and has had three joint replacements. I have had four rounds of physical therapy myself. I know what it is like to be the patient, and to have a loved one receive care. These experiences, in part, informed my decision to become a physical therapist.
When providing direct care, to be kind and empathetic is not enough. To be an effective practitioner, one must develop effective communication skills, set boundaries and manage stress to succeed in a job. As a non-traditional student I have maturity, cross cultural …show more content…
When a clinician treats across a cultural, age, sex, ethnicity and language barrier they must communicate effectively. This can only come from familiarity, and experience with people from other cultures. I grew up speaking Polish at home and summers living in Poland with relatives. I have also spent time abroad including 11 weeks of homestays between Guatemala, China, Mexico and India. I have lived with roommates from the Phillipines, Texas, Germany and North Philadelphia. I have experienced firsthand different cultural beliefs about pain, healing, medicine, and exercise during menstruation or pregnancy. As a physical therapist, I will be sensitive to my patients ' values and be able to provide culturally competent …show more content…
Research shows, and my experience affirms, that happy employees are more productive and I know this to be true in academia as well. When I visited campus, the students I met were balanced and upbeat. I also met recent grad Kasey Carley when I did observation hours at her outpatient clinic. Dr. Carley had glowing remarks about her educational experience. She shared that there are many opportunities for active learning and collaborative learning, and these are instructional methodologies that work well for me. I was able to see the result of such an education in practice when Dr. Carley did her patient interviews. She made her patients feel like her number 1