For those interested in my personal life. Here is an intervi..
🕑 Added 2021-05-30 03:15:55 +0000 UTC
For those interested in my personal life. Here is an interview I just conducted with a physical therapist. Pics are of me in my interview clothes.
Alyson: “Describe your career path. How did you get to where you are now?”
Stephen : “I actually originally went to college to become a Music Teacher, but quickly realized that teaching was not my passion and decided to go down the medical path. I was either going to become a PA or PT, and while fulfilling my prerequisite classes I decided to become a PT because I value being able to see my patients regularly as well as being able to witness their progress with recovery from start to finish. I got my Bachelors of Science in Biology at Central Connecticut State University and then went on to get my Doctorate of Physical Therapy from American International College in Springfield, MA. I have a strong passion for Outpatient Physical Therapy and enjoy working with post-operative orthopedic conditions as well as athletes at the middle/high school level, collegiate level, and post collegiate level. Because of this I stuck with outpatient physical therapy instead of working in acute care, home health, long term care, inpatient facilities or subacute nursing facilities.”
• Alyson: “What tasks do you do on a typical day or week?”
Stephen : “I treat many patients throughout my day, first and foremost. Making sure my patients are comfortable, safe, happy, and progressing appropriately is my greatest task/responsibility. I am also focusing on scheduling of patients, contacting/communicating with other Doctors to give updates on patient progress or if I have questions regarding a certain precaution/progression to a patient’s therapy. I also supervise a physical therapy assistant who also sees her own schedule. I am also responsible for staying in contact with my boss, our owner, to ensure that things are running smoothly as well as keep in close contact with our front desk regarding charges and billing of patient’s appointments, appropriate scheduling, and ordering of supplies. I work in a private practice, and being the primary therapist in the office that I work in I just have a few more responsibilities than maybe a therapist would if they worked with many other clinicians or maybe in a hospital-based outpatient clinic.”
• Alyson: “What do you love about your job?”
Stephen : “Many, many, many things. Above all else I love watching patients get better. There is nothing like when you see a patient express their happiness when they feel better or achieve their long-term goals. And it does not matter what that goal may be. Sometimes it is simply walking across a room safely without a cane, and other times it could be successfully running a marathon. Everyone is different. I also love learning about other people. I got in to this profession to be a part of as much of a patient’s recovery as possibly because I love watching them progress and love learning about them as well as developing relationships with them. So many people have different stories and not one person is the same. I really love that. I also love interacting with my colleagues. My boss is extremely intelligent, so I get excited talking with him. I have always been told you never want to be the smartest person in the room and you should always keep a student mentality. It is extremely easy to do so when my boss is as smart and experienced as he is, it is fun thinking through a case and keeping myself challenged.”
• Alyson: “What do you dislike or are challenged by as an [Physical Therapist]?”
Stephen : “I HATE documentation. As a medical professional it’s important we document everything we do, however when we see as many patients as we do in a single day it is extremely easy to get behind in documentation or occasionally be unable to spend as much time with a patient as you want because of documentation. Also because of this we often take documentation home to do, which makes it hard to separate work life from home life. I also do not like dealing with insurances. What I have learned is that a patient’s recovery is truly not decided by what the doctor says, it is decided by how much the insurance company is willing to cover. Often times my patients do not get better in the time frame that the insurance company allows, so sometimes my patients cannot afford to keep coming even though they need therapy. It is extremely frustrating. Also, not every patient will get better with physical therapy, and even though it’s extremely gratifying to see patients get better and it definitely happens more that way, it is really unfortunate when a patient does not get better.”
• Alyson: “What should I focus on while completing my academic studies?”
Stephen : “First and foremost: SELF CARE. I burnt myself out in college because I was and still am scared of FAILING. But what I realized late, after I graduated, is that you DO NOT need to get a 4.0 to be a good therapist. What you do need is to be able to effectively communicate with your patients and to practice empathy. Sometimes patients just need someone to talk to, and there is a very large connection between how someone feels physically with how they feel mentally. If a patient trusts and knows you care about what they have to say they are much more likely to commit to getting better for themselves and getting the outcome you want for them. But please make sure to take time for yourself. Your career is the rest of your life, but it does not mean you need to put yourself through hell in order to get where you want to go.
Academically I suggest you figure out a range of possible career paths (if it’s medicine you want to study) and figure out the prerequisites that are necessary to get into those programs. For me, I was able to fulfill all those prerequisites with a traditional biology degree. I would also suggest shadowing clinics of all kinds. If you want physical therapy, try shadowing at an outpatient clinic, a hospital, a nursing facility, and maybe even home health. Get yourself immersed in the culture so you can see what it is physically like in the life of a therapist so that maybe you can find out what it is you like.”
• Alyson: “How can I seek internships and/or get experience in the field now?”
Stephen : “Good question. Literally call and ask. It may be hard right now with the pandemic and restrictions, but I highly encourage you to call and ask. Say that you are a student looking to potentially have a career in this field and would like to shadow to learn more about it. I’ve hosted several students in their path to becoming clinicians and honestly it all should start with shadowing. It is so important for you to have an understanding of what you are interested in. When you are in PT school, they help set you up with your actual internships. When I was getting my shadowing hours prior to starting PT school I actually went into the PT clinic that I was an actual patient at and explained my situation, stating I wanted to become a therapist and was looking for volunteer or shadowing hours. They accepted me and I even wound up working for that company later on in life because I was assertive and put myself out there. I highly recommend anyone do the same.”
• Alyson: “What personal qualities or characteristics will help me to be successful?”
Stephen : “Being able to communicate your thoughts, and rationale are EXTREMELY important. Our patients are looking to us because we are experts in our field and they are seeking help. If we cannot communicate with them, we will lose their trust and ultimately will not get the outcomes we desire for them.
Practice empathy. Sometimes patients need more than just physical recovery. We all practice what is called a biopsychosocial model. There are clear connections between how we feel physically and how we feel mentally. If you try to connect with your patients, they will get better.
Creativity is also important. In my job I always have to think on my feet because not every visit is going to go exactly how you planned, so we often make snap decision and have to think creatively.
Effective time management skills are very important as well. I mentioned earlier that we do A LOT of documentation and see A LOT of patients. Because of this it is very important you are able to manage your time effectively so you are not constantly playing from behind or burning yourself out
The drive to learn. Keep that student mentality and strive to keep learning. Medicine is ever changing because science is ever changing. What was thought to be effective treatments ten years ago are obsolete in today’s world, so keep learning so you can optimally help your patients.”
• Alyson: “What advice can you give to help me to be a great Physical Therapist?”
Stephen : “Remember, SELF CARE is extremely important. Getting good grades and passing your classes are obviously important, but PLEASE do not burn yourself out. This is going to be your career, you want to have life fulfillment from this, so enjoy the ride. It truly can be awesome.
Have a good financial plan. PT school is extremely expensive. 9/10 PT students now come out of school with an average student loan debt of 150k, and often times their starting salaries are not proportional to their debt. So have a good plan set in place so you don’t dig yourself a hole financially. This career is extremely rewarding, so don’t start off being stressed because of the debt number.
KNOW YOU’RE WORTH. Going off of the point above, our debt is going to be high. We work our butts off and achieved a doctorate. We are experts in our field and we deserve to be appropriately compensated for it. Understand that when you get into the work force you know the most up to date knowledge and you worked your tail off to get to where you are and should be compensated accordingly. Our patients are obviously the mo
