Final Reflection Questions

The following should also be expounded upon in

complete sentences
1. While writing your paper, what did you learn about the research process?
I learned while writing my paper the disciplines of a physical therapist in, the use of
healthcare settings, educational requirements, and ultimately the compensation for those
providing the care, reveal a reputable career path that offers professional agility and sufficient
income. For men or women of moderate intelligence, ambition, and goal orientation, physical
therapy provides a reputable career path which offers exceptional income for the amount of
invested time, with a special reward of helping others. Over the course of writing this paper
junior year I realized how to cite correct sources throughout my paper and have reliable sources
in my paper. The research did acquire some knowledge from the internet but most came from
reliable sources. My mentor did also give me some quotes and helped me with my paper.
2. How was the research related to your mentor hours?
My research was related to my mentor hours by finding a physical therapist assistant to
help me understand that there's more to a physical therapist assistant than going to help them
rehabilitate. My mentor taught me that there's a lot more personal care and she personally gets
on a different level to help the patient mentally and physically achieve to receive the best
possible rehabilitation plan out their. After the clinical discussions of countless patient
interactions, heartwarming stories, and non billable interventions, it became evident that
physical therapy as a profession requires a certain level of empathy. Stefanie shared many of
her experiences about her profession within the home health setting, which included countless
patient interactions. In my research I talked about how stefanie assesses the patient's vitals
before she actually assists the patient for what is actually wrong, and in my product I'm
demonstrating a test on the lower school to show a vital test range from high to low.
3. Summarize the mentor hours that you completed.
The mentor hours that I completed were full of educational opportunities that gave me a
better understanding of a physical therapist assistant does on an everyday basis. My mentor
hours concluded mostly about the well being of the patient as well as the different exercises that
were used to help the patient rehabilitate. My mentor hours were conducted over 3-4 days and
over these days we talked about my product, the health of the patient, and I learned more about
Stephanie and her personal connection with the patient. She told me I was unable to go inside
to physical see the patient's because it was HIPPA violation of the hospital and medical team,
but she did say she was allowed to speak about her experiences with in home patient's and how
they live. Stefanie told me that she gets assigned to different patients all over the Charlotte
region to help patients in need of in home care assistance. She showed me the area in which
some of her patient's are from Kannapolis, Huntersville, and Cornelius. On day two of my
mentor hours Stefanie told me the conditions of patient after each visit to the house. Then she
showed me her ipad which was given to her by her physical therapist to record all of the medical
data and records from her patient's. Then finally on the third day we did go over my pride
product and we agreed on a presentation, lesson plan, as well as a note taking guide for the
students to follow along. We also discussed making it more interactive with the students and
doing some vital testing with blood pressure and pulse, as well as exercises to strengthen the
knee to prevent future injuries.
4. How did working with your mentor affect your understanding of the topic area and /or
the professional world? a. If you mentor was not directly related to your topic, what did
you learn about the profession that can be translated to any future professional setting?
b. If your mentor contributed to the development of the product, how were they involved?
Working with my mentor gave me a better understand of how a physical therapist
assistant works alongside with the physical therapist. A physical therapist assistant remains
supervised within the eyes of a physical therapist and works directly with patient's providing
various treatments. Also I learned that physical therapist and physical therapist assistants can
work within a multitude of settings which include hospitals, clinics, home health agencies,
hospices, private practices, sport and fitness facilities. My mentor said, The best candidate to
become a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant must have good communication and
critical reasoning skills, flexibility, professionalism and patience with people of all ages.
(Stefanie).
5. How did creating a product and completing the hours challenge you
personally?
Creating a product and completing the hours challenged me personally with publicly
speaking in front of a class about my topic physical therapy. I do feel that I am more prepared to
present this now while being in the public speaking class. Creating my product and completing
the hours challenged me personally because it brought me out of my comfort zone to go and
physically see people needing different treatment for rehabilitation is emotional to hear about. I
also feel that I got more of a personal experience with my mentor who helped me come up with
my product as well has helped me with the hours.
6. Do you feel prepared academically and emotionally for the presentation?
As time passes and we get closer to presenting the final pride project presentation I feel I
have been preparing for this since last year with my pride paper, so I feel much more prepared
and less scared than I did junior year. I do have stress and anxiety that may act on the day of
giving me a scare before I present, but I do feel very confident in what Im going to be
discussing with physical therapy to have hope that I will end up passing the first time.
a. If not, why? What challenges do you still face to feel prepared?
Some challenges that I faced to prepare was practicing my presentation many times to
get it right. Also another challenge that I faced was time management through the entire pride
project. Through the pride paper the time management was a good way to learn how to write
papers professionally and in a proper manner. I make sure that I present my project more than
one time in public speaking to prepare myself for the real date February 27th.
7. How did the entire process stretch you as a learner and as an individual?
I think I stretched more in the public speaking aspect of this pride project because I have
always been very shy and never liked to present much in front of the class. With senior year and
having public speaking for me to prepare my presentation is fantastic because I will get a better
understand of my tone of voice, and feedback before I present my final on February 27th.
Another stretch I had during my project was managing a class at the lower school. Being a
teacher was very unusual because my entire life I have been in the perspective of the students,
never the teacher. For me to change my perspective and become a teacher I now have a better
understanding in the time and effort goes into a lesson plan to teach the lower school.
8. Other than time management, describe an obstacle you encountered and how you
overcame it.
An obstacle that I encountered was not physically going in with my mentor to see the
patient and having to get a descriptive explanation of what happened with the patient. With the
HIPPA violation of the hospital and doctor I was unable to go inside and physically view the
patient with my mentor. I usually had to sit outside and wait for her to return to give me a
description of the patient and how far they have progressed. I feel like this was a very
challenging obstacle that I encountered during my pride project.
9. What life skills did you acquire and how will they help you in the future?
Some life skills that I have acquired throughout creating my Pride presentation would
have to be public speaking. Public speaking is a life skill mandatory for colleges and jobs
because no matter where you go in life you will always have to present something to either your
professor or your boss. Public speaking is a great class to take at public speaking because it
prepares you for the world and what is to come in the future with presenting in college.
10. If you had to go back and do parts of the project again, what would you do
differently?
If I had the chance to go back and do the project again I would have to change the topic
and go with something I have been interesting in since 6th grade but never thought to pursue it
until after this project that I realized what I really want to do. Since 6th grade I have always
wanted to study meteorology and astronomy because i was always interested in the weather
patterns and how the sky moved and how constellations were formed. I feel that changing my
topic would be one thing I would do differently.
11. Based on the entire Pride Project experience, do you plan to pursue this field as a
career or college area of study? If so, why? If not, why? Please be specific.
Based on the entire pride project experience I do not plan to pursue the field of physical therapy
as a career. I feel that my emotions would get in the way of doing my job. I have over the course
of junior to senior year have lost interest in the topic of a physical therapist. Over this project I
have recently noticed that I would like to pursue a career in meteorology and astronomy. These
two careers have been my favorite since I was little.