HK 492 Intersnhip Packet

Accelerated Physical Therapy

Proud to Combine With AthleticoSummer Semester 2015

Michelle Geissler

INDEX

Student Application Formpages 3-4

Clinical Log pages 5-18

Project Plan and Development pages 19-20

Final Summary pages 21-24

Internship PPT

Performance Evaluations

Updated Resume

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HK49200 Application Form(Please type all information)

Part1: Student & Agency InformationStudent Name: Michelle GeisslerTelephone (during practicum): (219) 381-5789Email: [email protected] Advisor: Jennifer FecherAnticipated Graduation Date: May 2016Major: Public Health Promotion ConcentrationAgency Name: Athletico (Accelerated Physical Therapy)Address: 21 US Highway 41City, State, Zip Code: Highland, Indiana 46322Website: athletico.comAgency Supervisor: Gerald ParraSupervisor’s Telephone #: (219) 613-6578Supervisors Email: [email protected]

Start Date (mm/dd/yyyy): May 18th, 2015End Date (mm/dd/yyyy): Aug 12th, 2015Number of weeks: 12.5

Total hours to be completed: 500 *APEX & Sports Performance students MUST have signature from Tarra HodgeIs the internship a paid position: NoIf paid, indicate per hour or total stipend given:

Part2: Site Description1. Mission of the Organization (this can usually be found on their website)

The mission of this organization is to provide quality care and service to the patients through a variety of programs that are most compatible to the patients needs.

2. Type of Facility (Community, Commercial, Clinical, Corporate)

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Clinical

3. Provide a detailed description of the program and services offered from the Agency

Athletico, whom previously partnered with Accelerated Physical Therapy, is heavily involved with high schools, colleges, and all of Chicago’s professional sports teams such as the NFL Bears and NHL Blackhawks. Rehabilitation as well as sports medicine is currently the main focus towards the patients at this facility. Services offered include work conditioning, functional capacity evaluations and ergonomic assessments, athletic training, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and fitness.

Part3: Job DescriptionJob description (Summarize and Bullet the experiences/responsibilities that can be expected of the student throughout the practicum experience. Ensure you submit this section in thorough detail for initial approval). The job description must be re-typed on this form and cannot be added as an attachment for review of the expectations by the student.

While working at this facility, I will be given the opportunity to work with some of the most professional physical therapists I have ever encountered. Assistance to the therapist as well as focused observation and site preparation for upcoming patients will be mandatory daily requirements. Listed below are the specific responsibilities I will be attending to.

Supervise and alter programs as needed with therapist approval Provide equipment and supplies after sterilization to the treatment area as well as

positioning equipment for therapist access Preparation of treatment area for patient under therapists request Educate patients by demonstrating proper usage of equipment and exercise routines Maintain inventory by checking stock to determine inventory level Maintain confidence in the patient and make them feel as welcome and as comfortable

as possible

Part4: Relevance of Practicum Describe how the particular practicum/practicum experience is of personal and professional career interest.

This practicum not only gives me the opportunity to educate myself in a physical therapy setting, but it allows me to further develop my knowledge towards bettering an individual and their needs as a whole. Ultimately, I vision myself pursuing a professional career as a physical therapist assistant; however, this practicum gives me that opportunistic value to go above and beyond that. I get to witness, first hand, a day in the life of a certified physical therapist, which some day I hope to earn the title of in the distant future. This practicum may not allow hands on learning for an altitude of reasons, one being it is against the law for an unlicensed individual to physically interact with the patients, but given the ability to surveillance how one brainstorms and interacts with a patient in dire need is what I find to be most prevailing. Miracles happen everyday in this setting, and to be the reason behind a positive new chapter in someone’s life is what truly matters to me. At the end of the day, the mental reward surpasses it all, and that is why this practicum is of such relevance personally and professionally. It opens new doors to a magnitude of fresh ideas to not only me, but the program as well. After all, there is always room for improvement.

**Complete and email the above information only to the Practicum Director for site approval. This should be done BEFORE inquiring or accepting an interview/position.

Application Due Dates:Spring semester internship – October 15th

Summer semester internship – March 15th

Fall semester internship – May 15th

Part5: Learning Experiences

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Identify two objectives of knowledge, skills, or abilities that you wish to obtain by the end of your practicum experience (These must be specific and have the ability to be measured at the end of your practicum).

A. Upon completing my internship, I hope to have gained superb knowledge in the physical therapy field and have applied to a PTA school with my new qualifications and experiences.

B. By the last week of my internship experience, I hope to be able to identify a patients’ current rehabilitation needs and suggest the proper exercises to the head physical therapist without him making any corrections.

Part6: Learning Experience Competencies. Explain in detail the competencies and steps that will be taken to reach these objectives during the internship.

A. In order to reach my objective, I must take very detailed notes and have excellent observation in the work field in order to obtain the assets of a physical therapist assistant. I must divide my time up evenly among my work, my final project, and school applications to achieve and become accepted to a PTA school program.

B. My second objection can be achieved quite similarly to the first, which requires careful observation and friendly bondage with the patient. Involving myself with exercises to see which movements feel beneficial towards the prognosis will help me acquire the muscle memory to predicting new therapy for the patient which has been approved by my supervisor.

**Please ensure your objectives are reviewed by the HK practicum director PRIOR to obtaining all required signatures.

Part7: Signatures

_______________________________ _____________Student Signature Date

_______________________________ _______________Agency Preceptor Signature Date

_______________________________ _______________*HK Education Director Applied Exercise and Health Date(APEX and Sports Performance students only)_______________________________ _______________HK Practicum Director Signature Date

HK492 Clinical Report

Section 1: Submission InformationName: Michelle Geissler

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Setting: Accelerated Physical Therapy/Athletico/ClinicDates: May 18th 2015 - Aug 12th 2015Report Number: 1Hours performed: 104 hoursTotal Hours Accumulated/Total Hours Required: 104/500

Section 2: Daily Log

Date: 5-18-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsMonday is normally a very busy day, and being my first day at the site, I stepped back and observed as much as I could without interfering in any unnecessary way. However, I was given the opportunity to learn an array of techniques from my supervisor. Being I was a patient at this facility years ago, it was easy to get acquainted with and remember the names of my coworkers. To get things to run a little more smoothly, I replaced pillowcases and sanitized tables for new incoming patients. I also assisted in prepping the electrical stim machine with the correct patients electrode pads and either ice or heat upon the patients’ request. After introduction from the therapist, patients that acknowledged my helping presence asked me to assist in counting out their exercises as some get distracted easily! My supervisor also gave me paperwork regarding the confidentiality policies as well as some other rules that required my signatures. At the end of the day I was given permission from a patient to observe an a-stym preformed on the upper hip after a hip replacement that created extensive scar tissue.

Date: 5-19-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsTuesday was a slow day since we saw about ten patients. Many cancellations occurred, so down time was common. I took this tome to do some stretches and activities of my own to familiarize myself. However, the slow day allowed for me to direct my undivided attention to certain patients and learn their full circle of exercise and treatment. I specifically learned more about therapy for the neck, shoulder, and ankle area. I prepared electrical stim for these patients as well, fulfilling many responsibilities of the PT technician. We had two “one on one” patients with appointments today and it was interesting to see just how much more attention and dependability these patients required. I was also given the opportunity to brush up on my blood pressure taking skills on the PT tech, which took me about ten minutes to correct. Once the day came to an end, I restocked the cups for the water machine and replaced any empty tissue boxes.

Date: 5-20-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday was a very progressive day. I felt productive and useful. As soon as I arrived to work, there were already eight patients split between my supervisor and the PT tech. Many were receiving e-stem, so I was running back and forth retrieving ice/heat packs and prepping the tables for the incoming patients, I did more addition and removal of e-stim, learning the correct placements on the muscle groups for stimulation. The floor got busy again and I was told to listen for a timer that goes off every four minutes for a patient who suffers from minor memory loss. The PT permitted me to instruct the patient how to execute the exercises properly and to direct the patient where to go. I also familiarized myself with some of the shorthand for the activities written on the patient’s log sheet, which helped facilitate the internship. It has given me the ability to bring the patients equipment on my own without being instructed to do so.

Date: 5-21-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday started off slow as usual since it was a Thursday. They had warned me Tuesdays and Thursdays would be less congested. My comfort level handling the e-stim had escalated, so I was instructed to “zap” patients as needed. The PT tech had the day off, so I covered most of her responsibilities that included e-stim, laundry, rewriting log sheets, and prepping the patients’ area for the therapists. As the afternoon carried on, it diverted from the normal routine because we had a staff meeting as well as a meeting with the industrial team. In the staff meeting we covered new policies because we are proudly combing with Athletico. Cell

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phone usage among patients in session, scheduling systems, and internal communication were all topics covered in the staff meeting. The industrial meeting covered bigger matters such as stats relating to our competitors. Workers Comp was the main subject stressed as well as the discharge of patients. It was interesting to hear that once patients were discharged from our company they failed to go back to work, and as a result mingled to a new clinic. So essentially we were feeding our competition and hurting our progress.

Date: 5-22-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday was an extremely busy day for the therapists, so not many new techniques were learned, which is understandable! I am starting to get into a routine and learning which therapists and which techs like what, accommodating to their styles as best I can to facilitate their work. Patients are also becoming more comfortable with my presence asking me to assist them during their appointments. They aren’t shy to ask me to bring them equipment or how to preform an exercise. Most patients know me by name now too and that is a very warming feeling that makes me feel more welcome and more approachable each day.

Date: 5-25-15 Hours Worked: 0 hrsMonday Off- Memorial Day

Date: 5-26-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday was a normal day taking on the usual routines. My first task of the day was to put a patient on electrical stim with an icepack. Once the treatment was finished, I made the mistake of removing the pads before shutting off the machine, thus resulting in me shocking myself. Rookie mistake! Luckily, shocking yourself can only occur with the portable machine and that one is rarely used, so now I’ll know better for next time! As the day progressed, I continued with the e-stem and prepped the patient’s tables with equipment for their exercises. The therapists asked me to count for the elderly patient’s and keep them in line because sometimes they can be stubborn and cheat themselves out of exercising, Other than that, I followed my routine of the PT tech while observing the work of the PT.

Date: 5-27-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsWork was nothing out of the blue today. I started off sanitizing tables and prepping tables with equipment for the patients upon the therapists’ request. Since we are combining with Athletico, new policies are being established especially for the work comp patients. This requires me, or any worker available, to take the blood pressure and heart rate before, during, and after exercise for the work comp to ensure their blood pressure is within the proper range. For that day I only had to run these tests for one patient and he was a very good sport about it. The PT checked my work after and we achieved the same results.

Date: 5-28-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday was an accomplishing and productive day. We had a patient come in for work conditioning evaluation. This work conditioning consists of the patient coming in 5 days a week for 4.5 hours each day, completing a cycle of exercises. This cycle consists of a warm up, stretching, upper body, lower body, and core circuits. The therapists and techs were occupied with other patients today, so I was put in charge of the work-conditioning patient. This patient has trouble speaking English, so he relied on me to tell and demonstrate the activities to him. Of course I had to interrupt the therapist a time or two since I was unsure of how to execute some of the exercises. It was definitely a proud moment, however, knowing that my co-workers trusted and relied on me to help this patient achieve his goals.

Date: 5-29-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday marks the end of week two on the job, I feel more and more productive each day, and feel as if I am finally fitting in. It was definitely one of the busiest days yet with nearly forty patients on the schedule. The PT warned me we would have a long, bust day ahead and he was right! My feet were swollen by the end of the day! Once again, I helped direct the work-conditioning patient since the other therapists and techs were occupied. It was a very hectic day. At one point we had more patients than we had beds available, so working efficiently was key. As soon as a patient finished up, the tech and I got a system together where one would swap the dirty pillowcases for clean ones and the other would sanitize the table. It helped that

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we pulled the patients logs sheets out the file in advance so we could prep their table accordingly in a timely manor. Today tested my ability to organize and stay calm under high trafficked circumstances.

Date: 6-1-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsIt was an average workday today. My day started helping the patient who is enduring the work conditioning, He still hasn’t memorized all exercises and has some trouble remembering the order of them, and so he asks for my assistance quite frequently. When I caught a break I would help with the electrical stim and table preps for the patients, I will occasionally hold the theraband at different angles for patients with ankle injuries since those exercises request extra assistance. Towards the end of the day, a patient brought in three younger children and I ended up babysitting them for the most part. My responsibility was to keep them off the equipment as best I could while the mother had her treatment done. Apparently the clinical PT setting looks like a jungle gym to children!

Date: 6-2-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday I did some more independent activities and socializing with patients to get to know more about themselves and their injuries. I enjoy getting to know patients because it seems each and every one of them has something insightful to say. The elderly ones have the better advice, but the young ones have some more realistic things to say. I followed the regular routine today, and I also took the blood pressures of three patients. That’s two more than normal. The purpose of us taking a worker comp patients’ blood pressure is to test if they are eligible to exercise for that day. Our company requires at patients blood pressure to be below 170/100. If it is above or even with those numbers, then unfortunately that patient must be sent home for the day until blood pressure levels reach protocol. Sadly this was the case for one patient today.

Date: 6-3-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsIt was Chicago Blackhawks day at work today since we are proudly combining Athletico, sponsors of the Blackhawks. This allowed for us to wear our hockey gear for the day, which is a nice change from the usual work attire. Many of the patients enjoy when we show our support because its strikes enthusiastic conversations among them all as well as myself. I tool the blood pressures of a couple more patients again today and sadly had to send another patient home that exceeded the requirements of the blood pressure level. Other than that, I continued working with e-stem and involving myself with the work conditioning patient. I also remade the patients exercise sheets as well as retrieved their exercise tools for them.

Date: 6-4-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday marks my 106tth hour of working at Athletico and I must say my experience has gotten better with time. I have become more comfortable with my abilities to take vitals on patients, e-stim, and ultrasound them. Today I actually preformed two ultrasounds, one on the shoulder and one on the neck/back area. It was a great learning experience as it involves awareness of the muscle groups and bones (bones are to be avoided). We also had a patient come in today for a free evaluation who had been experiencing chronic pain from a partially torn tendon in the arm. It was very enlightening to see how quickly the PT could identify the underlying problem, which was actually a bone spur caused from the career of the patient. It was one of those moments where I could truly see the passion pouring out of my supervisor.

Section 3: Attainment of Practicum Program Competencies (Objectives)


Not Addressed

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B. By the last week of my internship experience, I hope to be able to identify a patients’ current rehabilitation needs and to suggest the proper exercises to the head physical therapist without him making any corrections.

Not Addressed

Section 4: Critical Thinking ExperiencesOver the past week and a half, I was put in a position that required me to explain

exercises to a Hispanic patient enduring work conditioning. Work conditioning consists of a multitude of circuit exercise over a period of 4.5 hours. These circuits include stretching, upper body, lower body, and core exercises. It really tested my knowledge for many reasons that consisted of the patient’s lack of understanding towards English, which in turn allocated me to personally demonstrate each activity for this patient. Being this was only the beginning of my second week on the job site, I had to result in interrupting the therapists multiple times to help explain exercises to me to forward to the patient. I found that participating in the exercises myself beforehand allowed me to further learn how to execute them and later teach them to the patient. It was a rocky start, but as the days went on the patient and I have developed a bond. I was able to take away from this confidence within my ability to strive a patient towards recovery. This also allowed for the therapists to give their full attention to their current patient while checking in on how I am running exercises as needed. I am sure they are watching me out the corner of their eyes too! Next week, two new patients are transitioning to work conditioning, so I plan on getting them into a steady routine from the beginning and teaching them the names of the exercises to prevent any confusion.


Section 1: Submission InformationName: Michelle GeisslerSetting: Accelerated Physical Therapy/Athletico/ClinicDates: May 18th 2015 - Aug 12th 2015Report Number: 2Hours performed: 104 hoursTotal Hours Accumulated/Total Hours Required: 208/500

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Date: 6-5-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday I would consider myself as an assistant rather than just an observer. Fridays are always incredibly busy because we see up to 40 patients that are split between two physical therapists. I once again accompanied the work-conditioning patient, re-teaching him some exercises that had been forgotten. The PT interrupted occasionally to “up” the weight increments since I had not already told the patient to do so. I would tally this as one of my weaknesses. I tend to shy away from taking extreme charge and bossing a patient because I feel I am not educated enough to do so. I also need to learn to stand my ground because sometimes a patient modifies an exercise without approval from the therapist, which in turn falls on me and negatively effects the patient them self.

Date: 6-8-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsMonday started off great! It was a patient’s birthday, so cake was shared all around as soon as I arrived for work! The only thing out of the norm today was that the head of the industrial rehab team came in to assess yet another patient transitioning to work conditioning. This would now be our second patient enduring this, so starting Wednesday we will have two work conditioning patients exercising simultaneously. Both patients prefer to exercise in the morning hours, so it should be interesting to see if this affects the schedule for other patients considering they both will be occupying a table for 4.5 hours. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings had been issued for the afternoon hours, so it became a very slow evening due to cancellations. During the afternoon I tended to the patients stuck during the storm.

Date: 6-9-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsTurns out another one of our patients is transitioning over to work conditioning, so we will have three patients total working out for 4.5 hours a day. It ended up being a semi-slow morning for me because the patient that I normally oversee during his work conditioning called in sick for the day, so I took this time to discuss project ideas with my supervisor while his schedule was free. In the mean time, I sanitized tables, changed out the laundry, counted repetitions for patients seeking help, placed e-stim on requested patients, and prepped work stations for efficiency. The other PT, whom is not my supervisor, is eight months pregnant so I have been assisting her in any way possible to facilitate her day and ensure her safety.

Date: 6-10-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsWow, what an incredibly busy day today. The two work conditioning patients caused some conflict as expected, but nothing that was out of our control. The PT tech had the entire day off today, so I started work 3 hours earlier than accustomed to. From about 7:30am to 10:30am, it was just the pregnant PT and I running the clinic. The early hours were no problem at all, but once 10:00 rolled around the clinic started to get very congested. I believe there were 9 patients to be attended to between the two of us, but we developed a system that made it work. It helped that the patients who were scheduled for the day were the more independent ones, so things flowed better than expected. Unfortunately, I had to move the work-conditioning patient around from table to table because most of his work is done on the ground floor anyway. My anxiety was eased once the other PT and PT tech arrived, and it ended up being an over all great and accomplishing day. One of the patients even decided to play a little prank on me today by pretending to be shocked by the e-stim machine. He knew I was the rookie.

Date: 6-11-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday was the day the three work conditioning patients had overlapping time exercising together, which did cause a slight disarray of order. The head of the industrial rehab team came in once again to continue assessing and modifying activities for one of the patients. In my opinion, and I think it is clear to the other therapists as well, is that this patient transitioned into work conditioning way too soon because fatigue in the ankle is blatantly seen during his exercises. The case manager dictates whether or not a patient is ready for transitioning, which, I believe, should be the therapists call because they are the ones who physically work and see the progress/current condition of a patient rather than the case manager who relies on

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paperwork statistics. Besides that, I helped sanitize tables, prep station areas, and place e-stim on patients. Nothing out of the blue occurred today besides the multiple work conditioners.

Date: 6-12-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday turned out to be yet again another busy day. Having the work conditioning patients honestly makes the place more crowded and fussy since they occupy three tables for four hours. We have nine beds in the clinic, and at one point we had about 11 patients in here doing their exercises. Luckily, the end of one patient’s appointment and the beginning of the others timed out just about perfectly, so we were able to sanitize and prep the tables just in time for the new patient. I once again was put in charge of the work-conditioning patient who hardly speaks any English. He relies on me to demonstrate the exercises to him. I also worked with the one-on-one patients today, holding their gait belts while walking their laps in case they stumble or fall. Katie, the pregnant PT, always asks me to walk with her now because she isn’t able to lift or catch the patient if they were to fall. It was actually a very interesting case today with the one-on-one because this patient had missed the past two weeks due to a stroke. She recovered surprisingly well, but because of this we had to do a re-evaluation all over again to assess her new abilities and modify any old exercises.

Date: 6-15-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsIt was yet again another busy day for us! We don’t mess around on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays. There is always that one giant rush in the morning where we struggle to create space availability for patients, but we always manage to make suitable adjustments. It doesn’t help when a patient comes in hours before or after their scheduled appointment time, but that is life. It is important to expect the unexpected with this career. Most of my day was spent placing patients on e-stim and prepping the tables with equipment.

Date: 6-16-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsIt was a calm day at work today. In the morning we saw about seven patients and about an equal amount in the afternoon. I find it funny the difference in one day makes. Within the course of an hour yesterday, we appointed the same number of patients that we saw throughout the entire day today! My guess is that patients called off due to excessive celebration from the Blackhawks Stanley Cup game! Since it was so slow, I did some stretches on my own and discussed gym facilities to coincide with for our free initial screening project. Besides that, regular routines and responsibilities were followed.

Date: 6-17-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsOne of my favorite patients was discharged today. I didn’t realize how close of a bond I had made with some of these patients until they say their goodbyes during discharge. It is so nice and rewarding to hear how appreciative they were of my work and me, and how they wish me the best of luck with my future studies. I actually re-sprained some ligaments in my knee, so in our down time I have been getting therapy, including exercise and treatment while the clinic was slow. The morning, however, was very hectic as usual. We once again ran out of tables for our patients because of the work conditioning patients, which caused somewhat of disarray. Once the afternoon hours hit it was laid back and easy going for the rest of the day. I participated in my normal responsibilities.

Date: 6-18-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday was finally a change from the normal schedule and routine since we had a staff meeting. The morning, however, started off slow and calm as usual, so I followed my normal responsibilities. In the staff meeting, we covered a topic concerning the parking availability to our patients and the safety of our staff as well. Parking has always been an inconvenience to everyone due to our location, so we addressed designating specific spots to the patients of Athletico. This requires the staff to park in the back of the building, which creates a dangerous environment for the women during the dark hours. In other words, many concerns are to be discussed with the landlord of our clinic for lights and corner mirrors to be put in for the safety of all. We also discussed how to schedule for an FSR on patients as well as our standings compared to other facilities.

Date: 6-19-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrs

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Today was a productive day that allowed me to be very independent. The therapist was occupied with an initial evaluation during the same time her one on one patient was scheduled. I have worked with the one on one patient so many times before that the therapist gave me permission to conduct her therapy session, obviously following the exercise log to a tee. The patients session includes seated exercises with weights and standing exercises with the assistance of a walker and gait belt. We normally do two laps around the clinic with a cane as well as stair climbing to conclude the session. This requires my undivided attention since the patient normally relies on a walker for mobility. It is a great feeling knowing both the therapist and the patient trust in me to conduct their therapy. At the end of the day, the physical therapist and I went to a nearby gym facility, Planet Fitness, to introduce our business and our project to the managers. The managers were unavailable at the time, so we left a folder with our information and swapped business cards with the proper names and numbers to reach for scheduling purposes.

Date: 6-22-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday was another typical day at the clinic. Nothing strayed out of the norm and I keep progressing my way through the days. I feel as if my posts are redundant, which they are, but that is okay because being in a routine creates efficiency. I am beginning to learn more and more of the patients’ preferences and proactively addressing their needs. For example, as soon as a patient walked in the door today I obtained an extra pillow and adjusted the high-low table to her liking. I also accompanied the patient’s table with the proper equipment and a smile brightened on her face as I brought her coffee. I believe making the patients feel comfortable and welcome is one the best qualities a staff member can have.

Date: 6-23-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsSince today was another slow day, I took this time to learn some of the responsibilities required at the front desk. I was taught how to assess a patients’ question regarding future appointments when the computer is down. I also learned which paper work associates with what diagnoses, and when to appoint the documents to a patient for a re-evaluation. There was just so much information to take in that relates to the work of the front desk management; it is going to take me a few more days to understand and to operate the objectives of the front desk. I was also given permission to finally answer the phone, which requires me to elaborate on the merge with Athletico upon initial introduction of the phone call. I was actually a bit nervous to answer the phone, but it did not turn out to be as scary as I perceived it to be.


C. Upon completing my internship, I hope to have gained superb knowledge in the physical therapy field and have applied to a PTA school with my new qualifications and experiences.

Over the course of these 100 hours, I have learned how to correctly obtain patients’ blood pressure and heart rate. I have also gained confidence in reading the names of exercises on the patients’ log and demonstrating exercises without acknowledging help from the physical therapist. I still have yet to identify any prospective PTA schools.

D. By the last week of my internship experience, I hope to be able to identify a patients’ current rehabilitation needs and to suggest the proper exercises to the head physical therapist without him making any corrections.

I am not able to fully assess a therapy program relating to a patients current rehabilitation needs, but I am able to make suggestions and educated guesses as to what equipment will be needed for a certain diagnoses. At this current period, I feel most knowledgeable assessing an ankle or shoulder injury.

Section 4: Critical Thinking Experiences

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One task that stuck out to me in particular was when I was asked to come in three hours earlier than my normal shift because the PT tech was out of town. Her being out of town meant I was the one held responsible for directing patients to their tables, retrieving equipment, checking in and writing tasks on the log sheets, placing electrical stim and ultra sounding the patients, prepping the tables for incoming patients, and keeping up with the laundry. It was a Wednesday too, so the morning was incredibly busy, which was good because it helped me identify some more of my strengths and my weaknesses. The early morning hours I felt at ease, but once 10:00 rolled around is when my anxiety started to fire up a little bit. I strongly dislike making people wait, and sometimes we have no other choice but to make a patient sit near the front desk until adjustments can be made. The clinic becomes so congested, and normally the other PT tech is there to communicate with me on what to do with a patient waiting. However, since she wasn’t there, this caused me to brainstorm on my own and think of ways to work more efficiently. I’d say I handled the rush and independency very well, but something I could have done to better my experience was become proactive. For example, I could have connected the stim pads to the machine prior to the therapist finishing her work on the patient. I got great feedback from the therapist and even some of the patients! It is always encouraging to hear that I am an enormous help to the clinic. Next time I plan to work on my proactivity.


Section 1: Submission InformationName: Michelle GeisslerSetting: Accelerated Physical Therapy/Athletico/ClinicDates: May 18th 2015 - Aug 12th 2015Report Number: 3Hours performed: 105.5 hoursTotal Hours Accumulated/Total Hours Required: 313.5/500


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Date: 6-24-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsThe early bird patients must have been in a rush to get through their exercises this morning because it was calm for a Wednesday. Throughout the day I ended up taking multiple blood pressures and heart rates and observing ASTYMS. The purpose of an ASTYM is to identify where the scar tissue is located post surgery. Turns out this process can be extremely painful for some. Each patient I have observed has grimaced at least once or twice during the treatment. Today I also helped assist with a recent stroke patient. We worked on strengthening the patients balance for just about the entire session, which was actually quite enjoyable.

Date: 6-25-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsThursday was an enjoyable day because the patients were extremely interactive (more than normal). The work conditioning patients’ dread the 60-second plank from their core exercises, so I encouraged them to have a competition against one another. The only problem with that was they made ME participate in the planks! These older men surprisingly have incredible strength and were able to beat me! I also demonstrated how to perform squats and heel/calf raises on the total gym for a new patient. I ended up getting a great workout in for the day! Blood pressures as well as heart rates for the work comp patients were obtained. I proceeded to carry out the everyday responsibilities of fetching icepacks, stem pads, etc.

Date: 6-26-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday was by far one of the busiest days we have had since I have been working here. Patients seemed to be accumulating for an hour straight before it finally diminished around 12:30 in the afternoon. My shift started at 8:00am instead of 10:00am this morning to help accommodate for the rush. We were fully staffed today, so having all hands on deck helped dwindle down the waiting time for patients. Looking at the congested schedule can be a bit frightening, but as the day went on

Date: 6-29-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday was an odd day because one of the therapists, Katie, called off. She somehow scratched both of her corneas. This meant that Gerry had to attend to thirty or so patients today since it was an unexpected cancellation. Our front desk person is also on vacation until Wednesday, so it was weird in that sense as well since the other PT tech came in early to cover those duties. I did quite a bit of rushing around today to speed the processes along for Gerry because he had so many patients waiting to be worked on. They were all good spirits about it, however, because everyone loves Katie and understood the circumstance. She is due to have a baby on July 11th, so patient’s thought she had gone into labor early! False Alarm!

Date: 6-30-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday was another bizarre day, but at least Katie was back in business. I helped fulfill some of the responsibilities of the front desk by faxing authorization to physicians for additional physical therapy visits. I also assisted in answering phone calls for the facilities second phone line, which consisted of me scheduling patients. None of the work conditioning patients were here today either, so that opened up quite a bit of space making the day less cumbersome.

Date: 7-1-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsOur front desk lady returned from vacation today, so the day presumed as normal until she got called out of the office for family reasons. Luckily, we had a replacement receptionist acquire her space for the morning hours, but after she left we all assisted in answering the phone. Most of the phone calls I received were those pertaining to new appointment hours or informing the therapist they would be a few minutes late. The other PT tech left at 5pm, so it was just Gerry and I for the rest of the night. There had been three patients finishing up at the time of her departure and two more to still yet to arrive for their appointment, so I ended up being occupied for the night. I enjoy working on my own and feeling that independency.

Date: 7-2-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsWhat a long morning this has been. I am starting to feel like I live at this place! I closed last night and opened this morning at 7am. I was still half asleep for the first hour, so I felt like wasted space, but once more patients started accumulating in is when I started to awake.

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Kathy had taken this day off for vacation, so it was just Gerry and I running the clinic until Katie and Arlene showed up a few hours later. Considering we have tomorrow off for the Holiday, it was an extremely busy day trying to squeeze in all the patients who are normally scheduled for Friday. I started the laundry and coffee in the morning and proactively set up patient’s stim pads for convenience. Since itwas just us two, I would prep the machines and he would attach the pads and so on and so forth. It turned out to be a pretty great system!

Date: 7-3-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsNot addressed. Happy 4th

Date: 7-6-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsYesterday morning was incredibly congested. I felt bad because when I walked in the door I saw about seven patients and only one therapist! Apparently the opening PT tech was still on vacation and Katie was going into labor for her baby! I would have come in sooner if I knew Gerry was going to be so short handed! So for the morning hours I was Gerry’s assistant, waiting on everyone’s hand and foot, literally. I prefer to busy though because those morning hours came and gone in an instant. The other PT tech came in earlier than usual as well and she provided much relief. She is always an enormous help. Arlene and I get a long very well and work together in sync. It is amazing how quickly we can accomplish a task whilst working side by side.

Date: 7-7-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday was nothing short of an average day, besides Katie still not being here. That meant Gerry had to attend to both his and her patients yet again today. He is truly a phenomenal therapist and knows how to handle just about every single situation. We had a patient return after two weeks of absence from a stroke who is normally on Katie’s schedule, but Gerry took great care of her all while caring for the others still in attendance. He instructed me to demonstrate exercises to two new patients, which was a fairly simple task. They were stretches for the back and neck area.

Date: 7-8-15 Hours Worked: 9.5 hrsI came in around 8:30 this morning and should be sticking to these nearly ten-hour days because I have to make up 16 hours of work. I hadn’t taken into consideration the two Holidays when calculating my 500 hour completion timeline. Today I participated in stemming and ultra sounding patients as well as the normal table prep and sanitization. It was nothing short of the normal routine.

Date: 7-9-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsSince my mother is out of town and no one is home to take care of my dog, I am going to begin making a habit of my ten-hour days next week because my dog has been very unhappy with me lately. I am also using this week to catch up on sleep from the 39-hour weekend I had accumulated from the fireworks store. It was a 79-hour week for me between the combined jobs. Needles to say I have been exhausted! The clinic wasn’t extremely busy today either, which was nice. I had learned some more of the front desk responsibilities in my spare time. It seems they are never ending! Every day there is a new task to learn!

Date: 7-10-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsThis has been a very bizarre week I must say. Katie had been of absence all week because she ended up having her baby! It was a boy! Our front desk lady was of absence due to the passing of her brother, so we had a floater cover for her (half a day for three days). Now we just got word that Gerry is flying back to the Philippines for an emergency family issue. So starting next week we will have two new therapists, Bles (Gerry’s wife) and Jennifer. Jennifer has actually worked on me in the past, so I know what to expect for her style of work. Everyone seems to be so stressed and uptight lately, including the patients and I do not blame them! We have been sure to inform them of the upcoming changes regarding their therapists. Plus, the poor quality in weather has not been helping the joints of many, making them highly unlikely to give 100% during their exercises. The weather directly interprets their moods apparently.

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Date: 7-13-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsGerry’s father had passed over the weekend, so he may be out of work for an extended week or two. As I arrived to the clinic this morning, Jenn and the PT tech were attending to about six patients at the time. Jenn was actually quite impressed with my training; I do not think she expected me to know as much as I did. Bles ended up walking in the door right behind me to relieve Jenn from her duties. Since these therapists have never worked with our patients, it was essential that I was on my “A game” today to assist them in any way possible. While they would review or compose new notes I would instruct a patient to new and upcoming exercises to minimize any interruptions for the therapists. I also assisted in prepping the tables with equipment and fresh pillowcases. It should be a hectic week for our clinic.


E. Upon completing my internship, I hope to have gained superb knowledge in the physical therapy field and have applied to a PTA school with my new qualifications and experiences.

Over the course of these 100 hours, I have learned how to correctly obtain patients’ blood pressure and heart rate. I have also gained confidence in reading the names of exercises on the patients’ log and demonstrating exercises without acknowledging help from the physical therapist. I still have yet to identify any prospective PTA schools, but I am now considering my options.

F. By the last week of my internship experience, I hope to be able to identify patient’s current rehabilitation needs and to suggest the proper exercises to the head physical therapist without him making any corrections.

I am not able to fully assess a therapy program relating to a patient’s current rehabilitation needs, but I am able to make suggestions and educated guesses as to what equipment will be needed for a certain diagnoses. At this current period, I feel most knowledgeable assessing an ankle or shoulder injury. I have also become accustomed to protocol for a knee injury and feel I could take charge of a current patient without assistance from the therapist.

Section 4: Critical Thinking ExperiencesI am trying to think of any situations that required some new skills of mine over this

time period, but I am struggling to find any. I guess I could expand on the absences of my co-workers and the adjustments that needed to be made to make this a functional facility. The lack of staffing meant I had to accommodate my hours to benefit the schedule and learn some new responsibilities on the floor and front desk. I felt exceptionally useful over the week, and especially the days we had the two new therapists in the clinic. I have had experience with these patients, so they reached out to me for questions concerning their protocol. I honestly do not think there was anything I could have done differently to improve this circumstance as I received many compliments throughout the week. From this, I am able to take away the ability to adapt to changes, which include the new therapists’ work ethics. It may be this style of work for a few more weeks considering the extended absences of Katie and Gerry, so I am hoping to facilitate the needs of all as best I can.

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Section 1: Submission InformationName: Michelle GeisslerSetting: Accelerated Physical Therapy/Athletico/ClinicDates: May 18th 2015 - Aug 12th 2015Report Number: 4Hours performed: 106 hoursTotal Hours Accumulated/Total Hours Required: 419.5/500


Date: 7-14-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday Bles was the only therapist on the clock. It worked out great though because we had 18 patients scheduled for the day with one cancellation. Among the three of us, we were able to accommodate to every ones needs with no hesitation and cruise through the day. We did hit a bump in the road, however, when we had two stroke patients come in with overlapping times. The one patient had two exercises left, which required two assistants, and the other was walking her laps, which required guided assistance and backup following behind with a wheel chair. Confliction was present at this point but only for about fifteen minutes. The rest of the day was smooth sailing.

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Date: 7-15-15 Hours Worked: 10.5 hrsWhat better time to make up my hours than now? Having floater therapists means lots of learning from both perspectives. Bles and Susan were today’s coverage, and unfortunately for Susan, four of her six patients cancelled today. The work-conditioning therapist was also on the clock today. It seems as if we will be obtaining a new victim to that workout! This timed out perfectly considering the work-conditioning patient I had been assisting past month was discharged today. My daily routines were profoundly progressed today trying to keep up with all the patients and the therapists’ requests. Friday looks to be an extremely busy day.

Date: 7-16-15 Hours Worked: 0 hrsNot Addressed: No Therapist coverage, clinic closed.

Date: 7-17-15 Hours Worked: 10 hrsAnother busy day in the books! The day started off so slow, I didn’t even think the clinic was open because of the lack of cars in the parking lot! Once 10:00am hit, however, the schedule started to become extremely clumpy. The floaters, Bles and Jenn, had seen nearly 90% of these patients before, so it was a little less stressful trying to adjust. I personally worked with each of the one on one patient’s today, only seeking help when an exercise required two people to execute it. It was a very productive day to say the least.

Date: 7-20-15 Hours Worked: 10 hrsI think today may have been one of the slowest days we have ever had. Jenn and Sue were the floating coverage for the day, and they each had a good amount of patient’s to take care of. My responsibilities consisted of cleaning tables and equipment, placing patients on stim with heat or ice, prepping the treatment area for ASTYM, and assisting patient’s in exercises. One work-conditioning patient has been discharged; another has been in the hospital for private reasons, so now we are down to one. He is very persistent with his program and only requests help when he does the ladder climbing activity. Due to this, we have been less cluttered in the morning hours since we now have two extra tables available.

Date: 7-21-15 Hours Worked: 8.5 hrsToday was a fairly easy-going day. As usual, Tuesdays are the slow days so not many patients were scheduled for the day. Bles was the only therapist and she was running back and forth, so for her it wasn’t that easy of a day. She always thanks myself and the other techs because of the facilitation we provide to simplify her day. The usual responsibilities were completed.

Date: 7-22-15 Hours Worked: 9.5 hrsToday went by a little more smooth than usual since we had two therapists covering. Normally we have anywhere from ten to 15 patients for the afternoon hours, but today we only had five. Oddly enough, one cancelled due to an personal reasons, so that left us with only four people to attend to. Also, we no longer have any work conditioning-patients present. The lone survivor graduated today and is cleared to go back to work. Four other patients were discharged this week as well! They seem to be dropping like flies, which has some pros and cons. Our clinic could use the business!

Date: 7-23-15 Hours Worked: 10 hrsAnother easy day in the books! It’s a nice break in the system for us, but bad for the company as numbers are down. We had a new patient come in today who was quite young for an initial evaluation. This one really stuck with me for two reasons: I know the girl and I endured the same exact injury. She is seeking therapy for an ACL injury, so I was very intrigued with the evaluation and protocol given to her. It was as if I was flashing back to my days when I participated in therapy for that injury at this same clinic. I felt so enlightening and knowledgeable when they asked me for advice.

Date: 7-24-15 Hours Worked: 9 hrsFriday was expected to be a clustered day, but it turned out to be the opposite. There were periods were we had either one patient or no patients at all. It was nice having easy and slow days at first, but now it has become a bore in a way. The only benefit to this is that I take this

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time to not learn, but comprehend the dimensions and purposes of an exercise and why it is applied.

Date: 7-27-15 Hours Worked: 9.5 hrsI am finding it difficult to expand on my daily logs due to the lack of new comings and routine days. Although my hours have been longer, the same responsibilities are covered just to a repeated extent. The only significant thing that happened today was the work-conditioning patient who had made a visit to the hospital a while back returned. To follow protocol, I was asked to take his blood pressure and heart rate before during and after his exercises. The therapist then double-checked my work.

Date: 7-28-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsToday we had both “one on one” patients scheduled to come in, but thankfully their times were opposite, so we had no conflictions. I had worked with the same one I usually do, and it is awesome because I am actually seeing many improvements from her. For example, she used to walk an average of 4 laps around our clinic. Today, however, she managed to kick out 6 laps! I also increased her weight increments with therapist approval and she knocked those exercises out no problem. She might have been able to go up one more pound with how well she was preforming! These mental rewards are what I look forward to the most and noticing that I can make a difference.

Date: 7-29-15 Hours Worked: 5 hrsSo far we have been very fortunate to have the floating therapists coverage, this morning however, there was none. Our clinic had known in advance that this would occur, so we had scheduled the patients around accordingly. Most were reluctant enough to completely switch their day, which means that tomorrow looks to be quite congested. My activities for today included observing an ASTYM procedure and observing what we call the “snakebite”. The snakebite is a syringe-like device that suctions itself to a scar and breaks up the scar tissue. It was fascinating seeing the elasticity of the skin as well as the reaction from the patient! Normally this causes no pain or discomfort.

Date: 7-30-15 Hours Worked: 8 hrsWhat was thought to be a clustered day turned out to be an average day. Either that or we are all just becoming really good at our job! Poor Bles was the only therapist on duty today and unfortunately we had a lot of patients due for re-evaluations. This means she has spend at least an extra ten minutes with each one and document a substantial amount of paperwork. Days like these we work to the best of our abilities to keep the ball rolling for the other patient’s time sake.


G. Upon completing my internship, I hope to have gained superb knowledge in the physical therapy field and have applied to a PTA school with my new qualifications and experiences.

Over the course of these 100 hours, I have learned how to correctly obtain patients’ blood pressure and heart rate. I have also gained confidence in reading the names of exercises on the patients’ log and demonstrating exercises without acknowledging help from the physical therapist. I still have yet to identify any prospective PTA schools, but my plans may have changed. I may take a year to do some independent studies after graduation. Plans still undecided.

H. By the last week of my internship experience, I hope to be able to identify patient’s current rehabilitation needs and to suggest the proper exercises to the head physical therapist without him making any corrections.

I am not able to fully assess a therapy program relating to a patient’s current rehabilitation needs, but I am able to make suggestions and educated suggestions as to what equipment will be needed for a certain diagnoses. At this current period, I feel most knowledgeable

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assessing an ankle or shoulder injury. I also feel confident with the protocol related to the neck.

Section 4: Critical Thinking ExperiencesThese past few weeks have been dedicated to making adjustments towards the

instability of a permanent clinical therapist. Life is not always going to go as planned and sometimes curveballs get thrown at us, and this is a perfect example of that. Patients fear at the thought of change, and hearing they would have replacements aroused insecurity within them. Some even considered cancelling all appointments until Gerry or Katie returned. With that being said, it was of utmost importance to make all patients feel as comfortable and as welcomed as possible upon introduction of the covering therapist. This meant that I had to step up my game. Just because these patients were receiving a new therapist didn’t mean they had to sacrifice other amenities. I think I did well retrieving the proper equipment and tools to advance a patient on to his/her exercises. By being proactive, it causes less buildup and more efficiency throughout the clinic. Something I could improve on is my communication to the other techs as to what I am doing/plan on doing regarding a patient’s protocol. I did feel a bit flustered at some points though because protocol was being misinterpreted frequently among all. Surrounding clinics use different names for exercises, but they can mean the same thing, so you can see where confusion arises. I felt bad interrupting, but sometimes it was necessary in order to figure out the correct denotation.

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Section 1: Submission InformationName: Michelle GeisslerSetting: Accelerated Physical Therapy/Athletico/ClinicDates: May 18th 2015 - Aug 12th 2015Report Number: 5Hours performed: 81.5 hoursTotal Hours Accumulated/Total Hours Required: 501/500


Date: 7-31-15 Hours Worked: 9 hrsToday is the last day of needing two floating therapists since Gerry is returning on Monday. Jenn and Bles were the coverage for today, and I am going to miss Jenn. She was a joy to be around and a phenomenal therapist/teacher. As for Bles, she is still on coverage for Katie’s maternity leave for about two more months, so I have the pleasure of working with her for my final weeks here. Every MWF at 1:30 we have an elderly patient come in with her husband that uses a walker to assist with mobility. I am almost always the one denoted to working with her and counting her exercises because she has a weakened memory. Today, however, the therapist suggested putting her exercises on a timer to substitute for my counting. Turned out to be a well-implemented idea!

Date: 8-3-15 Hours Worked: 9 hrsGerry’s back!!! It had been a long two weeks without him and we missed him dearly. Everyone was so loving and giddy today to see that he had returned. Now only if Katie would bring her baby by for a visit! Gerry had got caught up in conversation quite frequently, so to ensure time efficiency for patients, I pre-attached stem pads to machines for quick application and started the treatment prior to the massage work. E-stem is a 15-minute treatment, so by doing this out of order allowed for Gerry to take his time on his current patient and eliminate the time waiting for the patient next in line.

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Date: 8-4-15 Hours Worked: 9 hrsWe had a significant amount on new patients come in today, which is uplifting for the clinic! The only downside to having so many initial evaluations is that it disrupts the flow of our work pace. This is because the therapist can spend anywhere from 30-45 minutes assessing the patients’ injury and creating protocol. The good thing for me, however, is that I get to touch base with more of the patients and assist them with any questions or needed demonstrations. For example, today we had a fairly new patient with exercises related to the knee area. He had forgotten how to perform a knee extension as well as a long arc quad with weights exercise. This meant that I had to execute it for his understanding and give the reasoning for those exercises.

Date: 8-5-15 Hours Worked: 9 hrsThe pace of work has finally begun to pick up and return to normal speeds. When I arrived today, there were four patients nearing the end of their appointments. It never fails for all of them to end at the same time, creating a clump for Gerry and Bles. Bles is the ASTYM queen, so I spent most of my day observing the procedure and prepping the patient/table with the tools, cocoa butter, wipes, and towels. I was also active with my daily responsibilities as well as learning some more information pertaining to the front desk. Additionally, I finally learned how to pull up a patient’s protocol on the therapist’s computer, and this has been a great benefit because I am now able to print log sheets after the current one is maxed out.

Date: 8-6-15 Hours Worked: 9 hrsWe had our monthly staff meeting today. We were actually supposed to have it two weeks ago, but because of Gerry’s absence it was put on hold until now. Topics discussed included the revenue of our clinic and how to promote more clientele, eliminating cell phone usage among patients, parking issues, and how to acclimate to situations such as the one that had just occurred with the lack of coverage. Most of these are reoccurring problems, so a new system needs to be advised to diminish and correct these issues.

Date: 8-7-15 Hours Worked: 9 hrsGerry was the only therapist here today because Bles had to cover for the clinic in Gary, so he had a busy schedule. It didn’t seem that way when I walked in though because there was only one patient in the clinic at the time! I wasn’t much help today due to a cough and runny nose, so I was trying to avoid interaction with the patients and staff at all costs in order to avoid the spread of an infection. To compensate for that, I took this time to expand on the project and correct any final details relating to it.

Date: 8-10-15 Hours Worked: 9 hrsBles was the only one here this morning because the other PT tech had called in sick. I felt bad because she had four patients on the tables and was attending to them all by herself! The first thing she had me do was reach to the top shelf to grab some band-aides because she was too short to reach them. I was kept pretty busy today running back and forth fetching stem pads and ice packs for treatment. The patient we had recently been seeing for an ACL repair had her surgery, so it was fascinating seeing her incisions and protocol for the day. Her father was also with her asking me questions about the recovery and surgery since I had been in her same exact shoes before.

Date: 8-11-15 Hours Worked: 9.5 hrsAwesome news! The “one on one” patient I work with who normally uses a rolling walker for mobility walked in with a cane today! It is so rewarding to see progression as significant as that. Her goal was to advance to the cane and low and behold that day has finally come! Since she had been doing so well we increased her weights and made some more difficult modifications to her to exercises. Once she left, the other “one on one” patient had been scheduled and it was the exact opposite scenario. This patient has been regressing and it is heart breaking to see her like this. I have grown so attached to some of these patients they are making it difficult to say goodbye. Also, Kathy was sick again this morning so I came in half an hour earlier than usual to assist Gerry with all his patients. Normal exercises and responsibilities were met.

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Date: 8-12-15 Hours Worked: 9 hrsMy last day!!! I never thought this day would come. It was definitely a bittersweet feeling because I felt accomplished completing 500 hours, but at the same time I felt sad because everyone was so sincere and sentimental with goodbyes. A pizza party was even thrown on my behalf! The morning hours started off so slow, but once the afternoon hit it picked up and the clinic was thriving! Patients were in great spirits and many wished me luck with the rest of my studies and thanked me for my time spent assisting them with their therapy. I am going to miss this place.



Looking back to the beginning of this internship, I ended up learning a substantial amount of information. From ASTYMS to snakebites and extensionators, I can identify just about any exercise and assist a patient through their entire appointment by myself until its time for the therapists deep tissue work. I still have yet to identify any prospective PTA schools, but my plans have changed. I may take a year to do some independent studies after graduation. Plans still undecided.

B. By the last week of my internship experience, I hope to be able to identify a patient’s current rehabilitation needs and to suggest the proper exercises to the head physical therapist without him making any corrections.

Upon completion of my internship, I feel confident assessing a patient with an ankle injury. After reviewing the protocol from similar injuries, I can identify the beginning exercises, along with follow up, for a patient with a broken ankle. As for the other injuries, I can make suggestions and educated guesses as to what equipment and protocol will be needed for that particular diagnoses.

Section 4: Critical Thinking Experiences

For my last journal entry I thought I would expand on my overall work experience with patients whom were one strangers. Relationship building skills were always a struggle of mine, but this experience had allowed me to grow in that form. My first week I was a quiet individual who shied away from taking action on my own and initiating conversation with patients. I quickly learned that I needed to change that aspect if I wanted to gain something special from this internship, and that I did. I made some great relationships with many age groups. Some people I wish to stay in contact with because everyone had their own slice of wisdom to share. The bonds created among us I will hold dearly and keep close with me forever. If I have learned one thing, it is that everyone could use a friend no matter what age you are. I couldn’t be happier with the friendships and life lessons I have gained from this experience.

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HK49200 Project Plan and DevelopmentStudent Name: Michelle GeisslerProject Topic/Title: Development of a marketing strategy for free injury screens offered by the sponsoring organizationTarget Population: Gym members of the surrounding community

1.Discuss how the project topic was identified. What is the purpose of the project?

The identification of this project was determined through the discussion of the overtraining of certain muscles and excessive weight bearing exercises without proper form causing the strain of ligament and joints, thus requiring the need for rehabilitation therapy. The purpose of this project is to bring in a greater amount of patients to strengthen, condition, and prevent further damage/injury to eliminate the need of surgical intervention.

2. Identify 2 educational/behavioral objectives that identify the anticipated outcome of the project. These objectives should directly correlate to how you plan to evaluate the impact of the project itself.

A. The patients will strengthen, condition, and prevent further injury by consulting with a therapist to implement and execute conditioning/strengthening rehabilitation exercises that enhance and meet their goals for a better quality of life.

B. Patients who are not injured, but seek strategies of injury prevention, will assess and inquire educational information and training standards upon signing up with our program.

3. Identify how the project will be evaluated (note: planning and evaluation of your project should be based on the objectives identified in # 2).

Measure the understanding of the patients’ knowledge with survey questions before and upon completion of the program. Ex: What can cause potential injuries during workout sessions? What is the purpose of rest between repetitions? How long is an adequate length of stretching?

Establish a baseline based on research related to injury rates that ultimately require surgical intervention.

What percentage of people in the therapy subject group still feel they will need surgical intervention after the therapy process compared to the baseline data?

How many facilities have agreed to comply with our program? How many participants have shown interest for similar programs in the past? For our

current program? What incentives are most encouraging to convince people to join a new program?

4. Identify what resources will be needed in development of the project Social Media

o Facebook/Twitter/Instagram Marketing Materials

o Flyers and Posters Paper, ink, printing, design/screening materials

Exercise Program Materials (course of action) Paper, ink, folders, equipment

Business cards

5. Bullet out the specific steps in development of the project/program week by week Week 1: Identify target market facilities and set dates for program launch

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Week 2: Collaborate with facility owners and managers to schedule a meeting regarding observation timesWeek 3: Use marketing flyers to promote intentions of the project for target populationWeek 4: Weekly observation for potential clientsWeek 5: Introduction of physical therapist and Athletico Physical Therapy to member. Inquire about concerns and current pain levels. Inform member of benefits and course of action associated with members concernWeek 6: Follow-up material and persons info acquired: name, insurance, time availability (days/times)Week 7: Schedule patient for first free injury screening in current physical therapy locationWeek 8: Initial Evaluation of patient and advise a course of action towards recoveryWeek 9: Begin routine therapy sessions

6. Discuss the layout of how the project will be delivered / implemented. What role will you play in implementation and delivery of the project? Who else will be involved? What will this entail?

We will begin identifying workout facilities within the proximity of our clinic, traveling to the potential sites to pitch our development to facility managers. This will be marketed through the usage of flyers to promote and inform not only the facility managers and staff, but prospective patients as well. Upon agreement or interest by a facility manager, a meeting will be scheduled to discuss the free injury screening and inquiry process more in depth. This process includes how, where, and when a patient will be assessed. By cohabitation, our clinic not only gains benefits, but the facilities as well. Completing the therapy program will elongate gym memberships, thus creating greater revenue for the business, decreasing those members eluted from injury. Patients will be approached at the end of their workouts with an informational flyer as well as an introduction to the therapist and Athletico. We will explain to the patient the purpose of our program, and what our goals are. The patient can either wish to seek prevention methods prior to injury, or strengthening/conditioning methods post injury (broadly speaking). Once the interest is captured, the steps to inquiring time availability, insurance coverage, etc., will be noted in a separate meeting with the patient and facility manager. We will then tell the patient about our social media market and state that for every “like” or “follow” or “post” towards our program he/she will receive one additional day of free treatment.

My role in implementation and delivery requires me to take notes and observe the settings around while developing efficient marketing strategies. I will also be passing out flyers and introducing the program with a broad aspect. Facility managers and members will be conversing with the therapist, someone of a higher educated background, knowledge, and professionalism, for questions concerning what details the program entails. The PT techs will also be available for any additional educational purposes.

7. How did you decide on the project concept and layout/evaluation measures? Did you research to see what the best methodology/most successful methods for implementation of a similar project are, target populations, etc? (This is important because you don’t want to just guess as to what “might” work but has been shown to work in similar projects or programs). Please discuss how your came up with the basis of your project below to enhance the potential outcome.

People like to have statistics made available to them for comparison and reliability of something new. Our evaluation measures consist of therapeutic outcomes that have created a better quality of life, reducing the need for surgery after certain injuries. Previously mentioned is our futuristic over all goal, but for this project the main goal is to get patients to sign up and into the clinic for initial evaluation. This is one of the most crucial proponents of the program, because without patients, we have no project. Evaluation measures entail incentives, and these incentives evolve from our resources. Marketing usage, especially social media, could be the highest benefactor for us for two reasons: it comes with zero cost, and patients can market for our company at their own beneficiary. Many facilities around us have used social media to advertise upcoming events and special deals. With smart phones these days, nearly everyone has the ability to check Facebook time and time again, so why not take advantage of that marketing tactic? The more we get the word out, the higher the chances of creating a successful program.

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HK49200 Final SummaryName: Michelle GeisslerOrganization: Accelerated Physical Therapy (Athlectico)Total Hours Accumulated: 501 hours

Provide a detailed overview of how your time on the internship was actually spent based on the following areas below. Utilize your clinical logs. Your major activities should be outlined according to the identified objectives under each main heading below with overall successes/accomplishments in each. Be objective in what you indicate. This means you want to demonstrate numbers/factual information that states the extent to what you did whenever applicable or appropriate. This is a report, not a clinical log so this should be very detailed in content about key experiences. Headings to be discussed of your involvement include areas under: Administration, Program Services, Planning and Facilities, Maintenance, General Experiences. What were your responsibilities? What did you accomplish? What did you learn? What were your strengths to each? What could you improve on? Highlight your experiences and skills. If an area does not apply to your experiences, please do not delete it, but leave it as a blank letter topic and indicate Not Applicable.

A. AdministrationA1. Planning/Development of Programs:

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The free-injury screening had been a major part of the internship experience at Athletico. One of the tasks I was given was to develop a flyer and Facebook page that informed the public about an upcoming project we were doing relating to injury prevention and education. It was also used as a clinical advertisement to bring more clientele into our business. Athletico funded the printing for the flyers, as there were no additional costs for the social media advertisement. What I established was a 4x6 inch plastic document containing information pertaining to the screening and where the screening was located: cooperation name, address, phone number, and email. This screening allowed for people to gain knowledge pertaining to injury. This knowledge consisted of how to prevent injury, or further injury, during every day routines and exercises. It also allowed for people to condition and strengthen for a desired outcome after consulting with a therapist about their concerns. This resulted in one patient during the final week of my practicum experience that participated in the free screening. During week six we inquired his personal information such as insurance, birth date, etc., and continued to schedule his free screening.

A2.Facility Management/Supervision:

Part of the daily responsibilities as an intern was to work individually with a patient while the therapists and other staff were occupied. This involved me learning the protocol for each individual patient in order to run through their appointment smoothly, asking the therapist limited questions. I was also in charge of maintaining a suitable work environment for both the staff and patients. This consisted of me assisting patients with exercises, prepping the table area with equipment, prepping the therapist with equipment, cleansing the work area, and wiping down exercise tools. Paper work was also transferred from the front desk to the patient or therapist through my assistance.

A3. Assistance/Observation in Administrative Responsibilities:

My first and second week was when most of my observations took place. I couldn’t approach a patient until I was introduced by the therapist and approved by the patient for observations. Since I was occupied with learning the field portion, I wasn’t able to observe the front desk responsibilities until later on. I could have been more assertive in the beginning, engaging myself in conversation with the patients, but I held back because I feel I didn’t belong at first. But like I have said time and time again, this experience has given me great relationship building skills, which everyone appreciated. By making all these observations, I was able to fully assist and help out immediately. Visual learning is the best aspect for me.

B. Programs/ServicesB1. Performance of Health Screenings/Physical Assessment/Exercise Testing:

My responsibilities during an initial evaluation included giving the therapist the proper equipment for measurements. It also involved me taking the patient to the private room and asking them to fill out certain documents necessary for the clinic and therapist. Initial evaluations were always done in the private room simply for privacy reasons until the patient felt comfortable out on the floor. Before any of this was allowed to happen by me, however, the therapist would introduce myself to ensure it was okay with the patient for me to be of assistance and make observations. Every single patient was cooperative and I had no problems and my help was greatly appreciated by all.

B2.Consultations/Health Education:Consultations occurred during the initial evaluations, mentioned above.

B3. Application of Exercise Principles:

Many patients were forgetful of their exercise routines, so that was always an opportune moment for me to assist. I had become so educated that the therapist no longer had to demonstrate to me on how to preform an exercise or when to apply it. This allowed me to accomplish independency from the therapist and also allowed the patient to accomplish his

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or her exercises in a timely manor. From this I leaned to be self confident when applying exercises and also when assisting patient with any exercise related question.

B4. Application of Public Health/Health Promotion/Education Principles:

Throughout each therapy session, patients were educated on how to improve their exercise and receive the greatest beneficiaries from them. There would be occasions when I would give my educated input to those who asked it, but I would then recommend them to therapist for the most professional opinion. This allowed me to learn my own standings as an educator and the detailed knowledge that I must learn if I desire to follow down the career path of physical therapy. I thoroughly enjoy being the person someone depends on to improve his or her own health.

B5. Other:

Not Applicable

C. Supervision and FacilitiesC1.Facility Supervision:

Approximately once a week, my supervisor’s boss would make an appearance at the clinic. He would stay for nearly half a day running numbers and making observations of the staff and how systems were running. Of course we were always on our best behavior, but when he was there we were sure to make no mistakes. Other than that, my supervisor ran the facility and we had monthly meetings to correct any mistakes and ensure a phenomenal quality of work among all. D. MarketingD1. Development/Distribution of Marketing Materials:

One of the tasks I was given was to develop a flyer and Facebook page that informed the public about an upcoming project we were doing relating to injury prevention and education. It was also used as a clinical advertisement to bring more clientele into our business. Athletico funded the printing for the flyers, as there were no additional costs for the social media advertisement. What I established was a 4x6 inch plastic document containing information pertaining to the screening and where the screening was located: cooperation name, address, phone number, and email. For distribution, they were handed out at the doorway of Planet Fitness as gym members were leaving. We also placed some flyers on the front desk with approval from the managers.

E. General Duties/ExpectationsE1.Self Education:

I was expected to learn the naming of tools and purposes for them. Protocol also had certain names given for each exercise, which advanced my learning by memorizing the short-handed writing. Educating myself with how to preform on the equipment and the purposes for each allowed me to educate others with the reasoning behind a specific exercise given.

E2.General Tasks/Responsibilities as Assigned:

Responsibilities included checking the daily schedule for re-evaluations, initial evaluations, progress notes, and cancellations (with reasoning).After reviewing the schedule, protocol was reviewed with the therapist to concur any additional changes for the day. Once confirmed with therapist, patients were greeted and warm-up exercises were administered. Tables were properly equipped and stations were prepped.The therapist was then notified with any issues or concerns caused during sessions. If requested, ultrasounds, ice/hot packs, and electrical stem were applied. Future appointment dates were confirmed and patient was discharged for next session.

Project Summary: Provide a detailed summary of your project including the following information. project title, target population, purpose for the project, project objectives,

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strategies used in planning and development/implementation of the project, an overview of the delivery of the project, evaluation of project objectives (were they met), and strengths and weaknesses in planning and delivery of the project. Also include what you feel you took out of the project planning and development process that you feel enhances your professional experience in the field.

My project consisted of the development of a marketing strategy for free injury screens offered by the sponsoring organization. This project was intended for gym members of the surrounding community, namely those incorporated with Planet Fitness. The purpose of this was to bring in a greater amount of patients to the clinic to strengthen, condition, and prevent further damage/injury to eliminate the need of surgical intervention. I created two objectives to correlate with my project implementation: The patients will strengthen, condition, and prevent further injury by consulting with a therapist to implement and execute conditioning/strengthening rehabilitation exercises that enhance and meet their goals for a better quality of life; Patients who are not injured, but seek strategies of injury prevention, will assess and inquire educational information and training standards upon signing up with our program. My strategies included advertisement of numerous forms, strongly focusing on that of social media. Flyers were also made with information including free injury screening, our number, location, and email. Surveys were established for those interested in the program to gather baseline knowledge of their experience with injuries and prevention. Delivery of the project began with introduction of our plans to the nearest gym, Planet Fitness. A meeting was then scheduled with facility managers to discuss our program launch and any issues or concerns with the project. All plans were accepted. After observations and making acquaintances with some of the regulars at the gym, we did have one person who was interested it the program. Multiple knee surgeries had been influencing his work out routines in a negative manor and he sought out to find a beneficial change. Around week 6 we scheduled him for his free screening and he was in attendance at week 9. The objectives were met as we educated the patient on ways to strengthen, condition, and prevent further injury. This was completed through the take home exercise manual given to him that included the correct stretching and warm-up activities pre-workout. Although he did not return for routine therapy, one patient’s knowledge can go a long way. He can now spread the word about our free screening and about how to properly execute exercises and warm ups to prevent damage within the body.

Before this project was completed, I had limited knowledge as to how much strategic implementing and precise detailing went into creating a simple task. I had gone into this project with such broad spectrums only to realize my planning would not accomplish anything. My supervisor and my father, who is a strong business professional, set me on the correct track to making a successful development. I will take away from this developmental process the reality of the real world and the importance of taking the time to plan in order to achieve a goal. There are going to be roadblocks along the way as well, but not everything is a straight shot. Creativity is a vital characteristic to own in the business game, and I believe it is one of the essential qualities needed throughout the journey to reaching a goal. Experiencing this first hand will give me an advantage for futuristic tasks such as this.

Learning Objectives: At the beginning of the semester you established 2 learning objectives on your application form relative to what you wanted to take out of the internship experience. Identify what those learning objectives are (1 and 2). Identify if the objective was completed, and explain what you did during the internship to work towards the learning objective identified. If the learning objective(s) were not completed, indicate specifically why it/they were not completed as part of the expectation of the internship.

I. Upon completing my internship, I hope to have gained superb knowledge in the physical therapy field and have applied to a PTA school with my new qualifications and experiences.

Upon completion of my internship, I partially satisfied the objective stated above. I learned countless tactics such as how to acquire blood pressure, heart rate, the purpose of electrical stimulation, what protocol relates to what injuries, when ASTYM in necessary, how to educate, how to properly execute ultrasounds, how to correctly asses a patient for initial evaluation, re-evaluation, and discharge, among

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many more. The reason this objective is only partially completed is because I have yet to apply to a PTA school. This has not been achieved because I do not believe physical therapy is the field I wasn’t to pursue. During this experience I grew as and individual and learned a lot about my self, and it has made me uncertain of the career path I want to follow.

J. By the last week of my internship experience, I hope to be able to identify a patient’s current rehabilitation needs and suggest the proper exercises to the head physical therapist without him making any corrections.

Upon completion of my internship, I feel confident assessing a patient with an ankle injury. After reviewing the protocol from similar injuries, I can identify the beginning exercises, along with follow up, for a patient with a broken ankle. As for the other injuries, I can make suggestions and educated guesses as to what equipment and protocol will be needed for that particular diagnoses. To work towards this, I carefully observed initial evaluations and took vigorous notes pertaining to the ankle injury in particular. We had two patients with a broken ankle during the duration of my internship, so I was able to work with them from the beginning to the end evaluating and creating protocol for my supervisor to obtain.

Personal Philosophy: Upon completion of the internship experience, you will have developed a sense of strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes of the profession in various ways. Summarize your philosophy of the field, including your personal and professional beliefs that you feel you will take with you as a full time professional.

During the duration of my internship experience, I have grown as an individual personally, professionally, and academically. At this age and time frame of my life there are many distractions, doubts, and responsibilities to be attended to relating to finding a career. By actively participating throughout this internship with Athletico, I was given an experience of a lifetime with an exceptionally phenomenal staff. Not only did they provide a significant learning environment to accommodate my studies, but they also taught me responsibility, character, and charisma. I breached out of my comfort zone, exploring new projects and programs excelling towards perfection. They never failed to pass up a teaching opportunity and this allowed me to develop superb knowledge in the physical therapy work field. Relationship building had been my main concern prior to this internship, but it now no longer threatens me. I can approach any person or any situation with confidence and maintain a steady relationship among them. However, what I am most reluctant to take away from this career building experience is self-confidence. Allowing me to work independent from the physical therapists and taking control of patients’ appointments upon therapist approval has greatly enhanced the pride within myself. Knowing that both the patient and therapist trusted me within such a short time frame truly boosts moral, and this is one mental aspect I will hold on to as a full time professional. This has by far been one the most informational and beneficial professional experiences I have been given the pleasure to attend. Unfortunately, I do not foresee myself developing a future with physical therapy at the moment. Among the great leaders that have demonstrated passion and dedication towards their career, I would like to find that same attitude within a different field that I can honestly say I love and want to excel in. I value each and every hour dedicated by them to making me a strong, educated, successful student. My supervisors are some of the most influential people I have ever met, and I hope to achieve the same levels of leadership once I find my calling.

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HK 492 Intersnhip Packet

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