Summer Demeuse

9/14/18
PTH 665 Seminar I
Reflection #1

Over the last few weeks I have gained more insight into the dynamic profession of

Physical Therapy that has made me feel that I have chosen the right profession. At first, I was

slightly mislead on how our seminar classes would be structured, but using it to debrief on topics

and having reflective journals is beneficial for our emotional well-being along with providing us

with resources to better ourselves as future Physical Therapists. When I was told that we had to

get another textbook on top of all of the others for our classes and read an extra book about a

mental illness, I was worried that I would struggle with the abundance of reading. After reading

the first chapter in the Purtilo book and choosing a book that I could personally relate to, I

realized that it would be more enjoyable than difficult. Although we have not dove into the

semester too much yet, it feels a lot more like a physical therapy program than it did this summer

as far as classes go. Starting this semester has made me extremely excited for my future as a

Physical Therapist.

After reading chapter 4 in the textbook for seminar, I realized how much I can relate to it.

I took a lot into consideration about self-care and self-respect. Over the course of my life so far, I

have always had to nurture others including my mother and grandmother. I was not presented

with the option to go to college after high school since I was practically in charge of caring for

my mother along with contributing to financial stability. After working so hard in high school,

my aunt told me that I had to also take care of myself and my future. With that being said, she

practically forced me to go to college. Over the past few years, I have had a really hard time
putting myself first but I have made many small improvements to focus on myself and do things

for my own happiness. This chapter has helped me realize all of the small obstacles I have

overcome and how much progress I have made since I have started trying to put myself and my

own happiness before others.

Growing up, I was faced with challenges that a lot of my peers did not have to deal with.

In high school, I had to juggle sports, house-hold work, exceptional grades, a job or sometimes

even two, and caring for my mother. I have always considered myself to have efficient time

management skills, but it wasn’t until the time management lecture during seminar that I realized

there is even more strategies that could help me use my time more effectively.

I was always one of those students with a planner with me constantly along with

hundreds of sticky notes slapped everywhere. I always was making lists of daily tasks and even a

to-do list for each subject. After listening to Harley’s lecture, I realized my sticky-note obsession

is a little unsystematic. I am fantastic at daily and even weekly planning which are at the top of

the productivity pyramid that Harley showed us in class, but I am not so good at identifying my

goals, values, and roles outside of school and being a student. In my entry interview with Dr.

Zipple, he went over my questions that I filled out and asked me a few times why I did not have

any personal goals or areas that I would like to grow and improve in my personal life. Coming to

this realization made me feel extremely inadequate. I have always considered any personal goals

that I have school related. In high school I had to get good grades to get into college. During

undergrad, I had to get outstanding grades to get into PT school. Being successful in school to

provide myself with a better future than my past has always been my number one goal, and since

that meeting with Dr. Zipple I have realized that it is important to have actual personal goals to

keep myself sane.

 The first two semesters of this program have been extremely different. Fall semester has

given me a greater understanding on how this program will shape each one of us as future

physical therapists. The first semester with anatomy taught me a solid foundation for future

classes. Although I felt that the anatomy course was very PA oriented, we did learn a lot of

information over the summer that is applicable to us. Development was a beneficial introductory

course for the program since we learned very in depth about development of all of our systems

and very broadly how they are changing along with ways to offset the changes as we age. I think

that our imaging course over the summer will be a beneficial tool to begin our understanding as

we transition into direct access. Although we are not completely aware of all of the diseases and

ways to differentially diagnose, getting a basis for understanding and seeing abnormalities on

radiographs is very helpful. Now that we have some base knowledge from the summer semester,

diving into what our profession really entails has been extremely exciting. Even though we have

only been in class for three weeks this fall, I have learned an abundance of information that has

made me more confident and excited about the future. Starting this semester off with hands on

practice such as interacting with classmates, performing different lifts and transfers, measuring

ROM, and even learning the basis for differential diagnosis allows us to get our foot in the door

for what is next to come.

Overall, my experience in the program so far has been a lot of work yet very motivating.

In addition to foundational knowledge, I have learned a lot about myself as a person. This

seminar class is very beneficial as it forces me to reflect on myself in order to acknowledge my

strengths and assess what weaknesses that I may need to improve on. Knowing that this is just

the beginning to a long life of helping others gives me the drive to persevere.