Self-Assessment Year 2

Second year of physical therapy school was one of the most difficult times of my life. Although
it has been challenging, I have seen a large amount of both personal and professional growth and
development within myself. Personally, I have become stronger mentally and physically. I have
grown in my relationships with my friends, my family, and most importantly God. Professionally
I have expanded my knowledge greatly. I have studied hard and put forth great effort to truly
understand the material to the best of my ability. I have taken the initiative to get involved and
have had the opportunity to have many life changing experiences including attending an Early
Mobility Conference. Despite all the hardships that I have faced this past year, I know that I am
exactly where I am supposed to be doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing.
There were many things that facilitated my learning this year. Both Dr. Haines and Dr.
Schubbe were huge in my growth and learning during year two. Both of their love for teaching is
evident as is their passion for physical therapy. Having my study group also helped facilitate my
learning. We did a good job of initially studying on our own to learn the content and then
studying in a group to challenge each other and make us think. Talking with others really helped
me to realize what I know and what I am not confident in. Hearing things explained in different
ways than how the professor explained them can help me to put the pieces together and truly
understand it. Being involved in MOVE! and Hands for Health both facilitated my learning as
well. It helped me to be able to apply what I was learning to real patients through both of those
opportunities. Learning neuro can be difficult, but applying the concepts and seeing them
firsthand was very helpful.
I found that my learning was hindered throughout the second semester. Being taught by
professors in Houghton can be difficult as sometimes it is hard for me personally to pay close
attention to and understand what they are saying. The connection can be faulty or there are
technology issues that may disrupt the learning environment on occasion. The content in the
spring semester was not as exciting to me as learning about neuro was which made it more
difficult for me to learn. There seemed to be much more confusion among many aspects of
classes throughout the spring semester which also impacted my learning.
I still need to further develop my confidence. I have a tendency to second guess or doubt myself
which is something that I have been actively working on. As I gain more clinical experience, my
confidence will increase. To work toward facilitating the development of my confidence, I am
going to look to evidence-based practice and journal articles so that I will be able to have a good
background and be able to answer questions thrown my way. The more confidence I can display,
the more my patients will trust and have confidence in me which will then result in me having
more confidence in myself. I need to continue to develop my creativity and ability to think on my
feet and adapt. Participating in MOVE! and Hands for Health have both helped me do just that. I
am going to continue to get involved as much as I can. I want to continue to put myself in
situations where I am challenged and must adapt and respond in real time in front of people.