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Clear Horizons Early College High School

Mentor Interview

Physical Therapy

Marianna Ghattas

Senior Independent Study Mentorship

Mrs. Zehentner

29 September 2023
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Summary and Analysis

Young adults in search for the ideal career tend to expect a type of person who is

overtaken with passion and enthusiasm towards their job, however; Mr. Richard is not that

person. Mr. Richard does love his job just as much as any other employee would, maybe even

more, but he maintains a realistic outlook when it comes to work. When interviewed, he was

asked “So, if you made minimum wage at your job, would you still do it?” The interviewer was

met with a “hard no” within an instant. He went further on to explain that there are life goals a

person needs to achieve within their life like, buying a car or house, none of these things are

possible without the correct means. Through the interview the interviewer got a feel for how Mr.

Richard set boundaries between his work and personal lives. The fulfillment emotionally and

financially which Mr. Richard experienced in the work field allowed for a very content personal

life. Both passion and financial sufficiency play a large role in potential job choices.
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Mentor Essay

“Medicine lengthens our life, physical therapy enriches it,” this is how Mr. Richard

described the field of Physical Therapy when asked to encompass the whole field in a phrase.

Mr. Richard is a licensed physical therapy assistant (PTA) who agreed to be my mentor for the

duration of this semester. He hopes to later on, go back to school and apply to be a Doctor of

Physical Therapy (DPT). My primary goal for the interview was to gain knowledge and

perspective from an experienced individual who has been through the process like my mentor.

This was done in hopes of determining if I am interested in pursuing physical therapy as a career

in the long run.

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To begin with, physical therapy is often described as a form of treatment which includes

certain exercises, massages, and other forms of hands-on care based on physical stimuli to

improve the quality of life. First walking into the mentorship, Mr. Richard had acknowledged the

point of his whole job which is to give back and to be an act of service. When asked what he had

hoped to accomplish going into this field and what inspires him, he responded along the lines of

getting to see firsthand the progress a patient can make through treatment. He explained a

scenario which he often observes, “… from using a wheelchair progressing to a walker

progressing to a small cane to not needing to use anything at all, that’s really nice to see.”

Patients go from being constantly aggravated by their limited movement to being able to

overcome and even strengthen what started of as an obstacle. After a couple more questions Mr.

Richard was asked, “Were you hesitant about this career field at first?” To which he answered

with, “Absolutely not, I saw my grandmother have a lot of success when she was battling with an

injured hip, she was just so happy, all the care she received was very informative, so absolutely

not I knew this was something I wanted to do.” Personally, I am not finding this same experience

with determining my career field. To be reassured by the decision made is something many do

not experience. Many people tend to be drawn towards a specific field which touches them

personally. Physical therapy has not been apart of my life on a personal level, but it is a career

which I do find enjoyment in so far and do hope to further as I move through this mentorship.

Later on, in the interview when asked “Were there any memorable moments you felt

greatly discourages or encouraged towards your future career?” Mr. Richard responded with,

“So, umm, there’s been talks with certain insurance companies, Medicare, CMS provided

insurance that makes assumptions, or they came up with an idea that they’re gonna cut PTA’s

reimbursement rates by 8% starting in 2021 it’s been active…” He continues by explaining how
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instances such as this can be very discouraging towards his profession because when harsh

obstacles come one’s way it is much easier to simply give up but day in and day out with budget

cuts and shortages my mentor and many other employes go back to work everyday in hopes of

prevailing against the struggles. Towards the end of the interview Mr. Richard was asked, “What

is your favorite part of this job?” To which he responded with, “Community care, you know

getting to know my community getting to see the people I help while I am out and about, while I

am grocery shopping, they remember who I am I remember who they are, it is just you know

overall large picture you see a community heal rather than just an individual.” Physical therapy is

one of the only if not the only field in medicine which allows for such a strong patient doctor

bond. In the clinic patients will typically come in twice a week for a duration of sixteen weeks

before a second evaluation determine whether treatment should continue or end.

All in all, Mr. Richard was asked numerous questions and answered them eloquently and

fully. I found the most compelling answers provided to be the connection made between even

though, this job is beyond ideal, it has a decent salary and is flexible giving the doctor more

freedom, the doctor is still faced with a number of unwavering issues that can be difficult to

handle. While developing into a career, many search in hopes of finding their perfect job.

Through multiple conversation with Mr. Richard and this enlighten interview I found that no job

is perfect. Some jobs can be ideal towards a person compared to others, but all have their

downsides. An employee needs to have enough experience and confidence in both their skills

and passion in order to succeed.

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Work Cited

Pinon, Richard. Personal Interview. 22 September 2023.

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Transcript

Marianna- When you started in the field of physical therapy what did you hope to accomplish?

Mr. Richard- I mean the main thing was to see patient that I see who work hard here meet their

goals and of course I wanted some self-accomplishments for my growth and my education.

Marianna- What inspires you in your field of expertise?

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Mr. Richard- Again, going back to seeing peoples progress, some inspiring scenarios we see

people go from the ground up from using a wheelchair progressing to a walker progressing to a

small cane to not needing to use anything at all, that’s really nice to see.

Marianna- If you had a time machine, would you do anything differently in regard to your

career?

Mr. Richard- I feel like personally yes, you know there’s certain things in the past with the

knowledge I know now about how to navigate through different scenarios. Professionally I feel

like I have the verbiage the experience to change some of those things, but in reality, I mean you

can’t do that.

Marianna- Were you hesitant about this career field at first?

Mr. Richard- Absolutely not, I saw my grandmother have a lot of success when she was battling

with an injured hip, she was just so happy, all the care she received was very informative, so

absolutely not I knew this was something I wanted to do.

Marianna- What is the hardest thing about your job?

Mr. Richard- In this particular setting I would probably say time management and

organization ,you really gotta keep an eye on the clock make sure that you are in strive in plan

and you gotta have a game plan when you’re going through with your treatments , you cant just

go in without any information you gotta know your patient know what your treating and

understand what their goals are and helps you be organized.

Marianna- Is there anything you would change about your job?

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Mr. Richard- No, I actually love it here there is nothing I would change about this job, except

for Brenden.

Marianna- So, if you made minimum wage at your job, would you still do it?

Mr. Richard- That is gonna be a hard no, because of my personal growth. So, for everyone you

grow up you’ve gotta purchase a house you have to purchase your car you have your insurance

you have your needs to succeed, so definitely that would be something I would not do.

Marianna- Were there any memorable moments you felt greatly discourages or encouraged

towards your future career?

Mr. Richard- So, umm, theres been talks with certain insurance companies, Medicare, CMS

provided insurance that makes assumptions or they came up with an idea that they’re gonna cut

PTA’s reimbursement rates by 8% starting in 2021 its been active, so uumm that was a little bit

discouraging to me because you know I am still providing treatment I am still providing quality

care but the company that I work for is gonna be making less because I am a PTA so I didn’t

think that was fair, we are fighting against it on a daily we are looking at legislation and trying to

change it.

Marianna- What is your favorite part of this job?

Mr. Richard- Community care, you know getting to know my community getting to see the

people I help while I am out and about, while I am grocery shopping, they remember who I am I

remember who they are, it is just you know overall large picture you see a community heal rather

than just an individual.

Marianna- What college did you go to? Did you like it? Why?
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Mr. Richard- So I went to a couple of colleges because I was applying on doing DPT school

first, I didn’t get in my first, umm my only year of applying which I plan to maybe apply later

on, but I went to UT Brownsville it now Ut ARB, absolutely loved it there it was in my

hometown so it was a great experience , I lived with my parents I didn’t have to spend money on

housing or anything like that, but after that I went to a couple of community colleges for my

prerequisites, umm South Texas College and Galveston College, I have had great experiences in

all of those now I have got my license from San Jac South in Houston and that probably was the

best experience I have had because it was more focused on what I wanted to get into.

Ut Brownsville

South Texas College

Galveston College

License from San Jacinto south campus

Mr. Richard went to a couple of colleges because he was applying to DPT school first, but didn’t

get in, he plans to apply later on. He ended up going to UT Brownsville it now is Ut ARB, he

absolutely loved it there it was in his hometown, so it was a great experience, he lived with his

parents and didn’t have to spend money on housing or anything like that, but after that he went to

a couple of community colleges for prerequisites. He went to South Texas College and Galveston

College and got his license from San Jac South in Houston which was his favorite because it

focused on what he wanted to get into.

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Marianna- Okay now for the last question, what was the most difficult part of your

postsecondary education and why?

Mr. Richard- Hardest part would probably be time management and funds. When I was in

school for PTA and for orthopedic specialist therapy program had to work at the same time, you

know it was work, study, and school, so all of that is taking up a lot of time. So, again going back

to time management it helped me in the long run, during the time it was super hard, but I just

made me grow up as an individual.