US Medical Supplies Scholarship

I think I'm going to apply for this scholarship after my finals are over. US Medical Supplies Scholarship

Best Part about Outpatient

A big part of PT school is the clinical rotations. I have 4 of them - 1) outpatient 2) subacute rehabilitation 3) acute care 4) elective. First, it gives you the necessary experience you need in order to come out of grad school and practice as an entry-level clinician. Secondly, it is supposed to give you an idea of the type of environment that you might like to or absolutely would never want to work in once you graduate. I personally think this should be a part of undergrad.

I had a real tough time in a Outpatient setting for a number of reasons that I will list:

1) I am not as fit as some of the athletes that walk through at door and at this point in my education, I can't say that I am more knowledgeable than my patients on their problems. So you can say I felt a little inadequate to treat.

2) I have terrible balance. Nothing was worse than demonstrating a Single-Leg Stance and Reach exercise and stumbling over after the second rep. I am glad that my patients had a sense of humor.

3) Even with 8 hours of sleep, healthy eating and copious amounts of caffeine, I just looked exhausted by 4PM, sometimes earlier. New patients, new conversations, new treatments every 1/2-1 hr was hard for me to keep up the energy level. On top of it, my clinical instructor went easy on me and I didn't have to complete all the paperwork for all the patients.

4) I have never used 75% of the exercise machines that the PTs used for treatment in my life! I had to learn correct form and how to adjust when my patients looked like he/she was worming away in the seat or tossing the weight around.

I'm sure there are more reasons why I suck but I wrote this entry to make one contrary point.

The BEST part about the outpatient setting is the great conversation!

Everyone that comes in during outpatient - generally walked into your clinic (and is generally healthy), is usually of sound mental status and is motivated to get better (otherwise he/she would not seek the help of a PT). I loved, loved, loved some of my patients - we talked about anything from Comic-con, Frank Lloyd Wright, marriage, relationships, kids, getting into college, respective hometowns, religion, buying a home, Broadway shows, movies, heritage, Rochester, yoga, why he/she came to NYC, celtic music and the list goes on. I may have been tired all the time but everyday was just so interesting beyond the scope of PT! Just for this reason, I can imagine why graduates choose the outpatient setting.

Picture from Commonwealth Orthopedics.

Clinical Shoulder Tests

Special Tests for the Shoulder

I'm in my second year of PT school and the time has finally arrived. We are learning application of theory. I'm enrolled in a Musculoskeletal Diagnosis & Management Class. Our class tomorrow is about Special Tests for the Shoulder.

I love to find reasons not to study.

Here 2 sites that I found that were really helpful to prepare for my class:

Thank you Minnesota State University for your SPATA.

Thank you Shoulderdoc.co.uk.

Picture of a Positive Sulcus Sign from ShoulderSurgeon.com. I don't know why but it makes my shoulders ache when I look at this picture!

Color Run -5K

I participated in the Color Run in NYC on August 26th. Its a 5K course at Floyd Bennett Field which is a converted Army Training Center in Brooklyn that now, hosts a bunch of athletic events. Basically, you run about a 3 mile course on pavement and volunteers squirt powdered, colored cornstarch on you as you run through checkpoints. See picture below.

I am not a big fan of running. I can never get to that point (usually the 1 mile point) where running becomes mindless. It is always work to me. However, since this 5K had a fun, interactive theme, it wasn't hard to stay motivated.

Best part was finishing, listening to the fun DJs, throwing around packets of colored dust as a big group, and picture taking! Its an event for all ages. Its a good way to get non-active people into running.

My Disadvantage - Endurance

This is a follow-up to my post about whether you need to work out to be a PT student. Now that I am in clinic, standing for 8-10 hrs in a day, I realize its a real disadvantage if you are not fit. I consider myself fit but after a long day, I just crash. I even take a 15 minute power nap at lunch!

Since I started, I stretch almost every night and work out at least 3 times a week. I mainly concentrate on core exercises. Looking at the list on Fit and Healthy Lifestyle Blog, I cover most of those points - eat often and in small portions, sleep a full 8 hours, pretty much abstain from alcohol, only drink caffeine in the AM, eat a healthy breakfast, fiber bar by mid-day, drink lots of water, and every chance I get, I sit down. All I have left is to hope that my endurance will build up during my last 3 weeks of the clinical. Wish me luck!

Best Link for Learning MMT & Goniometry

Wow, its been a while. Since I last posted, I finished my first year at DPT school and I started my first clinical internship. Boy am I wiped out but still loving the experience.

I just remembered this very neat site that this former PT student developed for her senior project. Its a organized, COLOR manual with patient and PT instructions, pt positioning, origins, and insertions. Its an alternative to my textbook. The pictures don't look as clinical.

Thank you Jennifer Pedersen for this site.

Helpful in Cadaver Lab

Look familiar...its cadaver lab! Or dinner?

I deboned my first chicken about the same time that I had my first semester of cadaver lab. Kinda gross. But it was very helpful to learn how to cut a chicken in clean swipes rather than sawing motions. I used those same skills to clean the fascia off the organs and skin of the cadaver. If you happen to cooking a whole chicken, take the opportunity to cut out the bones and remove the skin. Your teammates in lab will appreciate how efficiently and effectively you are with the knife. Also, you will be able to identify when you need a new blade in the scalpel.

Video on how to debone a chicken.

Picture from Homeec101.

Why go to school in NYC?

I like to ask my out-of-town classmates why they chose to go to PT school in NYC.

Here were some of their answers.

1. "My girlfriend was applying to law school in NYC so I applied too. We're not together anymore. She got into a school in Rochester. I came here." This was very sweet.

2. "It was the only school I got into!" - Very logical!

3. "I wanted to move away for a while. I'm from a small town and I thought this would be a great chance for me to live in a big city."

4. "All the PT schools are in NY."

Here is why I THINK you should come to NYC (even on a student budget):

1. You will always have a scenic place to jog.

Across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Around Central Park.

Around the Brooklyn Promenade.

Around Battery Park City.

2. Yummy $1 Pizza in Brooklyn

3. $9 pitchers/ $3 shots/ ridiculous amount of fun at the bars. $1 beer Wednesdays.

4. Dodgeball Club

5. 4 Seasons

6. Christmas in NYC

7. Dim Sum.

8. Listen to bands play in the area just outside Rumsey Playfield for free.

9. Dancing in Park

10. Free entrance to Museums on select days

11. Private Room Karaoke

12. Fuerza Bruta

13. Rock Climbing in Brooklyn

14. Rooftop Movies

15. Beer Gardens in LIC

16. Santacon

17. Halloween Parade

18. Maize Maze in Queens County Farm

19. Urban Beekeeping!

20. Wineries in Long Island

There's more but I have to study for an exam!

Picture from F.A.M.E. NYC Magazine.

Questions to Prepare you for the Interview

I had a vague idea on the type of questions I would get on my PT interview.

Based on reading up on those horrifying forums (horrifying because you read things like "I have a 3.6GPA, 1600 GRE, I got an interview at so-and-so, what about you?" on these forums), I figured they would ask me a bunch of behavioral questions like if I was applying for an entry-level position at a company. So I compiled a list of potential questions and practiced my answers. Yep, I stood in front of a mirror and answered these questions. I figured that the questions would be similar and it was a good idea to have my stories or experiences worked out.

1. Here is a scenario, you will be working as a member of a care team. As such teamwork is important to us and essential to success. Tell me about a time where you didn't get along with someone you had to worked with. What made it so difficult? How did you handle the situation?

2. List 5 traits that a successful physical therapist needs. From this list, which is your weakest trait?

3. What made you want to become a physiotherapist?

4. How have your experiences and education prepared you for PT school?

5. Tell me about a time when you had great difficulty communicating to a team mate? What did you do about this?

6. As a physiotherapist you will have to work with patients from all walks of life. Tell me about situation when you have had to consider a person’s culture when working with him/her. What were the considerations? What was the result of the interaction?

7. Give me an example of when a team member disagreed with your plan for a project. How did you handle this?

8. Not all patients cooperate when you are working with them. Describe a situation where you had to work with a uncooperative or even combative person. What did you do?

9. Why should we invite you to be a student at (name of school)?

10. If you could change the health care system in any way, what would you change?

For more questions, look at this awesome long list from Georgia Southern University.

For the real overachievers, here are more questions from California Polytechnic State University

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I don't believe in winging it. There are 20-60 slots in each PT program and 600-1000 applicants - 3-10% chance of getting in. You can bet your rear that I practiced my facial expressions, punch lines, and sequence of my stories. You put the work into getting good grades and applying. Put the work into practicing for the interview.

Also, if you practice with a friend, he/she will point out all your annoying habits like nail biting. Give it a whirl!

Photo from Dowdledaily.com.

Cadaver Lab & Bananas

I found 2 new loves in PT school - Cadaver Lab & Bananas.
Details of the Cadaver lab in another post. The most important point I want to address in this post is to not mix these 2 loves.
Bananas are cheap, healthy, filling and oh-so-tasty when ripe. I ate one just before I went down to my cadaver lab. This was probably my 4th week of cadaver lab and I was having a rocking good time with the dissections. But the smell of my favorite fruit mixed with the smells of the cadavers was dissssgusting. I never made that mistake again. Allow 20 minutes between a meal and a trip to the cutting station. Even if you think you are a pro and the smell of bodies never stopped you from having lunch after your dissection. Eating BEFORE class is something totally different.

Picture of banana from http://paulwhartonstyle.com.

Dress Appropriately

I don't think I owned these types of nice dress clothes when I had a disposable income. But you get the idea. Look your smartest. Dress up for the interview.

I got into a random conversation today at lunch about whether the faculty at my school gave each of the interviewees a scan up and down before accepting us into the program. I said hells yes, I think my professors checked me out before accepting me! Then I hear about how some girl [during my classmate's interview] had the balls to come to the PT interview in a T-shirt and jeans! My classmate said she gave good answers but she's not a part of our class. Maybe the girl got accepted elsewhere. But would you really risk a chance to get into PT school because you didn't feel like buying a nice outfit? Go to Target or H&M and buy a cheap blouse/button down and slacks. Of course the interviewer is judging! I almost feel ridiculous even writing this post.

The only thing more ridiculous is this picture of Iggy. But at least he is dressed appropriately for his profession.

I think of my professors as working professionals. They happen to be responsible for inputting my grades but at the end of the day, they are working folk. And if they had to decide whether to put the girl in the button down shirt and dress pants on his/her team or the girl in the t-shirt and jeans [and they have similar academic stats], it seems obvious who he/she would want to represent their team.

If you are unsure, it never hurts to dress up. But it will only work against you to look like this.

Top Picture from All About Fashion.

Picture of Iggy from Fashionista.com

No vacations during PT school

There are none. Apparently you go to school year round. I did not know this! That was the most important part you will read this this blog post.

I figured it out after 6 months when I was checking in with my faculty to see when I can take some time off with my bf. Even during Xmas, we have a week off for Xmas and new years then it's back to studying for a comprehensive exam that is specific to my school. It's a cumulative exam that pulls from all of our course work up until that point. Technically a great way to keep the knowledge fresh or at least circulating in our brains after the course is over. Though it feels like a never ending cycle of torture.

Then you get, at best 1 week between spring-summer classes, and 1 other break between summer-fall. It is only if your professors are kind enough to schedule your finals right after classes end so you have more time before your next batch of classes start. Keep this mind if you thought you might get summer or winter vacation off in PT school.

Truthfully, should you be going on vacation while carrying around $40k/year debt? I say yes. You need to recoup after being brutalized during the semester. This one really smart fellow in my class said to me he's never worked so hard in his life, not in undergrad, not while working at bear sterns. Ha! Yeah buddy, that's why they went bankrupt. Just kidding about the bear sterns part. But really, You will work hard.

Some people will be displaced and school will be away from their home town. It's a good time to go back to the homestead, do your laundry for free at your mom's house, eat your dad's cooking and watch some good old premium cable tv that you can't afford while at school. Oh and get off that terrible bagel diet for a few days.

For me, I'm a douche bag. I'm on vacation while school is in session. I'm in sunny California with my boyfriend and best friend waiting for a 3 day outdoor weekend concert to begin. I'm skipping some classes and getting school work done on the plane. But taking that much needed break. I've never forgotten the importance of vacation. Its a good reminder of why you are working so damn hard. And a good nitro boost to power through the weeks leading up to finals.

Ok some fun stuff from the plane ride over that amused me and have nothing to do with PT:

Hugo is really a fantastic movie. I tried not to cry on the plane with the super hipsters seated next to me.

Then I saw this funny episode about hipsters on happy endings. I think it was planted.

The man next to me had his iBook, iPad, iPhone and dre beats ON all at once. Then I convinced myself he might be an important tech guy and not to judge. Then I saw him pay for internet to surf Facebook! He kinda looked like this but with a pair of drebeats and his iPhone in his left hand dangling in the aisle.

A note since I wrote this post: My days back from my brief vacation have been painful. I got a stinkin 70 on one of my quizzes and was unpleasantly surprised by a new group project with 2.5 weeks left in my semester. But it was all worth it to see the Black Keys and Tupac come to life.

Photo from Think Basis.

Happy Secret to Work Video

Shawn Anchor's TED talk: The happy secret to better work.

This guy is a fantastic presenter. I almost peed in my pants from laughing so hard. I'm horrible at summarizing so just watch the video about the happy secret to work.

Ways to create lasting positive change...

1) 3 Gratitudes

2) Journaling

3) Exercise

4) Meditation

5) Random Acts of Kindness

Picture from Forbes.com

How to get ready for the PT school interview?

I had a simple interview. The interviewers even said in the beginning that they try to run a low-stress interview. They asked me 3 questions and they were just checking to make sure that I was the same person that submitted the application.

Here were my 3 questions:

1) Why PT? (kinda like the tell me about yourself question)

2) Why (name of school here)?

3) Scenario question: If you were doing group work and one of your teammates plagiarized his portion and you have 1 month before the due date, what do you do? Since there was another interviewee in the room, they tacked on the statement before I answered"...and the teammate is not willing to redo his portion. What do you do?

A few pointers about interviewing...

1) All answers (no matter the question) should give the interview a reason why you would be the BEST CANDIDATE FOR THEIR DPT PROGRAM. For instance, they ask "why pt?" Your answer should complement or pull from your essay. Be consistent. And it should also be positioned in the way that answers the question but again explains why you are perfect for the program.

Your real reason for being a PT is because I was an athlete. I got therapy and I love what my PT does for a living. Its a fair reason but it doesn't say why you would be perfect for their program. Lay it out there for the interviewer.

Better answer: "I have experience with the PT profession as an athlete so I pursued volunteer work to see if it was for me. It was through my volunteer work that my experience played a critical role in sympathizing with the patient and talking with them through treatment. It was then that I realized that I could make an impact in this profession."

Its a good answer because it's telling the truth while backing up the statement with a story to support while you are the BEST CANDIDATE FOR THEIR DPT PROGRAM. In interviewing, nothing is the best predictor of future performance than past performance. The real life scenario gives the interviewer a sense of whether you would be good for their program based on what you did in the past.

To Be Continued...

Picture from SQLAuthority.com

Ok really how am I going to pay off these damn loans?

1. Scholarships? Few and far between. I have a scholarship for 10K/year at my school now but it just skims the surface of my $40K/year tuition. But I'm not complaining.

Board of Education of NYC provides one year of tuition in exchange for 24 months of services. If you get 2 years covered, that's 48 months. You provide services in a high-needs area of NYC. Not a bad deal if money is a real issue. Here is the application.

I'm going to try this one. Small but everything counts in small amounts! Hazing Awareness Scholarships.

APTA provides some scholarships. If one of their visions is to promote cultural diversity in the profession, they need to think about more minority scholarships (brilliant idea from one of my classmates)!

Other scholarship opportunities.

2. Pray that the loan forgiveness program comes to fruition.

3. Minimize debt. Do what you can without impacting your studies - part-time job, graduate assistant job, bring your own lunches/coffee/tea to school, consider doing research to earn scholarships, bike/walk to school.

4. Prepare. Know what you are getting yourself into. Here's a loan calculator. Be realistic about how much you will make when you are done and how long it will take to pay off your loans. This might help with planning your time in DPT school.

Picture from Forgivemystudentloans.com

Is working out a requirement for physical therapy school?

Is working out a requirement for physical therapy school? I had no impression that physical therapists had to be uber fit or had to go to the gym regularly. I volunteered at a community hospital and a sub-acute rehab center. The therapists were average, not fat, but not super fit...definitely some bellies. Basically I had no impression that I had to go to the gym as a requirement to be a physical therapist. Then I arrived at DPT school.... During the first week, my professor wanted to show us something cool so he asked for a volunteer. My classmate goes to the front of the room, takes his t-shirt off and I swear I gasped. His abs were so ripped, it looked like a xylophone. I joked with my girlfriends at home that his abs were so rock solid, it would ting if I hit it with a drum stick. You bet your bottom everyone started hitting the gym hard after that day. Me included.

With all that said, nope, I don't think you need to go to the gum regularly in order to be a PT. But in PT school, you better be confident with your body image because I spend at least 1 class a week in a skimpy tank top and shorts. Sometimes, I'm required to wear a bikini top. Ugh. No exceptions except for religious reasons.

Once you get past school, then it's just good ol' body mechanics. Making sure you are not using your arms and back when you should be using your body to work with the patient. Getting down to your patients level so you are not lifting from the back but rather those legs and core. I remember asking one of the working PTs, if she works out. She laughed at me and said "...with what time or energy."

Up to you to decide if the gym is your thing.

Photo of woman from Sydney Morning Herald.

Photo of xylophone from this site.

Does age matter?

The average age in my class is 24 years old. I'm the oldest - 30 years old. Really! I thought I would be the average age considering I'm obtaining a post-baccalaureate degree! I didn't realize how many students came straight from college. When I have conversations with my classmates, I feel like we are worlds apart.

When I see my classmates whine or worse, cry over a bad grade, I think, WOW, wait till they start working. Then they'll really have something to cry about. In my thoughts, I feel so much older and "wiser" with experience. I almost feel like its insane to cry over a grade, professor, or class. This is how I felt when I started classes.

Fast forward 6 months later, I feel so foolish for having thought this way. Age ain't nothing but a number. Though I'm somewhere between 6-9 years older than my classmates, they have impressed me with their experiences.

What they lack in years of life, they make up in applicable experience to physical therapy. From working with people with disabilities, running marathons, competing in national athletic programs, studying nutrition & exercise science in undergrad, volunteering in pediatric clinics, working as aides in outpatient clinics and trying out new sports, they have some serious experience! On top of that, I've heard some really passionate stories on why they want to be physical therapists.

So although I still think it's ridiculous to panic over bad grades, I'm not so quick to judge my peers. I certainly got knocked off of my pedestal. Humbling...

Photo from forums.beyond.ca

How will I pay back those $120K in loans?

I am a minority in my class... because I will have less than $50K in loans by the time I graduate DPT school. The majority of my classmates will have racked up loans from undergrad and now, they are maxing out their Grad Plus loans. Our tuition is $119K for the 3 years. No one said DPT would be cheap.

American Physical Therapy Association is fighting for physical therapists to be eligible for National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program. If you work for a qualifying undeserved community for a certain amount of years - certain loans (I'm thinking Fed loans) can be forgiven. Right now, doctors, nurses, physical assistants, midwives, psychologists, social workers qualify. But not, physical therapists...

I took time out of my busy facebook stalking schedule to fill out an email to my senator and congresswoman to support APTA in this fight. If you are an APTA member, it took me no longer than 3 minutes to do on the APTA site.

Photo from NoShootFoot Blog.