This is a first draft of my personal essay for the Physical Therapy application online. The essay prompt according to the PTCAS site is as follows: "Create a brief personal essay (4500 characters) that includes response to the following question: Describe your decision-making process in choosing PT over other health care professions." I am trying to incorporate some of my volunteer and work experience as well, but I am not sure if I placed enough emphasis on the 'decision making' process. I also struggled on properly concluding the essay. I would greatly appreciate any feedback for this essay. Thank you.
The pain started my freshman year in high school volleyball. Even after playing various sports throughout my life, I had not encountered this kind of grueling pain. Every twist and jump sent a sharp, radiating twinge down my lower back. While I did not know what it was, I cared more about impressing the coaches and using determination to 'push through the pain'. Two years later of misdiagnoses, I finally began the recovery process for spondylolisthesis. What had been called a pinched nerve, muscle spasm, and herniated disc ended my contact sporting career and shattered my dreams of playing softball or volleyball in college. After a few orthopedic visits, I started rehab at Modern Physical Therapy. This personal experience in physical therapy changed my life. For the first time in a long time, I was told what I could do as opposed to what I could not. During the two months of physical therapy, my interest in rehabilitation was decided.
In my first two years of college, shadowing other health professionals only directed me back to the field of physical therapy. When I became part of the pre-medicine Freshmen Interest Group at Mizzou, I found others with the same academic interests, course track, and self discipline. This fueled my desire to educate myself on all of my health career options. By shadowing over 50 hours in various settings including medicine, athletic training, and nursing, I was able to carefully and considerately narrow down the alternatives. I shadowed physicians and nurses in various specialties including family practice, emergency medicine, and physical medicine and rehabilitation settings, only to find that no matter the specialty, I did not see the extended patient interaction that I observed in my physical therapy observation. Most of the physicians' and nurses' time was spent filling out paperwork by hand or on the computer for their overloaded schedules. In stark contrast, shadowing physical therapists provided much more one-on-one interaction with a single patient through both evaluations and treatment. In personal and shadowing experiences, this personal interaction, innovation and autonomy in the profession, and flexibility of specialties aided in my decision to completely focusing on physical therapy.
Through my undergraduate experience at Mizzou, my volunteer, work, and education experiences emphasize my well roundedness that exemplifies the core values of physical therapy. During the past five semesters, I have had the privilege of volunteering for elderly participants with physical or cognitive changes at the MU Adult Day Connection (ADC). By serving as a Conversation Partner, I improved my interpersonal communication skills while learning life lessons from these great people. One of the participants, 'Ralph', loved talking about his life as a physics professor and I enjoyed sharing my college experiences with him. I also observed an occupational therapist conduct activities to improve arthritis, motor and communication skills, and memory. Above all, I gained experience working with a population that does not get the respect and attention they deserve. As a science tutor at the MU Learning Center, I mentor students in college and career goals, assess strengths and weaknesses, and educate individuals through one-on-one tutoring. Each student is unique, so I create individual lesson plans with short-term goals to reach the desired long-term goal. In the mentoring aspect, I can use my experience as a first generation college student to help others avoid struggles that I faced with the lack of guidance. The most rewarding aspect in tutoring is seeing my students' progress and knowing that we worked as a team to overcome the obstacles faced. Just like in my injury experience, my physical therapist Esteban started me on basic movement exercises and worked towards a lifestyle of reduced pain.
I walked out of Modern Physical Therapy with a t-shirt and a renewed sense of self. A few years later, I found myself watching a high school boy recover from a torn ACL, to play his senior year of football. He said he just wanted to play one more season and then would be done with competition. As a therapist, I hope to give a young athlete, like this boy, one more season. The recovery process is always rewarding, and I hope to use my work ethic, problem-solving skills, and compassion to bring back that confidence and happiness often lost through injury.
Chayla Hisel
chuck elisabeth hasselbeck fran drescher scarlett o hara pat sajak vanna white michael robinson
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