Please describe a difficult experience in your volunteer or paid physical therapy experience and discuss how you managed the situation.
When I was working as an aide at Allendale Nursing Home I had trouble getting some of the patients to therapy. As it was an in-patient facility we usually transported the patients from their rooms to the rehabilitation center. There was one particular patient that every day would give me trouble. He would yell at me, scream for help, and sometimes even try to hit me. His line was "I was in the Navy, I don't need therapy!" Truth was, he did need therapy. He experienced a fall a while back and broke his hip, what he failed to realize was that the sooner he was rehabilitated the sooner he could go back home to his family. Every time I made an attempt I was shot down, and the more times I went the more angrier and violent he became. It got to the point where I would avoid the therapists when I knew it was time to get him, or I would lie and say he was sleeping or eating. I was actually scared of my patient! And then one day it hit me, instead of fighting this guy I needed to get on his side, show him that I cared and that he could trust me. This time when he said his usual Navy statement, I replied with "You're right, you don't need therapy." He was shocked, I then continued to give him all the reasons why he doesn't need therapy, on how people in the navy were so strong and able and went through so much just to fight for our country. It got to the point where we just kept talking that he did not even realize me wheeling him into the therapy room. From that day forward he was always eager to go to therapy. What I learned from this experience was that with little bit of patience, kindness and wise words, one can make a difference in the treatment of a patient.
Think about a problem you encountered in your undergraduate career (e.g. a time when you received a grade that you were dissatisfied with or were assigned work in a group/team project that took disappointing turns). Please discuss how you overcame this problem.
Throughout my undergraduate career I have never had a grade below a B, and it was still rare if I got those. Going into my junior year I had a 3.8 GPA, which in my opinion was perfect. Then I took physics. I did not think it was going to be a breeze, but I took high school physics and did fairly well. My first day in class I was ready to cry, I barely could understand what my professor was teaching and then to make matters worse my lab TA barely spoke English! I knew I was in for it. Every week I sat in my teacher's office hours going over problems, I went to lab every week and attempted my best work. I got my first test back and I received a 55. I was devastated; I have never seen those two numbers together on a test. I went to see my teacher more, I went to the review sessions and I went for extra help. My next two tests were a 60, and a 65. While those still were not the grades I wanted it was still an improvement. And if it was not for the hard work I put into lab I would not have made it out with C+. This experience taught me that you cannot always have perfect grades and have an easy time with schoolwork, but as long as you continue to work hard, and persevere you will always come out on top.
He experienced a fall a while back and broke his hip, and what he failed to realize was that the sooner he was rehabilitated the sooner he could go back home to his family.
This time when he made his usual Navy statement, I replied with "You're right, you don't need therapy."
He was shocked, and I then continued to give him all the reasons why he doesn't need therapy,...
What I learned from this experience was that with little bit of patience, kindness and a few wise words, one can make a difference in the treatment of a patient.
My first day in class I was ready to cry, I could barelycould understand what my professor was teaching, and then to make matters worse my lab TA barely spoke English!
I knew I was in for it. Every week I sat in my teacher's office for hours going over problems, but I went to lab every week and did my best work.
I got my first test back and I had received a 55.
Have fun in school and good luck!
:)
