When I worked as a nurse assistant at a nursing home one of my patients was Tom. Tom has always been a very joyful person and every time I took care for him, he always greeted me with what I called a sunshine smile. But one day,he did not return my greeting with his usual smile. He was sad because his 'lady friend' has been moved to other end of the hall, and he is not able to see her since he can't walk that far unless someone assisted him. At that moment, it struck me how much enjoyment of life one can have just to be able to walk a few hundred feet.
The story was a one in many reasons why I decided to follow the path of being a physical therapist. I am a believer, that not only I enjoy helping people recovering from their illness, but also I shared the same vision as the physical therapist association. I believe to the extend that not only we should focus on movement while in recovering path, but also they are even more important in daily life, like exercising to maintain a healthy body. I believe in physical therapist because when my mom got a stroke last month, physical therapy has been my only hope for her to regain the ability to walk, to hold again. It is because all the best professionals in their fields, doctors, teachers, engineers, monks, and preachers are all believers. Believing in the same vision of APTA is my number one reason why I decided to walk this path. And it is also the reason why, as a future physical therapist, everything I said, every action I take, will be a representation of APTA's mission.
"Optimize" was rooted from Latin "optimum", originally in Biology referring to the best condition for growth. In APTA, optimizing movement is to effectively exercise our bodies to ensure the best conditions for our lifestyle to sustain. High blood pressure, heart attack, high cholesterol, and diabetes are often the results of an inactive body. The closest thing to a universal treatment that could help prevent almost all diseases listed above and free of cost for everyone it is exercise. However, the common mindsets is often retroactive instead of proactive against disease. A lot of money are spent on surgery, pills and treatments. I want to re-direct the mindset of my patients. I want to place an emphasis on the importance of preventive actions through fitness program and show them the benefits of being active. And by optimizing movement, we're not only maintain a healthy physical body, but also mentally benefit from it. Society also gets benefit, as preventive health means less treatment cost. Like dentist for oral health or family doctor for general illnesses, I envision that in the future, physical therapist should become a more accessible and permanent figure to the patients, as someone they will consult in first tier for their healthy lifestyles.
In America, we have a diversified population, and the knowledge about preventive health care is even lacking for the group with lower incomes or immigrants. Taking example in my community, the Vietnamese community in San Diego is one of the most populated ethnics group in San Diego, but there are only 5 out of 843 physical therapies in San Diego are Vietnamese. It's because the culture they inherited have taught them to visit doctor only when they get sick. Or it could be because they are too busy making a living, and taking their physical ability for granted, hence neglecting it. One way or the other, there is a substantial gap between these communities and the understanding of the standard healthcare in general, or the understanding of preventive physical therapy in specific. Even the young Vietnamese group gets wrong ideas sometimes, one said "physical therapy career are not meant for Vietnamese". And I understand because the system doesn't reach their parents, and the parents then cannot pass their guidance to their children. But I want to change that. I want to be the bridge that connects our system to my community.
I have pursue physical therapy career since I started on my career path, and not even once I swayed my opinion about my career choice. I have the passion, the vision, the belief and I have very clear goals to achieve.
ANY comments, feedback is greatly appreciated.
The story was a one in many reasons why I decided to follow the path of being a physical therapist. I am a believer, that not only I enjoy helping people recovering from their illness, but also I shared the same vision as the physical therapist association. I believe to the extend that not only we should focus on movement while in recovering path, but also they are even more important in daily life, like exercising to maintain a healthy body. I believe in physical therapist because when my mom got a stroke last month, physical therapy has been my only hope for her to regain the ability to walk, to hold again. It is because all the best professionals in their fields, doctors, teachers, engineers, monks, and preachers are all believers. Believing in the same vision of APTA is my number one reason why I decided to walk this path. And it is also the reason why, as a future physical therapist, everything I said, every action I take, will be a representation of APTA's mission.
"Optimize" was rooted from Latin "optimum", originally in Biology referring to the best condition for growth. In APTA, optimizing movement is to effectively exercise our bodies to ensure the best conditions for our lifestyle to sustain. High blood pressure, heart attack, high cholesterol, and diabetes are often the results of an inactive body. The closest thing to a universal treatment that could help prevent almost all diseases listed above and free of cost for everyone it is exercise. However, the common mindsets is often retroactive instead of proactive against disease. A lot of money are spent on surgery, pills and treatments. I want to re-direct the mindset of my patients. I want to place an emphasis on the importance of preventive actions through fitness program and show them the benefits of being active. And by optimizing movement, we're not only maintain a healthy physical body, but also mentally benefit from it. Society also gets benefit, as preventive health means less treatment cost. Like dentist for oral health or family doctor for general illnesses, I envision that in the future, physical therapist should become a more accessible and permanent figure to the patients, as someone they will consult in first tier for their healthy lifestyles.
In America, we have a diversified population, and the knowledge about preventive health care is even lacking for the group with lower incomes or immigrants. Taking example in my community, the Vietnamese community in San Diego is one of the most populated ethnics group in San Diego, but there are only 5 out of 843 physical therapies in San Diego are Vietnamese. It's because the culture they inherited have taught them to visit doctor only when they get sick. Or it could be because they are too busy making a living, and taking their physical ability for granted, hence neglecting it. One way or the other, there is a substantial gap between these communities and the understanding of the standard healthcare in general, or the understanding of preventive physical therapy in specific. Even the young Vietnamese group gets wrong ideas sometimes, one said "physical therapy career are not meant for Vietnamese". And I understand because the system doesn't reach their parents, and the parents then cannot pass their guidance to their children. But I want to change that. I want to be the bridge that connects our system to my community.
I have pursue physical therapy career since I started on my career path, and not even once I swayed my opinion about my career choice. I have the passion, the vision, the belief and I have very clear goals to achieve.
ANY comments, feedback is greatly appreciated.
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