Clinical Experiences and Observations
In our DPT program here at UNC we are required to have one 8-week clinical affiliation our first year, two 8-week clinical affiliations our second year, and one 12-week clinical affiliation our third year. For all students, the first three rotations cover the areas of acute care, neurology/neuromuscular, and orthopedics/musculoskeletal. The final rotation is reserved for an area of interest for students. For my clinical while studying athletic training, each semester we were required to obtain 150-180 hours of hands-on clinical coverage. These athletic training hours reflect game coverage, practice coverage, and clinic coverage in areas such as, but not limited to, injury evaluation, wound care, rehabilitation, injury risk reduction, and clinical research. They also include time spent in a local family medicine practice. Other entries below are from observations I completed and include surgery, radiology, emergency department, PT, and wound care. These are in order of most recent events.
PT Clinical Experience Total: 8 weeks (~360 hours)
AT Clinical Experience Total: 1064:30 Hours
Observation Total: 184:07 Hours
PT Clinical Experiences:
Summer 2019 (Clinical Experience)
8 weeks (~360 hours) of hands on experience in acute care physical therapy at WakeMed in Cary, NC. My CI’s main clinical interests were in the critical care and amputee populations, so I had the awesome opportunity spend a lot of time in the ICU and with complex patients. Some examples of the patient population I saw included: Intensive care unit (ICU), multi-trauma, amputee, med surgery, mild TBI, trauma, ETOH withdrawal, fractures, postoperative day 0 and day 1 orthopedic, respiratory, cardiac (non-CABG), neurology, bariatric, abdominal surgery, chest tube, dementia, psychiatric, and more. My CI was Nina McGraw, PT, MS.
Spring 2016 (Clinical Experience)
180:00 hours of hands on experience rotating Emory & Henry sports teams every two weeks including baseball, softball, tennis, swimming, and men's and women's basketball.
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Fall 2015 (Clinical Experience)
180:00 hours of hands on experience rotating Emory & Henry sports teams every two weeks including football, volleyball, men's and women's soccer, cross country, swimming, and men's and women's basketball. Here is a picture from one of my very first rotations with men's soccer!
Observations:
Summer 2019
8:00 hours of observation in orthopedic surgery at WakeMed in Cary, NC. I had the opportunity to observe a spinal fusion as well as a total knee replacement. These observations were completed under Dr.​ ​Nael Shanti, MD and Dr. Micheal Ruffolo, MD respectively.
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Spring 2019
5:00 hours of observation at Duke Physical Therapy Sports Medicine at the Center for Living in Durham, NC. I had the opportunity to observe sports physical therapy including multiple ACLR patients and multiple shoulder pain/injury patients. I observed Heather S. Myers, DPT, ATC, LAT, PT, SCS.
Summer 2017
14:00 hours of observation experience at Cornerstone Therapy & Balance Center in Abingdon, Virginia. Patients ranged from pediatric to geriatric and involved orthopedics, balance, sports rehabilitation, and others. I observed under Candace Moore PT, DPT.
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Summer 2017
18:07 hours of observation with pediatric physical therapy in the Smyth County School System: Rich Valley, Saltville, and Chilhowie Elementary Schools. I observed Crickett McClure, PTA.
31:00 hours of observation in physical therapy at Mountain States Outpatient Rehab in Abingdon, Virginia. Patients ranged from pediatric to geriatric and involved orthopedics, sports rehabilitation, and others. I observed under Matt Harris PT, ATC.
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Summer 2016
During the summer of 2016 I had the unique opportunity to observe at Duke University in the Orthopaedics Department. I observed Dr. Alison Toth, MD. Dr. Toth is a well known for her contributions to the field of surgery and for her medical research. Her specialties include arthroscopic knee surgery, arthroscopic shoulder/rotator cuff surgery, and knee cartilage reconstruction. I also had the opportunity to observe Cody Malley, ATC, LAT, PA-C who is Dr. Toth's physician assistant and also an Athletic Trainer for the United States Women's National Soccer Team. Over the course of two weeks at Duke I had the opportunity to see 17 surgeries and get quality clinic time with patients for consultations for around 84 hours of total exposure. Seeing these surgeries greatly impacted how I carry out my own rehabilitations and the overall experience is something I will cherish and utilize throughout my academic and professional careers. ​Here is a slideshow with some pictures!
Spring 2016
6:00 hours of observation at Johnston Memorial Hospital Wound Care.
6:00 hours of observation at Johnston Memorial Hospital Emergency Room.
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Fall 2015
6:00 hours of observation at Johnston Memorial Hospital Diagnostic Imaging.
6:00 hours of observation at Mountain States Health Alliance Outpatient Rehab.
AT Clinical Experiences:
Spring 2018 (Clinical Experience)
170:20 hours of hands on experience with the Emory & Henry men's soccer team. This involved game coverage, practice coverage, and clinic time. My preceptor was Hannah Clementson.
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​Fall 2017 (Clinical Experience)
180:00 ​hours of hands on experience with the Emory & Henry men's soccer team. This involved game coverage, practice coverage, and clinic time. My preceptor was Melissa Davis, ATC.
20:00 hours of hands on experience with Dr. William Mark Handy, MD. This general medicine rotation gave me the opportunity to experience general medical family practice and allowed me to work with patients dealing with a variety of patients from orthopedic injuries to autoimmune disorders.
Spring 2017 (Clinical Experience)
105:35 hours of hands on experience in physical therapy at Wellmont Medical Associates Physical Therapy in Abingdon, Virginia. Patients ranged from pediatric to geriatric and involved orthopedics, sports rehabilitation, and others. My preceptor was Barret Blevins PT, DPT, ATC.
48:35 hours of hands on experience with L5/S1 spinal fusion patient (athlete). This was a post op rehab that I had the chance to work with from February to May in researching, creating, and implementing a treatment plan. My preceptor was Chaypin Buchanan, ATC.
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Fall 2016 (Clinical Experience)
180:00 hours of hands on experience with the Emory & Henry football team. This involved game coverage, practice coverage, and clinic time. My preceptor was Melissa Davis, ATC. Here is a slideshow with some pictures!
