1. State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person. (I have completed the interview, I have scheduled the interview, I have not scheduled the interview, etc.)
- Currently, I do not have a mentor. However, I will in the couple weeks to come. I attended the orientation at Casa Colina Rehabilitation Center, the place I will be doing my mentorship, on October 20. During the orientation, I learned that due to the fact that their center is so big, volunteers will not be placed in their according departments to start volunteering until next Friday, the 30th. Unfortunately, this is when the mentor interview is due. I have asked the HR manager there if maybe I could perhaps interview my prospective mentor, however, she said because I have not become a volunteer yet, I cannot actually go into the areas in which the PTs work and also, she cannot guarantee what department I will be in until she sorts all the volunteers out. So because of this, I have not scheduled the interview because I do not know the who my mentor will be YET. I will be talking to my house teacher, Mr. Holt, about the problem I am having and ask him what I should do about it tomorrow! (10/22)
2. At this point, your research is probably guiding your studies toward more specific areas within your topic. Name the area or two you find most promising and explain your reasons.
- I am really interested in narrowing my topic of physical therapy down to pediatric physical therapy. Currently, I work at a tutoring center in which I work with children from 3-16 years of age and this is right around the age range in which a pediatric physical therapist works with. I have learned that throughout my years of working there, I truly enjoy working with children/adolescents and know I would have a great experience working with pediatrics in PT. Because of this, I know this may a realistic area I would be interested in working in for my future career, which is why I would like to experience it now!
3. What kinds of sources do you think will help you in the next month to gain more research depth? Where will you go to get them?
- I think sources that are specifically published by the American Physical Therapy Association (Section on Pediatrics), will definitely help me gain more research depth. My only struggle with this is that the books published from APTA are quite expensive and hard to get my hands on. I hope to ask around (I heard Mrs. Ortega has a book) to find one of their publications to help me further my research. I also hope to find more sources that actually talk about how the child/adolescent body works because I want to learn a lot more about how patients are treated and why.
4. Write down a possible EQ. Please don't worry about wording other than ensuring that it provides the option for multiple correct answers. At this point, the senior team is most interested in understanding your thought process.
- What is the most important factor in ensuring a child (patient) reaches their abilities to the fullest while maintaining the teamwork of both the PT and parents?
