Blog 20 - Interview 4 Preparation

1. Who do you plan to interview? What is this person's area of expertise? 

• As of now, I have a few people in mind to interview.
• My mentor, Debbie Choben: Pediatric Physical Therapist
• Co-volunteer, Kenneth: Child Therapy Aide
• My first interviewee, Cindy Eslava: Pediatric Physical Therapist
• The one I choose to interview will all just depend on their scheduling as far as when they are available. I hope of all three, I get to interview my first interviewee the most because she really gave me the foundation for me to start my senior project. I would like to finish that foundation by interviewing her for my last one as well. 

2. Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. Your focus should be finding answers for you EQ. 

• EQ: What is the most important factor in ensuring that a child born with limitations reaches his/her full physical potential?
• What is the biggest challenge in pediatric physical therapy? Solutions?
• What is the first appointment/evaluation like with the patient? How important would you say it is?
• What can a parent do to become more involved in the physical therapy process? 
• How do you know when a child has reached their "full physical potential?"
• How important is developing a strong relationship with the patient?
• What does that relationship consist of? (trust, communication, etc.)
• How important is working in a team in pediatric physical therapy?
• How can a pediatric physical therapist establish good communication with the parents?
• What factors play a part when making a plan for a patient?
• Through research, one of the goals of pediatric PT for the patient is for them to "function independently in all environments." How do you work towards that and is it different for different patients?
• What is the most rewarding thing about pediatric physical therapy?
• What is the best form of patient/parent education?
• What happens when the patient/parent does not receive good education? 
• What are the unexpected factors that you have to keep in mind when doing pediatric PT?
• Has there ever been a time when a parent does not comply to the plans? How does this affect therapy and what can you do to help?
• If you had to pick one, what would be the most important factor that ensures successful pediatric physical therapy and why?
• Throughout your years of being a physical therapist, what is the most important skill you have learned?
• What goes into having a good evaluation? How may this affect the therapy to come?
• What certain characteristics should a good pediatric PT possess?

Blog 19 - Third Answer

1. What is your EQ?

• What is the most important factor in ensuring that a child born with limitations reaches his/her full physical potential?

2. What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

• The most important factor in ensuring that a child born with limitations reaches his/her full physical potential is active parent participation.

3. What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

• The most important factor in ensuring that a child born with limitations reaches his/her full physical potential is a strong relationship between the PT and the child.

4. What is your third answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

• The most important factor in ensuring that a child born with limitations reaches his/her full physical potential is a strong diagnosis/evaluation and flexible planning.

5. List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

• PTs are usually responsible for the diagnosis of a patient for their disorder/injury. This is a critical step towards any sort of patient recovery. A proper diagnosis will allow for a proper path to making successful plan. 
• Planning is essential in physical therapy. It is really important because physical therapy is not a one time thing. It usually happens over the span of a time frame and the progress is gradual and not instant. Having a plan ensures that this progress is made and is successful.
• Especially in pediatric physical therapy, curve balls are being thrown constantly. Not only does the PT have to deal with the physical growth of the child, but also the emotional/social growth of the child. This means that the plans do have to be solid but also flexible in the way that it can deal with any unexpected factors that the PT may be encountering. 

6. What printed source best supports your answer?

• "Preparing for Your Visit with a Physical Therapist." Move Forward. American Physical Therapy Association, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015. <http://www.moveforwardpt.com/Resources/Prepare.aspx#.VfuRHH9Vikq>

7. What other source supports your answer?

• Milligan, Lauren. "The Initial Visit Is Everything." WebPT. WebPT, 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 30 Oct. 2015. <https://www.webpt.com/blog/post/the-initial-visit-is-everything>.

8. Tie this together with a concluding thought. 

• Overall, I picked a strong diagnosis/evaluation and flexible planning as my second answer because it is especially important in pediatric physical therapy. Both are reliant on  each other and the overall process of the pediatric physical therapy. If the PT does a proper evaluation and makes a solid plan for the patient while still being able to deal with the unexpected factors, it will ensure that a child born with limitations reaches his/her full physical potential.