Ekaterina Popov-Tropina submitted 2015-12-17
As a first generation college student, I have a dream of landing a career as a Physical Therapist in order to show that I am able to give my parents a better life than what they had when they first came to the United States. I would like to be a healthcare provider in order to help others in my community. Thus, I believe that it is important to discuss emergency medical care as I am sure that I will experience various situations at some point in my career as a Physical Therapist.
I agree that basic life support is a critical skill for any physician in the medical field. It provides a level of medical care which is used for victims of life-threatening injuries until they can be given full medical care at a hospital. For example, suppose I was working at an orthopedic sports clinic in a local city and my specialty as a Physical Therapist included dealing with young athletes who played sports. Say that our clinic also functioned as an urgent care, meaning a variety of physicians on the staff would be knowledgeable in different aspects of providing health care to its patients. One day, our clinic gets a patient that has come from a soccer match with a jammed finger, a broken nose, and broken wrist from a soccer ball to the face and a slide tackle from an opponent on the field. It would be our job as a clinic to provide basic life support to this patient to ensure that his finger and nose is properly set, along with the broken wrist being put in a cast until he could get to a proper hospital that can provide further care for him. I would be the one to oversee the amount of mobility that the patient’s wrist and finger would have. After the patient visits the hospital, it is most likely that the patient would get sent back to our clinic or referred to another Physical Therapist to start any needed rehabilitation so that the patient could get back to playing soccer as soon as possible.
In order to perform life saving techniques on patients in my career as a Physical Therapist, I would have to be prepared mentally, physically, and emotionally as well. For the most part, if you are a healthcare provider it is advised that you shouldn’t bring your emotions while you are on shift because they could get in the way of caring for the patient. Thus, it is important that I mentally stay focused on the tasks at hand and simply use medical knowledge from my years in undergrad and PT school to apply to the procedure that the patient requires. In this way, I would be able to block out emotions that may hinder me from performing life saving techniques in an emergency situation. To prepare myself mentally, I have to remind myself that I am here to save lives and rehabilitate my patients so they can heal and get back to doing the things they love with full mobility throughout their body. I have to be determined to accomplish the procedure I set out to perform and to not get frustrated if things don’t go as planned.
I believe that taking on this career will require me to really be physically prepared. I say this because I know that if I work at a clinic that serves as an urgent care, it may be long hours every day until I am able to fall into a routine. In order to not be drained of energy and to be able to handle long work hours, I have to stay physically fit. I know this career requires me to be on my feet and active all day long. That is something that I love about a job, knowing that I am always doing something. This will allow me to keep my mind off of other things going on in my life. Physically, I will prepare myself by eating the right way (a healthy breakfast every morning, lunch, a snack mid-afternoon) throughout the work day. I will also drink plenty of water to always stay hydrated and to stay sharp and alert. I would want to keep my body fit, so I would either run in the mornings before work or after work and head to the gym when I have time to work on abs, lifting, and strength work. For me, I think running is the best stress reliever in any career one may have. It also happens to be one of my deepest passions in life. I know this career will be stressful at times, but I know that there is always a way around any obstacle that I may face. Therefore, I hope that my choice in career as a Physical Therapist will help take me far in life and become one of my greatest passions in life.