Experience at Indiana Physical Therapy

It was difficult to find a place to shadow for a while. Due to Covid-19 precautions, many clinics were not accepting undergraduate students for months. I used my resources to help get me placed at a local clinic through PT mentorship program I participated in. I was paired up with a student currently in the IU DPT program and we kept in touch every month or so to check in on how I was feeling about the process and any questions I might have. As I struggled to find any clinic that would accept undergrad students for shadowing opportunities during the Covid-19 pandemic, I reached out to my PT mentor and she was able to talk to some of her peers and instructors in the program to help get me started in a shadowing position. I eventually got set up at Indiana Physical Therapy in Avon with Dr. Brad Penning and have learned so much during my time shadowing.

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​While Indiana Physical Therapy (IPT) has been the only clinic that I have been able to shadow at during my undergrad, I have learned so much from this experience; both about the profession and about where I think I want to go with this career. My PT supervisor, Dr. Penning, has taught me so much about how to handle all kinds of patient situations, how he goes about developing a care plan, what exercises are good for what pain and why, and so much more about the day-to-day occurrences as a physical therapist. I also learned a bit about the application process from a peer who worked at the clinic, as well as about their experience starting at the IU DPT program. It was helpful to get advice from and discuss with someone who just went through the same process that I was just about to start.

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One of the most helpful things that Dr. Penning did while I was shadowing was quiz me on what I was learning during my observation visits. He would ask how I might alter an exercise that he just did with a patient to achieve the same outcome, but with a different activity. This tested my knowledge on what that patient was receiving treatment for and how to effectively care for their specific ailment, which gave me a chance to place myself directly into the clinical experience while I was shadowing.

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Another piece that I learned from Dr. Penning was how to get creative with the exercises a patient does. With children, they can lose interest and focus quickly if the exercise does not have some sort of entertaining aspect to it. One way Dr. Penning keeps one of his pediatric patients engaged each visit is by having a “wheel of exercises” that she spins to determine which exercise she does. The wheel includes the exercises that are little boring for her but are necessary for her treatment, as well as more creative options, like kickball. In the kickball exercise, she practices her balance and strength on the right leg that she receives treatment for. Regardless of their age, though, doing the same routine each visit can become monotonous for anyone, so it is important to mix things up to keep your patients engaged. If they are not engaged in their treatment exercises, it is difficult to expect them to keep it up at home and it will not benefit them as much as it could if they were actively committed to the activities.

 

Overall, I am thankful for the opportunity to shadow with Dr. Brad Penning and Indiana Physical Therapy. It has been an enlightening experience for me that only further solidified my commitment to the physical therapy career path. I look forward to pursuing a DPT degree and using all the knowledge I have gained from my observation experience along the way.