physical therapist

Field Project Visit

Objective: To observe (shadow) a health professional in practice and to explore this as a potential career. You should observe methods of injury assessment, treatment and patient­practitioner interaction.

1. Research and select your chosen sports medicine career of interest (physical therapist, athletic trainer, personal trainer, physician, physician’s assistant, strength and conditioning coach).

2. Research clinics/practices of your chosen career local to the school or where you live

3. Go in person or call clinics/practices and ask if it would be possible to shadow a practitioner for the day (explain your class and the objectives of this assignment). Be formal and polite in your

   approach. Use any contacts you might have personally or through friends and family. Network!

Make note of:

1. A specific point of contact and an email address for that person

2. Phone number

3. Address of the practice

4. Ask questions about building access and parking

1. Arrange a mutually convenient date (you may have to be flexible to fit in with a busy practice) to attend for your observation (usually a half or full day) (see syllabus for assigned days and times for field project) or you may attend at any time convenient to your schedule

2. Confirm your appointment for the observation/shadowing with the clinic/practice 24 hours before you attend to avoid any scheduling mistakes or mishaps. 

You should write a 3­4 page paper to thoroughly describe your observational experiences during

your visit with a health professional. Your paper should use the following criteria as an outline:

1. Location/description of setting/name of professional/discipline (include photos if appropriate [ask permission first]), web site, brochures and business cards

2. Describe the process of patient­practitioner interaction as they met in the clinic and the types of questions etc that the practitioner asked the patient.

3. Observations of professional in practice: Describe the injury/illness assessment methods that you observed (H.O.P.S.), (S.O.A.P.)? Describe all physical and scientific tests used to make a diagnosis (including the correct name for tests) i.e. X­rays. scans, physical tests.

4. Observe HIPPA laws (do not disclose actual patient names in your paper e.g. use “patient 1” instead of “Cindy”). Describe the types of injuries that you observed. Were they acute or chronic injuries? Describe how the patient was injured. What are the long term prospects or time frames for recovery from this injury/injuries (research the answer if you did not hear it in clinic)?

5. What injury treatments did you see? If you did not witness any treatments, please research and describe a suitable form of treatment for the condition/injury that you observed.

6. What type of long­term intervention strategies and training advice did you observe?

7. Include visuals, diagrams of the injuries etc. to illustrate your observations.