Ariana Garcia

27 March 2019

P4

Job Shadow Reflection

I job shadowed at Registered Physical Therapist Clinic in West Jordan and I followed

Chantel Myers throughout her day to find out the most I could of her career. Contacting her and

setting a day to come in and Job Shadow was very quick and very easy. I simply gave RPT a call

and got Chantels’ email and we quickly exchanged dates so I was able to job shadow. Chantel

Myers graduated from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. She graduated with a

Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science. She worked as an PTA for 3 years before going into the

profession. Her main specialties in Physical Therapy are Orthopedic and Sports Medicine

Therapy.

I asked Chantel what specialty she works with more, and she answered that she typically

worked more with injured athletes. She stated that the athletic injuries are harder for her to treat

because “Each athlete is just so impatient and anxious to get back into their sport, making the

recovery feel like an eternity.” I then asked her what the most important part of her job was and

she said notes. She explained that notes are exactly what they sound like; she has to take notes on

each individual patient. Notes take very long to do because she has to write down deep

information such as how the injury occured, what is most painful, what is improving, what isn’t,

etc. It can take up an hour to complete the notes. Chantel typically works up to 30 hours a week

and she has some work days that are longer than others.
 My experience there was not as a communicable as I had hoped for. Chantel was guiding

me through the whole shadowing experience for only a few short minutes, shortly after she

became very occupied and spent most of her time in her office. While I was there I tried to walk

around to observe exercises and stretches patients were doing as much as I could. There were

some hours when the clinic was very dead; that is when Physical Therapy Assistants, would walk

around and clean or set up equipment for patients coming in later on and that was when I asked

them as many questions as I could. With the lack of communication, I believe I didn’t get the

best job shadow experience.

After my job shadow, I asked Chantel some questions about her job. One of the many

questions I asked was “Do you believe your job to be slow paced or fast paced?” She quickly

responded with “Very fast paced.” She explained that it is very fast paced because the notes must

be taken quickly so she is able to back to her patients as quickly as possible. Being out and

observing the clinic for around 4 hours, I did not think that it was very fast paced at all. I noticed

about 2 or 3 people doing therapy, but their therapists would always leave them alone. I would

prefer a faster paced environment if i were to go into this career.

Overall, this experience did help me get a much better idea of this career, and I still wish

to continue and pursue my dreams in this career.