CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE PROGRAM IN PHYSICAL THERAPY

PT CLASS OF 2020 – EXIT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Advisee’s Name: Taylor Mills

Date of Interview: May 6th, 2020

Interviewed by: J. Tim Zipple, PT, DSc

1. How would you characterize your overall experience in this program?

Overall, I am very pleased with the Central Michigan University’s Doctoral Program in Physical
Therapy and my personal experience in this program. I feel that I have been given the tools and
opportunities to excel, and I am eager to start practicing.
The courses within this program addressed conditions, tests & measures, and interventions that I
saw in the clinic and meet current practice standards. I will admit that some of the modalities are
outdated, but I also learned these in my athletic training program, and maybe it is something the
program wants to continue to show the evolution/history of modalities. I did not perform any
modalities, except a few hot packs and ice bags, for all three of my clinical rotations.
I feel that the clinical placement options and experiences were beneficial and having longer
clinicals did help to build repetition with the ability to maintain a full caseload for a longer period of
time.

2. What experiences during your time in the program do you feel contributed most to your
personal and professional development? (Experiences within or outside of program)

I feel that the lab hours and hands-on opportunities to practice on other students was helpful
throughout the first and second year. Experiences such as PT-CONECT, MOVE!, home exercise
programs with community members, Hands for Health, and labs where individuals from outside of the
program were brought in for examinations and/or treatment was helpful and aided in my learning and
communication skills. I also think that the ortho and neuro mock labs were helpful in understanding
the key points and presentations of common diagnoses that we will see in the clinic. This also helps
when studying for the NPTE. These opportunities while at CMU really helped me when I was out on
my clinical rotations, as well. It was very valuable to get previous hands-on experience prior to
working a full-PT caseload during these clinical rotations.
When I came to CMU, this was my first time living without my family and having my own
apartment. I learned a lot of life lessons and gained independence to help me personally develop. I also
think it is great that our cohort had to mix up partners and groups constantly during lecture and lab
activities because this helped to build relationships, manage conflicts within a group, and collaborate
with others, which we will experience while practicing at licensed physical therapists.
3. What do you feel were the strengths of the curriculum and program?

I like the organization of the semesters and how courses, such as Exam and Diagnosis, Patient
Care, and Pathophysiology, built on one another within a semester.
Despite the craziness of placing students for their clinical rotations, I was very pleased with my
three placements and felt that the clinical rotation placement process was fair.
I think a strength of our program is that the faculty is very diverse in their interests within the field
of physical therapy and that they bring a multitude of PT experiences to the table. This was helpful in
class to provide real-life experiences and patient scenarios when discussing content. With that being
said, another strength is that a majority of the faculty members have different physical therapy
specialties. This motivates me to find my niche in PT after practicing for a few years and pursue a
specialty to further advance my skills and knowledge in my primary area of interest.
I also mentioned some strengths when answering Question 2, such as hands-on experiences with
others within and outside of the program and mixing up groups/partners during course activities.

4. What do you feel are the components of the curriculum and program that could be altered
and improved? What specific suggestions do you have for change/improvement?

I think there could be more opportunities for faculty and students to interact outside of the
classroom to help develop the program and build relationships that extend beyond our three years
within the program. It would be nice for faculty and students to get to know one another more on a
personal and professional basis. This could allow for further networking, sharing of common interests
related to PT to help with job placements and letters of recommendation, and allow for future
mentorship once practicing as entry-level therapists. I had these relationships with faculty members
when I was in undergrad and feel that I am a lot closer with those individuals as compared to the ones
at CMU. I would suggest having more social gatherings, such as Q&A sessions outside of class,
potlucks, picnics, and physical activity events.
I met a few other PT and PTA students while out on my clinical rotations. Various programs had 4
or 5 clinical rotations, but for shorter periods of time. Clinical placements seem to be a very
challenging process for Dr. Grossnickle, and I feel like this suggestion may increase the workload of
the Director of Clinical Education, but I think it would be very valuable to have one other clinical
rotation. There are multiple PT settings, and only getting to experience 3 of them makes it difficult to
decide if the other settings are of interest for the student. For example, I had a rotation in acute care
with minimal inpatient rehab experience, an outpatient ortho rotation, and a skilled nursing
facility/nursing home split rotation. I feel that these were great clinical placements, and I would
recommend them to any student. I do, however; wish that I could have had some home health
experience and more experience with inpatient rehab to see if I would enjoy pursuing my career in
these settings.
Overall, my specific suggestion for clinical placements is to keep the total number of weeks (6+ 14
+ 14= 34 weeks), but have the long clinical rotations be 12 weeks instead of 14 weeks. Then the
remaining 4 weeks could be used as a shorter clinical rotation in a different setting. Just a suggestion,
but I know other students, and myself, wish that we had more rotations to learn from other clinical
instructors and physical therapists, learn new EMR systems, and another opportunity to explore more
areas within physical therapy. Once one has graduated, they cannot just shadow for a few weeks at
different clinics. I would definitely feel more comfortable seeing beyond the surface of a specific PT
setting before I accept a job within that setting.

5. Can you specifically describe one or two instructional or learning activities that were
particularly positive/valuable and growth enhancing for YOU? Why were these so positive?

PT-CONECT was a positive and valuable experience for me. I had little previous experience
working with individuals with neurologic conditions, and this helped me plan out specific tests and
measures and interventions to individualize a program for someone prior to going into my clinical
rotation. I feel that I had moments that were not so great, such as having the wrong blood pressure cuff
at the initial eval and having one session that was not as challenging for the community partner as I’d
liked. Then I also had moments where my strengths came through, such as modifying interventions in
the moment, seeing the benefits of mirror therapy, and building a relationship with someone.
During Summer 1, I also started working with a community member on developing a home
exercise program and going to her house once per week with another student. This was so valuable!!
Being able to work with a person in their home and work on their specific impairments was a great
experience. I’m glad that I was offered this opportunity during one of the PTSO meetings and that I
took advantage. I have so many wonderful memories with this individual, and I feel that I made a
difference in her quality of life, which is really what PT is all about.

6. What specific learning experiences contributed least to your personal and professional
development? Why?

I feel that there were a few courses that did not contribute as much to my learning as I would have
hoped, such as PTH 621 Clinical Pediatrics, PTH 710 Clinical Administration, and PTH 646 Patient
Care II. Now that I’m studying for the NPTE, I’m trying to learn pediatric conditions, presentations,
reflexes, and interventions that were briefly discussed during this course. I just feel that we could have
gotten a lot more out of this course to prepare us if we had some lab portion or demonstration
involving common pediatric interventions. The clinical administration class was taught by Gwen, and
it was her first semester there, but she seemed unprofessional with students and would read word for
word from the slides that she did not make or review prior to class. I had an administration class during
undergrad to compare this to, and I feel that this class didn’t adequately cover what we need to know
as an entry-level PT. Lastly, I didn’t find the Patient Care II course to be as helpful for my professional
development as I’d hoped because the lab was not set up focusing on interventions and ways to treat
orthopedic conditions. There was a lot of freedom and fluff within the lab, so I felt that this course with
4 hours of lab time was not as productive as it could have been.

7. As you complete the program, what are your perceptions regarding the current status and
future directions of the PT profession? How has this changed since you started the program?
Do you feel the program has prepared you to enter a complex and changing health care
environment?

Currently with the COVID-19 pandemic going on, it seems to be a difficult and scary time to be
entering the healthcare field and looking for our first job as a physical therapist. I feel that it will be
difficult to find certain PT job placements for the next few months, especially in certain settings like
outpatient clinics. However, I think this will eventually change as more elective surgeries start being
performed again. This pandemic has also opened the doors into telehealth within physical therapy, so I
have seen over my three years how the healthcare environment is constantly changing and adjusting.
I think that this pandemic will help the profession of physical therapy be further recognized, similar
to the polio pandemic, because patients surviving from COVID-19 will be needing physical therapy to
return to their previous functional level.
I would say this has changed since starting the program because I never would have predicted
something like this would happen and that it would drastically change the way we live our lives on a
daily basis. I feel that the program has prepared me to enter a complex and changing health care
environment. Flexibility, faith, and patience are all important attributes to have within these changing
times.
Lastly on another note, when I first started the PT program, I only knew about physical therapy
involving mostly orthopedics and that physical therapists could be involved in wound care. I had little
idea about the other knowledge that we must have involving the cardiopulmonary and neurologic
systems, along with having knowledge on all the other body systems regarding differential diagnosis
and direct access.

8. In what areas do you see yourself contributing to the profession?

One of my true passions is rural health and helping unserved areas, so I see myself contributing to
this area of our society and advocating for patients to increase access, education, and improve health
awareness for patients. The area of physical therapy that I felt the most challenged, engaged, and like a
was making the biggest difference was when I was working in the outpatient orthopedic setting. This is
where I primarily see myself contributing to the profession, but I also want to stay open minded to
other settings. I saw importance within all settings that I was involved in for my clinical rotations, but I
just felt like I was where I was supposed to be and meeting my maximal potential.
Another future possibility that I may further look into is home health physical therapy. I would get
to see a variety of patient presentations and diagnoses and have the challenge of incorporating
interventions within a patient’s home. This would dive into my creative side and expand my clinical
reasoning, as well. As I previously mentioned, I am considering pursing a specialty within physical
therapy, likely in orthopedics, but I want first start working and ensure that this is the area where I
really want to be.

9. Looking back over your experience in the program and knowing what you do now, do you
feel you took full advantage of the learning opportunities in the program? Is there anything
else as an INDIVIDUAL you would have done to enhance your learning?

I feel that I did not take full advantage of learning opportunities and opportunities to be at CMU
within the DPT program during my first year. I had outside distractions, and I feel that I was not as
focused at that time as I have been during my last 2 years in the program. I made a lot of changes
during my second and third year, but I do wish I would have been more involved academically,
professionally, and personally with this institution. I would have stayed in town more on the weekends
to get to know my classmates better, seeing as we only had the first two years together. I also would
have been more involved with PTSO and volunteering, which may have allowed me to make more
relationships with faculty. I wish I would also had practiced more within the labs during my down
time, so that I could further enhance my knowledge and skills. Study strategies that I used during my
second year were very helpful, and I was more on-top of the information we were learning in class. For
example, I used to study with 2 other students once per week and practice what we had learned in
Manual Therapy II. When it came time for practicals, I had already reviewed and practiced the
techniques throughout the semester.
I guess overall I would discourage procrastinating, but it is a tough habit to break. Other people are
helpful resources, and I wish during my first year that I would have taken more advantage of these
learning opportunities while I was in the program.