Physical Therapy Professionalism

Professional behavior in the academic field of Physical Therapy is vital to success in the future. As a rehabilitation technician at ATI, one of the largest physical therapy institutions in the country, professionalism often generalizes to the working environment, a concept I have observed first hand. At the moment the patient enters the clinic, that individual is the main concern the therapist, and all personal and professional issues are sidelined. I had the privilege of

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, professionalism is defined as the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person. A few pages to the left, efficient is defined as productive of desired effects, especially productive without waste, an efficient worker. A few more pages to the left, cordial is defined as showing or marked by warm and often hearty friendliness, favor, or approval, a cordial welcome.

The thought of professionalism conjures up many ideas, and possibly pre-conceived judgements. These will not always be classed as positive or negative, but will undoubtedly have a profound effect on the way you are perceived in your area of work or chosen profession.

Professionalism in physical therapy is an absolute essential part of the career. If you want to have a successful career in physical therapy you must exhibit professionalism throughout it. How is it that someone becomes a professional in physical therapy? You must embody APTA's core values and apply those values to work together with other health professionals in order to improve the health of your patients and community.

A professional is characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) : exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace. Being professional should be a subconscious effort in the fact that it should always be applied. When employees are professional it helps the system run more efficiently and safely. A person must me a certain criteria when being evaluated on professionalism, a person is judged based on the clients; Attitude, Values, Communication techniques, and approachability. Clients who display a committed, dependable attitude will benefit more from work exerted, and overall be rewarded with incentives. Although professionalism may be in the eye of the

Module 2 Drop Box Assignment The results of the “Professionalism in Physical Therapy: Core Values Self-Assessment” from the APTA revealed my lowest scores in the core values of Excellence, Professional Duty, and Social Responsibility. The average score for Excellence was 3.82, for Professional Duty was 3.71, and for Social Responsibility was 3.14. Each of these core values will be addressed separately.

What does Professionalism mean to me? Professionalism in my term means it is someone who is very dedicated to their profession. It is an important and great decision to follow by the rules and ethics of professionalism. If we did not have anyone that cared about their profession it would cause a lot of problems in our society today. It could cause a lot of disruption in your workplace. In order to abide by professionalism you must take pride in your job, percieve realistic goals and values, and know what your expectations are.

Moreover, communication is another crucial aspect of professionalism in the field of physical therapy and as a DPT student. It is very important to have a good communication between the therapist and the patient, because it will make the patient feel more comfortable to come to his or her therapy session and put complete trust on the therapist. The patient is already in extreme pain when coming for therapy and the last thing they want is for their therapist to not communicate properly with them. As an aide at Belle Mead Physical Therapy, I have often observed the therapists clarify instructions on how to do certain exercises or which exercises to do when if the patients don’t clearly comprehend it the first time they are told. The therapists

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines professionalism as the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person. Yet the White Paper on Pharmacy Student Professionalism says it is displaying values, beliefs and attitudes that put the needs of another about your personal needs. There is still another definition. The Medical Professionalism Project says professionalism is the basis of medicine's contract with society. It demands placing the interests of patients above those of the physician, setting and maintaining standards of competence and integrity, and providing expert advice to society on matters of health. In my opinion, a person's attitude, values, and behaviors

Ever since I was young my life goals were to help others when I grew up, however I wasn’t exactly sure how. Throughout the past couple years, with a wonderful support system; I have been able to make the decision about wanting to achieve the goal of becoming a physical therapist. It is my belief that I have a high spiritual calling to be a physical therapist, because I have the intention to be able to guide others. I gather that this can be spiritual, because helping others is what God’s intentions are, and would recommend others to follow in His footsteps. My mindset is indeed compassionate, empathetic, selfless, and strong with a thirst for knowledge. Being a physical therapist has many rewards such as happiness, equality, and a sense of accomplishment which can be very valuable and will affect my life in a positive manner.

Professionalism in the workplace, is the absolute key to having a successful, and smoothly run business. Professionalism is something that must be maintained by every individual within the work setting, especially in health care, whether it is the janitor, activity director, nursing assistant, doctor, or even the head administrator. Professionalism encompasses many aspects, such as teamwork, attitude, environment, knowledge, morals, and ethics.

Professionalism is an adherence to a set of values comprising both a formally agreed-upon code of conduct and the informal expectations of colleagues, clients and society. The key values include acting in a patient's interest, responsiveness to the health needs of society, maintaining the highest standards of excellence in the practice of medicine and in the generation and dissemination of knowledge. In addition to medical knowledge and skills, medical professionals should present psychosocial and humanistic qualities such as caring, empathy, humility and compassion, as well as social responsibility and sensitivity to people's culture and beliefs. All these qualities are expected of members of highly trained professions.

The Professionalism in Physical Therapy: Core Values document, is an important tool used for Physical Therapist to evaluate and reflect on their actions. As these actions are derived from the therapist’s core values, which the tool categorizes as: accountability, altruism, compassion/caring, excellence, integrity, professional duty and social responsibility. More importantly this tool gives therapist the ability to set goals and assess their progress towards these goals with intermittent re-evaluations over time. Ultimately, leading to improved performance and continual growth as a therapist.

According to the American Physical Therapy Association, professionalism is defined as “consistently [demonstrating] core values by aspiring to and wisely applying principles of altruism, excellence, caring, ethics, respect, communication and accountability, and by working together with other professionals to achieve optimal health and wellness in individuals and communities". In the context of being a student in a doctor of physical therapist degree program, there is no better model than the precursors before you. As an employee in an acute care rehabilitation setting, I have the opportunity of seeing firsthand the professional qualities that are essential in this profession.

Professionalism can be defined as “the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person.”(Merriam-webster) My interpretation of this definition is that professionalism is a standard that we must hold ourselves accountable to in order to provide the best service. How do we get from a basic understanding of this definition, to practicing and applying professionalism? Major attributes that lead to professionalism can include accountability, communication and reflective practice. Reflective practice in the healthcare system is when “practitioners engage in a continuous cycle of self-observation and self evaluation in order to understand their own actions and the reactions they prompt in themselves” (becoming a better university teacher…). In the day-to-day life, everyone performs a type of reflection whether it is by unconscious thought or by habit. When it is unintentional it is hard to learn and grow from the knowledge that can potentially be gained. Therefore we need to find a way to effectively incorporate reflective practice into our daily lives, especially as radiation therapy students.