• Describe your involvement with this organization: For my service project I volunteered at the Joslin Diabetes Center which is affiliated with Southview Medical Center. As a volunteer I helped with various tasks many of which were office related. I helped to prepare multiple documents for education courses on managing diabetes and utilizing insulin pumps. One of my major projects was to sort through old education documents and organize them for easy access. While volunteering, I crafted education binders that would be passed out during informational classes for patients and their families. The other large part of my time was spent assisting in copying and faxing various documents to primary care physicians and other health care providers associated with diabetes care and management. Lastly, I was able to sit in  and observe on some of the education courses offered to patients.
• Describe what you gained as a result of this experience: As a result of this experience, I learned much more about diabetes as a chronic disease. I never realized how difficult living with diabetes can be on an individual and their family, or about the steps that can be taken to prevent the onset of this condition. Also, I learned a lot about the difficulties medical professionals can face while working with diverse patient populations. Many of the patients that came into Joslin were afraid about living with diabetes and I think it was very inspiring to see the difference a professional can make in the lives of their patients.
• Describe positive changes to the community as a result of your service experience: As a result of my service project I hope that more individuals will be able to receive high quality education on how to best manage their condition. I know that my service was only directed towards one practice but it really did open my eyes to a sector of health care that I had never truly considered. My wish is that more individuals will be able to learn about treating diabetes and how to manage it before it has the chance to lead to future health complications. Although my contributions were small, I like to think that my service positively affected the care received by some patients at Joslin.
• Describe a person with whom you interacted that made a strong impression on you, positive or negative: One individual who sticks out in my mind instantly was a patient who refused to follow the treatment guidelines. For this reason the patient’s health and hemoglobin A1c level continued to reflect this. I think as health care providers the staff at Joslin wanted to see this patient succeed and become healthier in the multiple ways they are forced to live with diabetes. This patient’s delayed cooperation made it even harder on them once they decided they wanted to begin making healthy changes. As a future healthcare provider I know I will have an extremely difficult time watching my patients ignore their health conditions and states. However, watching how the staff at Joslin handled the situation in a calm, professional manner, really helped prepare me to deal with situations of this sort.
• Complete the following sentence: “Because of this service experience, I am__________”: “Because of this service experience, I have a higher understanding of diabetes as a chronic illness and have learned more about what quality patient centered care should look like.  I am also now more aware of a section of specialized care in healthcare ” 

1. Why did you select this individual to interview?:

I chose to interview Molly because she is a recent graduate from the University of Dayton’s physical therapy program. I thought that she would be full of advice on how to succeed in graduate school, and could share some very valuable information about Dayton’s program. Having just graduated, I knew that Molly went through many of the same things I will be going through in the future and I hoped she would share her experiences with me, and how her time at Dayton prepared her to enter the profession.

2.  Describe the major responsibilities associated with their current role.

Molly sees patients from countless races, religions, and backgrounds every day as a physical therapist at OrthoNeuro. The variety of individuals and types of injuries that she works to improve is truly fascinating. She is responsible for developing a plan of care that will promote healing and optimal functioning in daily living. Molly sees many patients on a weekly basis and is responsible for personally working with patients to ensure certain physician determined criteria are being met.

3. Discuss how the person prepared for this role, and if they provided you with any advice as what you might be able to do to prepare for a similar career.

To prepare for this role, Molly had to attend a graduate program in physical therapy. Molly gave me a ton of advice on how to prepare for graduate school applications. She informed me on various test preparation techniques I can take for the GRE, and spoke with me about how she successfully completed her applications. Furthermore, Molly shared some advice on how to succeed at Dayton in physical therapy and what to expect as a student in this program. Overall I think our interview really helped me to gain a better understanding of what physical therapy school would really be like, and how I could ensure success.

4. Summarize any insights from the interview that might be helpful in your academic or career preparation?

Molly told me to make sure I study for my GRE before taking it in the summer. She told me that the math section isn’t anything outside of high school curriculum but that the vocabulary section would be extremely difficult without studying. Also, Molly informed me about the difficulty of each year in PT school. I learned that the most difficult time of physical therapy school for many students is the second semester of freshman year. During this time, there is a large focus on neuro- a very in depth and complex area that many students find challenging. Also, she talked to me about how to succeed as a group during the problem based learning practicals that occur frequently at UD.