Goals and Learning

During my 2024-2025 Internship with Dr. Schelcht I wanted to make sure I got the most out of my experience here. Below are goals I have and how I am able to complete and expand on my goals and skills.

Career Goals

Aspiration

I am a current student at IUI pursuing a degree in Exercise Science on a pre-med track for Physical Therapy. I am also going to graduate with the Personal Training

Undergraduate Certificate. For graduate school I wish to attend the University of Indianapolis to earn my DPT to fulfill my career as a Physical Therapist.

The Nail in the Coffin

My experiences from childhood up to high school gave me reasons to pursue Physical Therapy. My childhood was spent on a farm. I helped feed and care for the animals. I loved it and it definitely built my character.

My interest in health and exercise begun with my participation in sports like soccer and track. I also spent the majority of my time at the gym during the off season.

I excelled and loved my biomedical class and anatomy class. My teacher saw my interest and he brought up the idea of pursuing Physical Therapy as a career.

What nailed my decision was my time peer tutoring. I helped ELL students who spoke Mandarin, French, or Spanish. When I first met them they were reserved, shy and unmotivated students. The most fulfilling feeling was when one of the students came up to me and showed me their grade on a test. Helping them in their school work and getting them to play sports with me gave me a sense of purpose. I knew from then I on I wanted to help people. Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation will give me that sense of fulfillment I seek and I wish to be a part of someone's journey of growth and recovery.

What Will I Do This Year?

I plan on volunteering at the Motor Clinic which helps students work with children with disabilities here at IUI.
I want to job shadow a Physical Therapist sometime this year to really get a sense of what might this career look like for me.
I miss peer tutoring from high school, so this year I would love to be a tutor for the Bepko Learning Center here at IUI.

In March, edit your October response to share how your internship experience confirmed or changed your career planning journey and goals. How confident do you feel in using your self-knowledge and preferences to make career-related decisions now?

In March, we will send you the goals you stated on your LHSI application. Review and add how your goals changed from a year ago or what progress have you made. Add what you will do this summer and during the rest of your time at IU Indianapolis to reach your career goals. Use your responses to the "Setting Goals: What's Next?" Canvas assignment from January.

Internship Goals

In March, update your progress and what you'll do next under each internship goal. Use the format below from the assignment for each goal.
Learning Goal #1: I want to get better at advocating and speaking up about a need, question, or anything. I tend to be shy or hesitant to ask about certain desires or needs in the workplace.
Relevance: My career goal is to be a physical therapist and for that I must be an effective communicator. I have found myself hesitating to ask questions, help and feedback because I like to try to figure things out on my own. However, this led me to progress slower and has inhibited me from learning new skills faster.
Action Plan: Tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities you'll do to meet this goal.

Imaging and microscope training
Loading on mice (Learning how to load sub maximally on the mice knees)
Histology training (Learning how to identify the ACL on the microscope slides)

Progress: Add in March. Think back on the progress you have made towards achieving this goal. Describe in detail any accomplishments and difficulties you had. Describe your next steps to take in order to achieve each goal. Add any changes to your goal.

Learning Goal #2: I want to be able to collaborate and work with someone. I have always done independent work but my goal is to gain experience working with someone else on a project or assignment since at my other job I never got to work with someone.
Relevance: I want to be an effective collaborator and speaker. If I have an idea, question or thought I want to be able to say it and speak it out loud. I think to be a good collaborator one must be willing to have open discussions.
Action Plan: Tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities you'll do to meet this goal.

My 2nd semester project is collaborative and I can work with the other intern
With the other intern we can stain and do MRI imaging
Interacting with everyone on the project because everyone can finish each other’s parts if need be

Progress: Add in March. Think back on the progress you have made towards achieving this goal. Describe in detail any accomplishments and difficulties you had. Describe your next steps to take in order to achieve each goal. Add any changes to your goal.

Learning Goal #3: Another goal is finding a leadership position. I want to be able to take a lead on a project or assignment to test my management skills.
Relevance: I want to get better at leading or helping others. I need to be a good leader and coworker to see progress in projects, tasks, and other activities. As it relates to my career goal, physical therapists assign and lead the progress of patients and make the rehab programs.
Action Plan: Tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities you'll do to meet this goal.

We get to come up with our presentation idea!
I can specialize in a skill of my choosing! Depending on what I am good at e.g. slicing, imaging, staining...
If I am good at a certain thing, I can take the lead on it. Each intern can help each other out!

Learning

March: Which skills on the survey are you using or where are you more confident since fall? Give examples of how you're using the skills or how you know you're growing.

Improved Skills

I am a lot more confident asking for help and communicating if I do not understand the instructions. Partly because my team and coworkers have been such an open and positive environment and partly because as I've gotten comfortable doing certain tasks like imaging, cropping, or analysis I know what the process should be and so if something comes up as abnormal I know to ask.

I also grew my critical thinking skills. For example, when I was cropping the ACL images I was well versed in the anatomy so when I realized the image was of a right ACL and not a left ACL (since Dr. Schelcht had only taught me using a left ACL) I was able to figure it out and realize using my knowledge of the anatomy and identifying structures that it was a right ACL. In the end I didn't have to go ask for help and was able to figure it out.

I have also grown my collaborative skills. Although working in the lab is mostly independent work we are still all part of the system. For example, when I was working on taking images of the ACL and I didn't finish I asked Dr. Schelcht if Hannah (the other intern) was coming in and he said yes. I suggested leaving a note with a list of all the ACLs that I had finished imaging that way she didn't have to go through the trouble of verifying which ones I had done and which ones I hadn't. This helped the process because if I help her I know it will help the system that we all work in.

Developing Skills
March: Which skills from the survey would you like to continue to work on? What will you do to grow the skills this semester or after LHSI?

I need to improve my problem solving skills. Right now I do not have strong enough grasp on how to overcome certain problems solely on my own. For example, if the image that was taken is not clear enough I still need help trying to figure out what to do to fix it. I know the steps of what to do but it has taken me a while to realize the why behind what I am doing. For example, while using and taking measurements of the ACL I was told to set a scale to a certain number. It wasn't until I accidentally forgot to set it the next time I came in that Adam (coworker) explained to me why my numbers didn't make sense.

How Does This Translate?

I remember when Dr. Schelcht was teaching me how to read the histological images of the ACL. He told me "Remember the ACL runs from the back of the femur to the front of the tibia." Identifying this structure and differentiating it from the surrounding ligaments is crucial for when I do imaging and isolation of the ACL. I do it so often at my internship site it has become second nature.

He also taught me how to look at the knee and identify all the other structures. The fat pad, the patellar ligament, femur, and tibia have a distinct shape and look that I now can readily differentiate between them all. Dr. Schelcht told me that the fat pad is easy to identify as it is "a triangle with distinct bubble feature" and the patellar ligament "always runs in front of the patella and in front of the fat pad". The tibia is flatter and wider and the femur is much more round.

I have learned so much about the anatomy of knee and much more about the actual mechanics of the knee. Dr. Schelcht showed me a model of a knee and explained the sliding and shifting of the bones when we bend our knee. It has been very helpful to visually see it, but now I understand it in a more complex and detailed way. This has been engrained in my head now and it has helped me in my Anatomy and Physiology class. It has translated on how I study for my kinesiology classes as well. Understanding the mechanics of the structures has helped me apply it to my everyday life.

In March, edit your October reflection to add more ways the internship helped you gain a deeper understanding of your coursework and major in the spring semester.