What I need to know
Ever since I got to high school, it seemed like everyone knew what they wanted to be in the future. However, I didn't. When I had the opportunity to join Honors Mentorship, I didn't hesitate, and I immediately signed up for the class. Not only did this class allow me to discover what I wanted to become in the future, but it also gave me a chance to observe the careers I was interested in. When I first started my internship at Mind and Motion, I went in without knowing much about the three allied health careers. However, now, I understand the difference between each one, and I found a career I can see myself in. This internship has allowed me to grow my passion in this field and hopefully I'll be able to make it my own!
Coming up with an essential question was very hard for me, and I changed mine multiple times. During the first semester of school, I was only shadowing a speech therapist, and I fell in love with the job. Because of this, I based my essential question only around speech therapy. However, during the second semester, I shadowed a speech therapist, occupational therapist, and physical therapist, and I fell in love with all three careers. It was hard trying to come up with an essential question for me, because I didn't know what exactly I should base my question off of. Therefore, I decided on this essential question: "What is the difference between the most popular allied health careers- a speech pathologist, a physical therapist, and an occupational therapist? How do you become one?" At the end of my research, I want to be able to able to provide a concise answer to this question.
Researching about the three careers will benefit me greatly because it will help me learn more about the careers, and it will allow me to discover if this path is right for me. Also, since I am now going to college, this research process will help me plan out my future a bit because I will be researching how to become each career.
Coming up with an essential question was very hard for me, and I changed mine multiple times. During the first semester of school, I was only shadowing a speech therapist, and I fell in love with the job. Because of this, I based my essential question only around speech therapy. However, during the second semester, I shadowed a speech therapist, occupational therapist, and physical therapist, and I fell in love with all three careers. It was hard trying to come up with an essential question for me, because I didn't know what exactly I should base my question off of. Therefore, I decided on this essential question: "What is the difference between the most popular allied health careers- a speech pathologist, a physical therapist, and an occupational therapist? How do you become one?" At the end of my research, I want to be able to able to provide a concise answer to this question.
Researching about the three careers will benefit me greatly because it will help me learn more about the careers, and it will allow me to discover if this path is right for me. Also, since I am now going to college, this research process will help me plan out my future a bit because I will be researching how to become each career.
What I know/assume
When I signed up for Honors Mentorship, I had no idea what career I wanted to shadow. I went onto Google, and I somehow came across a speech therapist. At this point, I didn't know who a speech therapist was or how they helped patients. I only knew that they helped people with language disorders, and I was interested in the career. When I got to my internship place, I found out that there were also occupational therapists and physical therapists. At first, I couldn't understand the difference between the two careers, but I soon figured out that there was a huge difference and each career was targeted towards different goals. Before shadowing the therapists, I assumed that occupational therapists and physical therapists both helped people who had difficulty in moving, which is true, but there are differences. Also, before starting my internship, I didn't know much about Mind and Motion, so finding out that there were different types of therapists working there made me really happy because I got to shadow different careers. This helped my interest grow really quickly in these 3 allied health careers.
The search
During the first semester of my internship, I shadowed two different speech therapists. In the second semester, I began to shadow physical therapists and occupational therapists. At first, my essential question only dealt with speech therapy, but as I became interested in physical and occupational therapy, my essential question changed. Through my internship, I was able to witness patients constantly improving, and it truly amazed me. On top of this, most patients at the clinic came for more than one session each time they were there. For example, if a patient came in for physical therapy, they would go to their occupational therapy session next. Some days I would follow one patient around and see them go through different types of therapy sessions. On other days, I only shadowed occupational therapy sessions, and during other days, I only shadowed speech therapy sessions.
Before my internship, I didn't know the difference between occupational and physical therapy. One article that really helped me understand the difference between occupational and physical therapy was "The Fields of Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy." This article stated the difference very simply: "the main difference between occupational therapy and physical therapy is that OT focuses on improving a client's ability to perform activities of daily living and PT focuses on improving a client's ability to perform movement of the human body." Another article that was helpful was "Outcomes, Benefits, and Drawbacks of Speech Therapy." This article summarized what a speech therapist does, the benefits and drawbacks of speech therapy, and the desired outcomes for speech therapy sessions. This article was really interesting because I never got a chance to think about the drawbacks to speech therapy; I only thought about the benefits. One great thing about these articles is that they weren't bias. They were straightforward and very informational. It helped me understand more about the careers I was researching into.
One part of my research that I really enjoyed was that I got a chance to interview the speech therapist at Mind and Motion. During the interview, I got to ask the therapists why they chose their job and how they all connect with each other. They told me that they all collaborated together to find the best treatment plan for the patients. For example, if a patient came in for speech therapy and the therapist notices another issue, they can refer them to another therapist. All the different therapists help each other out. On top of all these questions, I also asked them my essential question, and the answers were similar to what I had found in my research.
What i discovered
Through my research and internship, I was able to figure out that physical therapy is not the right career for me. Although I think the career is great, I don't think that it's the right path for me. However, I am still interested in becoming an occupational therapist and speech therapist in the future. Both jobs are fun, and as the therapist, you can be as creative as you want to help your patients improve and meet their goals. I really like how occupational and speech therapists can be creative to help their patients, and they can do a wide variety of activities with their patients.
When I was researching about the careers, I only knew a little bit about the careers, and I only had a broad idea of what they did. However, through my internship, I was able to apply the research and see for myself what the careers are like. For example, now I can explain and answer my essential question to anyone who asks me the difference. I can also explain how people can become an OT, PT, or ST. I am so grateful that Mind and Motion provides physical, occupational, and speech therapy sessions because I was able to be exposed to these careers. Without my internship, I wouldn't have been able to develop an interest for this field.
When I was researching about the careers, I only knew a little bit about the careers, and I only had a broad idea of what they did. However, through my internship, I was able to apply the research and see for myself what the careers are like. For example, now I can explain and answer my essential question to anyone who asks me the difference. I can also explain how people can become an OT, PT, or ST. I am so grateful that Mind and Motion provides physical, occupational, and speech therapy sessions because I was able to be exposed to these careers. Without my internship, I wouldn't have been able to develop an interest for this field.