The document is an intern's final evaluation and reflection of their internship experience at a physical therapy site. The intern met all of their goals, which included becoming familiar with exercises, learning to manage different patient personalities, and learning to properly document patient charts. They achieved these goals through studying exercise programs, interacting with many patients each day, and relying on guidance from their supervisors. As part of the internship, the intern completed a case study on a patient and felt they accomplished it well using their writing and counseling skills. The internship reinforced their interest in becoming a physical therapist. Their coursework in areas like anatomy, health systems, and health behaviors directly supported their success in the internship. Health literacy training was also useful

1. HEALTH 420 - INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE
Intern's Final Evaluation/Reflection
PURPOSE: to help you reflect on and evaluate your total internship experience.
Answer each question completely in the internship section of your portfolio you may
integrate responses to these questions any way you feel is logical.
1. Review your goals and objectives for your internship and assess your internship
site as it provided a setting for achieving those goals and objectives.
I. From reviewing my goals and objectives made in the beginning of my
internship process, it is clear to me that I have met all the goals I wanted to.
My first goal was to become familiar with the many exercises that the patients
did in order to stretch and strengthen their problem area. One of my main
goals was to mark patient’s exercises off in their chart upon completion and
make sure they were doing them correctly in order to prevent new injuries. If
a patient happened to be doing the exercise incorrectly, I would have to step in
immediately and show them the correct way so it would not result in another
injury.
II. My next goal was to learn how to interact with different patient personalities
in a work environment and how to handle difficult patients in a well-mannered
way. Completing this internship has allowed me to become more patient with
those who I interact with, especially with elderly patients. I believe that
having patience is a key component in being both a successful and great
therapist. Interacting with an average of 35 patients during each shift has
given me the opportunity to meet new patients and learn their different
personalities in order to give them the best care that I possibly can.
III. My final goal was to learn how to properly document a patient’s time spent in
physical therapy through his/her patient chart and learn how to write
summarized letters based on the therapists’ notes. Another primary role that I
had was to mark patient’s charts, whether it was the calendar or their flow
chart of exercises. Although my role did not include learning in detail the
different types of insurance, I was able to learn a few key characteristics about
each. I was also responsible for typing Medicare evaluations and progress
notes, along with workers compensation evaluations and discharge notes for
all patients from dictation.
2. Explain and show how you achieved the goals you set.
I. For my first goal, becoming familiar with the various exercises, I was able to
study home exercise programs (HEPs), which had pictures and descriptions on
how to properly perform the exercises. Studying these HEPs allowed me to
become so familiar with the numerous exercises, that within a week at my
internship, I was able to tell patients how to properly execute the exercises
that are specific for their treatment.

2. II. In learning how to manage different patient personalities, both Kristi and Jeff
were a huge part in this. If they knew a difficult patient was scheduled to
come in for that day, they would give me advice on how to interact with them
so that I would be able to give them the best care possible. By having to
interact on a day-to-day basis with many personalities, it has made me become
more patient and I have effectively learned how to manage multiple
personalities.
III. Lastly, in order to achieve learning how to properly chart a patient’s visit, I
relied heavily of Kristi and also her past charting guides. I was able to look
back at the patient’s previous visits in order to see the types of interventions
they received for example, electrical stimulation, dry needling, ice/heat, etc.,
so that I could properly set the room up for convenience. It was allowed me to
learn how to properly chart within the patient’s specific calendar and correctly
charting the patient’s exercises. By typing progress notes and evaluations by
diction, I was able to expand my medical vocabulary which will be very
helpful in the near future.
3. Choose one project/assignment and describe it as follows: Physical Therapy
Case Study
a. How well do you think you accomplished the project or dealt with the
experience(s)?
I. I believe that I accomplished a detailed case study very well. I included
all the proper information that should be included in a case study, due to
Kristi’s instruction and thorough help. In order to develop a detailed case
study, I included the goals, treatment plan, and results of the patient’s
physical therapy sessions. I followed the patient very closely at each visit
and it was so rewarding to see the huge improvement that was being
made.
b. What skills did you use? (e.g. writing, speaking, organizing, interpersonal,
counseling, management, research, etc.)
II. To develop a proper case study, I utilized both my writing and organizing
skills. I had to organize a great amount of information into detailed
sections to further explain the patient’s history, treatment plan, and
results. I read through the notes made by Kristi to find which
interventions and exercises the patient benefitted from most. By working
closely with the patient, I also applied my counseling skills. When the
patient would not want to perform an exercise, I would help them through
the difficult exercises by encouraging them.
c. Point out your strengths and weaknesses. What would you do differently?
III. I believe my strengths included my writing skills along with my
counseling skills. I was able to develop and execute a detailed case study
that would be easy for any individual, not of physical therapy nature, to
understand. I also feel as though my counseling skills were very strong
due to the need to become better in order to have patients complete their

3. difficult exercises. One of my weaknesses would definitely be my
shyness. At the beginning of the internship I was a little hesitant and
lacked confidence due to the fact that I had never been in a physical
therapy setting. Towards the end, I became more outgoing but I feel as I
would have benefitted in the beginning by being less reserved in order to
ask more questions to both the therapists and patients.
4. Assess your contribution to the internship site.
IV. During my internship, I felt like I was very vital to the clinic and to the
therapists and staff. Even though I was unable to perform various
treatments like electrical stimulation or dry needling patients, due to my
lack of education, I helped the therapists in whatever ways I could. This
included setting up the rooms prior to patients arriving based on their
treatments, assisting patients with their individualized exercise plans,
cleaning patient rooms once finished with treatments, washing linens, and
preparing cold/hot packs for patient use. At times when the office was
busy with everyone running around, I tried to make things easier for
Kristi and Jeff by doing anything that I could possibly do.
5. Has your experience changed or reinforced your career goals. Changed or
reinforced your educational goals? Could you see yourself as a professional in this field?
V. By completing this internship, it has definitely opened my eyes to
becoming a physical therapist. When first beginning, I always thought I
wanted to become an occupational therapist but this internship has
persuaded me to go the other way. Being a physical therapist would
provide me with a positive work environment along with knowing that I
am helping patients return to their normal everyday functions without
pain. I cannot wait to start a future career in physical therapy in the near
future.
6. Relate your internship experience to your academic work on campus. List at least
5 specific courses (by title, not number) either in your major or outside your
major that were useful at this site.
VI. My academic work on campus directly related to the success I had when
completing my internship at Hummel Physical Therapy. I feel as though
the most relevant course I have taken here at Clemson would be Anatomy
and Physiology. Having prior knowledge about the body’s systems with
muscles, bones, and joints, allowed me to understand the jargon used in
the work setting along with the types of injuries that most often occur at
different locations of the body. Another class that I have taken entitled
Health Care Systems provided me with the proper background in dealing
with insurance plans among different types of health care systems
especially in the United States. Determinants of Health Behavior
provided me with information on different theories that relate to how
individuals process information and their ability to change. It also
provided me with information on the background of different

4. determinants of health and different prevention measures that could be
taken to better one’s health status. By taking Managing Health Service
Organizations, I learned the differences between Medicare and Medicaid,
which was a huge aspect in my internship when having to deal with them
in trying to get more approvals through the system for current patients.
The last course entitled Body Response to Health Behaviors taught me all
about how the body reacts to different health behaviors that take a
negative toll on the body and how to compensate for those behaviors.
7. Were there instances at your site where the health literacy training were
utilized? Explain.
VII. Throughout my internship, my health literacy training was highly used.
The most common area where it was used was when describing different
exercises to patients and when they had a home exercise program. When
trying to explain the proper technique of an exercise to a patient, I would
often have to use different words in order for the patient to understand me
rather than using medically sound vocabulary. And when patients where
given a HEP, some often had a hard time comprehending the directions.
By the addition pictures to the descriptions of the exercises, it allowed
patients to physically see what they were supposed to be doing and if
they were performing the exercises properly.