Beyond the Algorithm: Where Curiosity Begins
Detailing her experience treating a chronic pain patient, this student author highlights a few statements from that patient that moved her beyond her academic training to a new level of curiosity and empathy. Simply treating pain symptoms was insufficient for this patient, Nguyen notes. “I wasn’t just treating a person’s spine, I was intersecting with an individual’s story.” The result? The patient summarizes it best: “I didn’t know PT could feel like therapy.”
The Discipline of Curiosity
This thoughtful student essay digs deep into the concept of curiosity, identifying its many possible phases and iterations as a clinician and patient progress through physical therapy. The author describes a specific experience with a patient who stated she just wanted “someone to believe me.” Miles-Williams details the phases of curiosity she passed through to help this patient feel heard. She concludes that curiosity is a form of resistance to assumptions that may inhibit care.
To Be, to Inflect, to Feel
This insightful report encapsulates the value of adding a humanistic dimension to rehabilitation. As told through the eyes of a student physical therapist assessing her patient’s progress—and determining that adding empathy to the treatment process was crucial to achieving a positive result—delineates how the realization can occur in all clinicians. It is a direct, on-the-ground view of the importance of JHR’s mission.
Physical Therapy is More than Just Physical
This insightful report encapsulates the value of adding a humanistic dimension to rehabilitation. As told through the eyes of a student physical therapist assessing her patient’s progress—and determining that adding empathy to the treatment process was crucial to achieving a positive result—delineates how the realization can occur in all clinicians. It is a direct, on-the-ground view of the importance of JHR’s mission.
The Young Doctor: One Day, Inshallah
In her winning essay, “The Young Doctor: One Day Inshallah,” Katie Spencer recounts her transformative experience providing medical care in a Syrian refugee village during her time as a US Army medic. Central to her essay is an encounter with a young girl who dreamed of becoming a doctor, despite her school being destroyed by insurgents. Spencer invited her to follow along as she treated patients. Learning to innovate patient care with limited resources, Spencer prioritized listening to patients’ stories and recognized that “language barriers and cultural differences mean little when a bridge of universal compassion is built.” Her essay emphasizes that healthcare extends beyond visible symptoms, requiring providers to understand patients’ personal narratives and cultural contexts.
Mirroring Each Other: Beyond AI’s Capability
doi: 10.18737/0607247888 AMA Citation: Miller C. Mirroring Each Other: beyond AI’s capability. J Hum Rehabil. 2024; Fall. doi:10.18737/0607247888 Download the article (pdf) Table of Contents Congratulations to Doctor of Physical Therapy Student, Caitlin Miller (George Washington University), finalist of the annual Student Essay Contest, co-sponsored by the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) and […]
The Necessity of Soul and the Role of AI in the Art of Rehabilitation
doi: 10.18737/0607228376 AMA Citation: Magpile M. The Necessity of Soul and the Role of AI in the Art of Rehabilitation. J Hum Rehabil. 2024; Fall. doi:10.18737/0607228376 Download the article (pdf) Table of Contents Congratulations to Doctor of Physical Therapy Student, Michaela Magpile, SPT (Columbia University), finalist of the annual Student Essay Contest, co-sponsored by the […]
“The Classroom, Clinic, and Community: What Can We Do With All Three?”
doi: 10.18737/0607906280 AMA Citation: Trauger M. “The Classroom, Clinic, and Community: What Can We Do With All Three?” J Hum Rehabil. 2023; Spring. doi:10.18737/0607906280 Download the article (pdf) Table of Contents Congratulations to Doctor of Physical Therapy graduate student Mason Trauger (DeSales University), SPT, winner of the annual CHEP-JHR Student Essay Contest, co-sponsored by the […]
“Turn Your Cameras On”
Physical therapy students nationwide are grappling with an unprecedented change in the educational system: forced remote learning of a hands-on profession. In this amusing and thoughtful essay, Noah Watson describes how experiencing one course—and witnessing its caring instructor addressing students’ frustrations—taught him the crucial importance of “empathy, patience, and compassion” in the healing process.
“Finding Balance: The Hidden Gift of Being Thrown Off-Course”
In this second student essay focused on the Covid learning years, Bridget Graff details how her frustration with forced digital learning led her to discover a whole new perspective on life and work. Moving from being an active, dynamic, overworked student to one focused more on “concepts,” she developed a work-life “balancing act” that improved her academic performance—and will serve her for years to come.