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Category: Narrative Reflections

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.

Katie M. Spencer, SPT March 11, 2025

Running Before I Could Walk

Physical therapists who fulfill a clinical rotation abroad often quickly gain new cultural and medical insights. The experience can be particularly intense for students. In this soul-searching account, SPT Mitchel Fenrich describes his day-by-day enlightenments while seeking to help a child with cerebral palsy in Tanzania. He notes the new perspectives he gained on clinical assessments, treatments, cultural mores—and on himself as a practitioner.

Mitchel Fenrich, PT, DPT & Corri Stuyvenberg, PT, DPT, MA & Amanda Sharp, PT, DPT, PhD November 26, 2024

Mirroring Each Other: Beyond AI’s Capability

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

Caitlin Miller, SPT October 1, 2024

The Power of Touch: Trust

Seeking to illustrate the nuances of physical touch in PT practice, Brandon Ness, DPT program faculty member and artist, created an image to inspire discussion among his students about trust and healing. His account of that process—creating and refining the image, going through a Visible Thinking exercise with his students—shows how art can inspire fresh critical thinking.

Brandon Ness, PT, DPT, PhD September 16, 2024

At Capacity: How Physical Therapists Will Gain More by Doing Less

At Capacity: How Physical Therapists Will Gain More by Doing Less by Hannah Sy, PT, DPT, JHR’s award-winning 2024 student essay, examines how the increased use of AI in the physical therapy clinic may actually improve humanistic patient care. According to Sy, “the advantage of AI…is its ability to solve complex problems with its capacity to process copious amounts of data.” As physical therapists are assisted in data-based problem-solving and treatment planning by AI, she notes, their time may better be applied to connecting with the human beings they seek to rehabilitate.

Hannah Sy, PT, DPT May 3, 2024