PROFESSIONALISM IN PHYSICAL THERAPY: SELF-ASSESSMENT

Professionalism in physical therapy: Self-assessment

Professionalism in physical therapy: Self-assessment

Introduction

Every profession in which a person operates requires certain traits (Covey, 1990). In order to assess the core competency of a physical therapist there is a list of core values that are generated by American Physical Therapy Association. These characteristics or the core values are essential to examine the strengths and weaknesses of a physical therapist and serve as an effective tool evaluate the professionalism (American Physical Therapy Association, 2000). This tool examines physical therapists on the basis of following characteristics:

Accountability

Altruism

Compassion/Caring

Excellence

Integrity

Professional Duty

Social Responsibility

APTA tool to examine the core values of a physical therapist contains a scale in which an individual can give rating to himself on the basis of which he might be able to observe the strengths and weaknesses inside him (American Physical Therapy Association, 2000).

1) Evaluation of strengths and weaknesses

The first and foremost core value defined by APTA is the accountability which requires proper response to patient's needs, encouragement of feedback, adaptability to learning and change, adherence to ethical practices, continuous improvement, active participation for the achievement of societal goals etc and I believe that I would rank myself at 5 and this is my strength because I satisfy each and every requirement. Second value define din altruism which requires prioritization of patient's needs above the needs of practitioner, service provision without the element of biasness, service provision beyond client's expectations, priority of profession above personal needs, in this scenario I would rank myself at 3 because I satisfy each and every requirement except the last characteristic as I haven't given priority to my profession above my personal life because I love my family and this might be counted as a weakness. Third value is compensation which involves socio-cultural, psychological and economic influences, advocating patient's needs, effective communication, development of client programs congruent with their needs, provision of self-determination, focus on the well-being of the client, practicing without biasness, adapting patients emotional and psychological behaviors, etc. I would rank myself at 3 because I fit in each and every requirement addressed in order to qualify for the value of compassion/caring; however, sometimes I cannot adapt to the psychological and emotional behavior of the patient, so it can be considered as a weakness. Fourth value defined by APTA is excellence which requires professional investment, extraction of information for decision making, provision of high quality health standard practice, intellectual humility, knowledge and skills, tolerance of ambiguity, knowledge acquisition and sharing. I would rank myself at 5 here because I satisfy all the concerns required to achieve excellence in the profession of physical therapist. The fifth value defined by APTA is integrity which requires adherence to rules, utilization of power, resolving dilemma, trustworthiness, participation in management, confrontation of harassment and congruent practices. I would rank myself at 5 because I always abide by the principles required to qualify for the attainment of the integrity in the profession. The sixth value is professional duty which requires provision of optimal care, facilitation ...