Interviewer: Julia Inaba

Interviewee: Andrea Brown

1. What is your profession?

Physical Therapist
- Acute Stroke
- In Patient Medical and orthopedic conditions

2. What college(s) did you attend and what degree did you obtain from these schools?
(Undergraduate, Masters, ect.)
UCSD Bach. Physiology (Revelle College)
PT: University of the Pacific Masters of science of Physical Therapy

3. How long was your schooling?

6 years
- Now about 7 years for incoming PTs

4. Did you find your schooling rigorous or difficult?

Undergrad was very difficult
PT school was less difficult, different mindset, less competition

5. Where do you work currently?

Kaiser Permanente

6. What does your everyday work day look like?

Work 4 days a week (8-9 hours a day)
Lead in patient physical therapist
Coordinate schedule and answer emails from physicians
See patients
Go to hospital room and coordinate care with all discipline in hospital

7. What made you decide to get into the field of work you are in now?
Degree in science
Always been intrigued by human body and movement
Swimming influence, good use of education and passion and interest in teaching people
 8. Are there any liabilities that come with your profession?
Yes
Company covers
Worry about people falling
People thinking you made them worse
Not recognizing signs and symptoms (Red Flags)

9. What are the pros and cons of your field of work?

Pros:
- See people progress and become more functional
- Interact on personal level
- Establish personal relationship
- Interact with other fields of medicine
- Everyone in group is like-minded
- Good living
- No on-call

Cons:
- Medicare guidelines
- Bureaucracy
- Documentation for legal reasons that can take time away from treating patients
- Working with people with unrealistic goals

10. Do you enjoy your job?

Yes, good choice

11. How much will technology affect your field of work?

- A lot
- New electronic medical record
- Telephone and skype visits
- New technology for translation (Ipads)
- Further educate people (test results, videos)
- Measure force and resistance

Advice for someone looking into profession:

- Great profession but you need to like working with people
- Have patience
- Like sciences
Extra Notes:
Patient ages varies
People come who want to be active
Injured or aches and pains
- Stroke rehab
- Chronic Pain
- Geriatrics
- Women’s health issues
- Men’s health
- Amputees
- Developmental disorders
- Peds
- Orthopedics / joint replacements
- Sports injuries
- Spinal Cord injuries
- Vestibular and balance training