Hello everyone! My name is CJ De Leon and I am a senior Health Sciences major (pre-PT). This summer, I got the amazing opportunity to Intern at Coury and Buehler Physical Therapy. As an “exercise specialist” in this fast-paced clinic, I had two core responsibilities. First, I helped to aid and guide the patients in exercises prescribed by their licensed Physical Therapists (PTs). Second, I helped educate patients on why they are doing each exercise, ensure they had proper form, and inform the PT if there were any problems.

Another responsibility was getting patients set-up on modality tables. The modalities include using ice packs, heat packs, ultrasound, or electrical stimulation on the body part that is being treated. Once a patient was done using a table or equipment, we would have to sanitize what they used with a HDQ Spray and ensure the clinic was clean and presentable.

One of my big take-aways from this internship experience: It is important to remember all the anatomy that we learn in HSCI 210! Knowing the location of body parts is critical when helping patients exercise. Additionally, it will make it a lot easier to learn the different exercises when you already know the anatomical terminology. The second thing that I have learned from my internship, you must be aware at all times. I was sometimes working with multiple patients at the same time, which could be challenging. However, as long as I was aware of what they were all supposed to be doing, it worked out and no one was injured. By the end of my internship, I really had a deeper understanding of why the PT’s prescribed exercises to improve certain conditions.

I’d like to thank Coury and Buehler for giving me the opportunity and highly encourage other pre-PT majors to intern with them!