Hello, hello everyone! I hope that all of my fellow SPT friends crushed their fall semester and get the chance to enjoy the holidays/winter break! I recently created a new Instagram account (@pt_studybuddy) dedicated to sharing notes, review questions, resources, tips/tricks, and motivation to help you rock PT school!

** Read to the end for a surprise!! 🤭**

Clinical experiences are one of the most special and rewarding parts about the entire PT school experience. It’s where everything you have been learning in the classroom starts to come together piece by piece and truly comes full-circle. It’s where you get to participate in hands-on patient care and begin transitioning from a student physical therapist to a clinician. I have been blessed with some of the most amazing clinical instructors during my clinical experiences thus far. When my time with them came to an end, I knew that there were a million things that I wanted to say to show my gratitude for all that they did for me.

Hello friends - Happy Friday! There are several important abbreviations that physical therapists use on a daily basis for documentation, interpreting patients’ medical charts, and communicating with colleagues and various health professionals. I have compiled an extensive list of some of the abbreviations, acronyms, and shorthand terms that you will begin to see during physical therapy school, and you should be familiar with them for your classes, clinical rotations, and future career in this profession. I hope you find this list to be helpful!

Hi friends! I’m so excited for today’s blog post, which will be a little tour of my home office and all of the essential items that help make this such a great study and work space!

Happy Friday everyone! Today I am sharing my next series of anatomy drawings, which will be all about the brachial plexus, its different components, and how it supplies sensory and motor innervation throughout the arm, forearm, and hand. The brachial plexus can be very tricky. One of the best ways I was able to visualize it and learn how it works was in cadaver lab.

Stuck at home due to COVID-19? During stressful times like these, it’s incredibly important to take care of your mental and physical health. Staying healthy will help you cope with the changes brought on by social distancing and may even help you ward off illness. Fortunately, you don’t need access to gyms, personal trainers, or salad bars to keep your health in top shape. There are plenty of ways to support your whole-body health at home!

My Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program is voted #1 in Virginia for 2020 by Unversities.com! Shenandoah University has a phenomenal DPT program and I could not imagine myself anywhere but here. In this post, I will be including everything you need to know about Shenandoah DPT and why I love it so much!

I’m so excited to share all about my PT school white coat ceremony with you all! My white coat ceremony took place at the beginning of my third cumulative semester of PT school, which was a few weeks into the fall semester of my second year. This ceremony was such a significant day for me as a DPT student because it signified the welcoming of my classmates and I into the doctoring profession of physical therapy and our transition from didactic coursework to clinical education.

Hello everyone! I am excited to share 3 templates I created that help me stay organized and be on top of my planning game. The templates I’ve created are perfect for any student that has tons of important dates and deadlines to keep track of, including assignments, quizzes, exams, practicals, meetings, and more. Not only are they great for students, but they are also great for anyone who just wants to add a little more organization to their life!

‘Tis the season! If you’re looking for perfect last-minute Christmas or holiday gift ideas for a PT student, then you’ve come to the right place! The gift ideas I’ll be sharing are a mix of meaningful, thoughtful, functional, and punny. They would also make for great birthday gifts or items to send in a “just because” package to let them know that you’re thinking about them. The majority of the items can be ordered through Amazon Prime or Etsy or purchased at a store near you.

Happy back-to-school season, y’all! I am back in Winchester (VA) and just started my second year of physical therapy school. The best part about it? My fridge is looking extra full and happy right now. WOOHOO! I’m excited to be sharing this grocery haul with you guys, which includes items from Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Aldi! I live in a small town that doesn’t have my favorite grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, so I made sure to stock up on what I needed before heading back to start the semester.

Hi everyone! I have received a lot of questions about having a dog in PT school, so today’s post will be all about that. A common trend I’m hearing is that a lot of fellow dog moms and dads are concerned about having their pup with them at school. Is it difficult? Is it too time-consuming in such an intense program? Do I have extra time to spend with my dog? Do I recommend having them with you? This may or may not just be an excuse for me to show off some super cute pictures of my dog… no I’m kidding. Keep reading for the inside scoop!

Hello, hello! Today I am sharing 7 ways I stay organized in PT school. Being a PT student can be a bit hectic at times (or all of the time… actually), so staying organized is one of the key things that will help keep you on top of your game. Keeping track of important dates and deadlines is so so important with all of the assignments, quizzes, exams, practicals, meetings, and more that come along with PT school. So, if you’re interested to see how I stay on top of all of these things (as well as how I like to organize my notes), just keep reading!

I completed my first clinical experience at an outpatient orthopedic clinic during the second semester of my first year (spring 2019). Our clinic days were on Tuesdays and lasted for 10 weeks. We did not have any classes on clinic days and my typical clinic day usually lasted from around 8:00 AM to 5:00 or 6:00 PM (depending on how the day went/how much documentation still needed to be completed at the end of the day).

Well, it’s official - I survived my first year of PT school! I am currently pursuing my Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. I just finished my official first year and am so excited to be a rising second-year student in fall of 2019. This post is dedicated to sharing a general overview and recap of the classes I’ve completed and will be taking in future semesters, as well as a few highlights from the year.

Hello, hello! Happy Monday! The spring semester is right around the corner and I’m so excited to get back in action with anatomy. During my first semester of DPT school anatomy, we covered the upper extremity. I started tackling muscles before I even started school and shared my whole-body muscle drawings in this post, which was more of a hit then I ever imagined it would be.

Hello there, friends! It's a beautiful day to share lots of new updates with you all, so... here it goes. If you're familiar with my PT school journey thus far, then you probably already know that I encountered a few bumps in the road in my first year. If you need to catch up, you can read all about that here. So... make sure you do that so you've got the timeline straight.

Hello everyone! Today, I am sharing a few tips and tricks that can hopefully help you ace your DPT inpatient practical exam and be a total rockstar! Practical exams can be really, really tough. You may know may know all of the necessary information to be successful. You may be confident in your abilities to perform a thorough examination/evaluation and devise an effective intervention. However, having proctors view and grade every single move you make can be very nerve-wracking.

Why hello there! This post is an addendum to my Muscular Anatomy 101 blog post, where I shared with you all my drawings that have helped me conquer all of the muscles in the human body. Since sharing that post, I have received a lot of questions as to what other resources I have used or things I have done to power through anatomy and thoroughly learn/understand other important objectives, such as the nervous, circulatory, respiratory, urinary, and reproductive systems.

Hi everyone! So, if you are a visual learner like me, then you know that learning all of the muscles in the human body can be a daunting task if you don't have visuals to aid in your studying. I spend a lot of time in the cadaver lab and in osteology lab (with skeletal models) to learn all of the different muscles and bony structures one-by-one. Additionally, since I learn best with pictures and colors, I have drawn out my school's muscle chart.

Alright, here it goes - the post I've been dreading to write. Things are about to get REAL personal. So if you didn't already know, I started my first semester of DPT school this past fall. It was a new, exciting, but very challenging experience that did not quite go as planned. I've kept quiet about the nitty gritty stuff and opened up only about the small details just enough to answer the questions of people who have been curious.

If you've made your way to this post then that probably means that you've been accepted to DPT school and if so - YAY, CONGRATS!! If not and you're currently applying and just curious about what needs to be completed before PT school and what kind of supplies you will eventually need, then that's just as exciting! Welcome!

Hello, everyone! I have decided to share the ins and outs of my experience with applying to Doctor of Physical Therapy programs since the 2017-2018 application cycle just launched! I have a lot of friends that want to enter this competitive field, so I feel like sharing this post will help them and hopefully any others who have the aspiration to become a DPT.