Professionalism Definition

It may be hard to admit, but professionalism cannot be simply explained by in a definition. You need life experience to explain what professionalism means. Professionalism is not something that you do part-time, it should be ever present in your life. As a physical therapy student, I will use my experiences to be as professional as possible in all situations. While every physical therapy school is different, professionalism stays the same. In my undergraduate education and internship experience, professionalism has been ingrained and I think will propel me in physical therapy school.
To finish my degree in kinesiology I had to get accepted into University of Wyoming’s pre-professional program. While it was simple to get into the program, …show more content…
Altruism was taught constantly. The physical therapists taught me that you have to put every need of a patient before your own, and always shooting for a higher level of care than most would accept. They would always let patient come in at any time and use the equipment if they wanted. As the intern, I would make it a priority to give any patient that came in separate from their appointment as much guidance and instruction as I could. This leads me to the other key to professionalism I learned, which is humility. I was constantly quizzed during my internship, usually in front of a patient, and learned that you do not need an answer to every question. Giving a “best guess” can lead to very negative results. I saw the physical therapists themselves refer many times to other professionals; be it the patient’s doctor, another physical therapist, or a dietician to name a few. Seeing how every physical therapist worked also reinforced the idea of professional duty. The pride every physical therapist had in their job, the mentoring that each gave me, and the amount of work put into every patient left me with a deep impression. I also found compassion that I did not know I had. I had heard from other students and professors that you would have patients that are “problem patients” and I had the idea in my head when starting. That was never the …show more content…
For me, professionalism is what you have learned in past experiences and what you have gained. Being a professional is not a 9 to 5 job, it is a part of who you are at all times. I expect to always act as what I feel is a professional at all times and learning more about professionalism every day as a student. Learning never stops, core values never stop and being professional never