Sarah Coulombe ’10
The Exercise and Sports Performance Department is wonderful. All of the teachers are willing to help you with your studies. My classes related a great amount to my degree, and I will be able to apply the skills I learn from my undergraduate degree to physical therapy.
The classes that I feel contributed the most to my professional development are Gross Anatomy, Motor Learning and Development, Anatomy and Physiology, and Fundamentals of Nutrition and Exercise. Gross Anatomy contributed the most to professional development because in the lab we can really see all of the structures and how they allow the body to move and function.
During the summers of 2008 and 2009 I obtained a job at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital in Haverhill, Massachusetts in the in-patient clinic. At this job, I was a physical therapy rehabilitation assistant. This entailed seeing patients, administering rehabilitation in half-hour increments, assisting other physical therapists, and doing some clerical work. I got to experience what is like to work with patients one-on-one and in group settings. The most amazing part is seeing a patient barely being able to move around in a wheelchair [advance] to taking their first steps in the parallel bars.