Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
I am from Pequannock, NJ, and grew up in New Jersey. I moved to Massachusetts to attend college. I have a bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in comparative literature from UMass Amherst. I was a division 1 swimmer throughout college. Since college, I’ve lived in different parts of Massachusetts, including Allston, Brighton, Charlestown, and Medford. I am the classic “career change” story – I worked briefly as a purchasing analyst at L’Oreal Cosmetics. When I decided to pursue physical therapy, I found a job working as a rehabilitation aide at Newton Wellesley Hospital.
How did you choose IHP for your prerequisites?
I had just moved to start my new job and knew I wanted to apply to PT school when able. I started looking into what prerequisites I needed and where I would be able to take them. I needed a program that had online or evening offerings as I was planning to continue working full-time. A coworker told me about the IHP courses, which turned out to be the perfect scenario.
What did your IHP academic journey look like?
The prerequisite courses I took were comprehensive and provided a good base of knowledge on subjects that I had not quite covered in my bachelor’s degree. The weekly coursework was manageable, the online forums exposed me to other students with similar goals, and all the professors teaching the courses were fantastic. The forums allowed us to interact often with other students. The faculty were all very accessible and happy to respond to any messages and questions. Having worked with some of the instructors again later, I am still impressed with how responsive they were, knowing how many other responsibilities they had. I also appreciated getting exposed to the learning management system the IHP uses so that I was familiar with it when I started my DPT Program.
What are you doing now?
I completed a clinical rotation at Spaulding Rehab Charlestown Inpatient Rehab Facility, which I continued after I graduated and was licensed. From there, I accepted a position in the Spaulding Rehab Network Charlestown Outpatient, working with patients navigating neurological and spinal cord injuries. I attribute a lot of my success in this position to my connections and education through the IHP.