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PTH 746: Professional Behavior Assignment

The Policy on Professional Behaviors in your Class Handbook (pp 36 – 37) states that:

“Professional Behaviors are manners, attributes, or characteristics that are not explicitly part of
a profession's core of knowledge and technical skills, but nevertheless are required for success
in that profession. The PT-specific Professional Behaviors were identified by Physical
Therapists as part of a study completed by the faculty in the Physical Therapy Program at the
University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1991-2.1. They describe the professional behaviors
expected within the profession of Physical Therapy.”

Throughout the PT program you will be asked to reflect on and evaluate yourselves on these
behaviors.

For PTH 746 2021, the assignment is to take four of the following Professional Behaviors.
Choose two that you consider you consider yourself strong in, and two that you feel you need to
work on.

Reflect on them and work through the process in the table below for each. The purpose of the
assignment is the reflection, analysis, and evidence of developing a structured plan to address
or improve these and evaluation will be based on that, not on the behaviors you choose.

Professional Behavior Categories:

1. Commitment to Learning
2. Interpersonal Skills
3. Communication Skills
4. Effective Use of Time and Resources
5. Use of Constructive Feedback
6. Problem-Solving
7. Professionalism
8. Responsibility
9. Critical Thinking
10. Stress Management

Professional Behavior Evidence for why I chose
this behavior
I have been trained for several
Problem solving years to be a good problem
solver. I am quick to find
innovative solutions and I am
known for “having an answer”
to problems.
I am strong in my
Communication Skills communication skills from
excelling in my communication
electives and being forced to
apply these communication
skills most days. I have
presentations and briefs most
weeks in the military which
requires good communication
skills. I can communicate with
every pt population that I have
been exposed to so far, and
my clinical was right next to
the international airport in
Houston, so I was exposed to
a broad pt population.
I have gotten better with time
management, but I still have a
Use of Time/Resources ways to go. I am good at being
Specific Strategies that I
plan on using to maintain or
improve this behavior
The military has given me this
problem-solving ability and I
plan to remain in the military in
my leadership position to
continue being a good problem
solver. I plan to use these
skills to successfully get
through clinicals and this
year’s annual training event
with my unit. I also have a 5
year plan that includes me
progressing from a 2LT to a
CPT to progress and refine my
problem solving skills.
I like working with deaf, blind,
hard of hearing, and foreign
language populations because
it forces me to practice my
alternative communication
skills including ASL, Spanish,
and body language. I know all
3 but I am not perfectly fluent
in Spanish or ASL. I knew
enough to communicate with
my Spanish speaking patients
in the clinic, but I love the
opportunity to learn more and
exercise what I know.
I bought a planner and have
been documenting what I have
due and when I’ll do it and that
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How will I determine that I
have met my Professional
Behavior Goals
I will have met my goal when I
have been promoted to the
rank of CPT. This the rank of a
commander and it requires
strong problem-solving skills.
I know if I have met my goal of
broadening my communication
skills if my pts with language
accommodations can
understand me and correctly
follow their HEPs. I also know
that I have achieved my
Spanish learning goals based
on the achievement section of
the duolingo app as that is a
measurable goal.
I am making a goal of studying
for at least 30 min each night,
something small and

where I need to be and being
there early. My issue is that I
allow myself to procrastinate
on things because I know that
it will be okay. It always works
out for me, so I don’t change
my behaviors and I know that
its wrong. It adds to my stress,
so its not a perfect system.
This one is hard for me
because I feel like I am good
Interpersonal Skills at this, but not in this cohort. I
have no issues making friends
in the outside world and I get
along with everyone I meet. I
have literally hundreds of
friends in the military, but for
some reason, I cannot figure
out how to relate to the people
in the cohort enough for them
to like me. It is isolating and I
would like to fix this.
has been working for me, so I
think I’ll continue to do that. I
need to incorporate study
plans on that planner too
because that is my biggest
point of procrastination. I have
a terrible habit of studying the
week of the exam and having
way more stress than if I just
broke it up earlier.
I go to MOVE every week
because it helps to be included
in a group. I also ask people if
they will study with me, but not
everyone wants me in their
study group. I think its
because their groups are
already formed. I want to try to
join more of the outings to the
bars or restaurants, but money
can be an issue, so I will have
to figure out how that will work.
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attainable, so that I can reduce
my stress for my exams. This
is something I can
document/chart so that I can
tell whether or not I’ve met this
goal.
I think I could meet this goal by
budgeting more money for
attend these PT outings so
that I can be more included in
these bonding activities. I have
also been going to the gym
and practicing some of these
IM sports (soccer, flag football,
basketball,etc.) so that I can
be included in the sports
groups. I think attending more
events in general will help me
reach this goal. Unsure how I
will truly tell if it has worked.