Summary: My Experience At ATI

Overall, this internship was a great experience for me to grow and learn from actual physical therapists. Even though some days may have been repetitive and boring, I attempted to make the most out of my time at ATI because I was given an opportunity to see how my potential future could look like some day. Further, I was able to work with willing and experience physical therapists that answered every question I had.
The environment at ATI was a family environment. Each client has a one hour scheduled appointment at the clinic. However, they will not work with the same physical therapist for the entire hour most of the time. Each physical therapist will pass on their client to another physical therapist or physical therapist aid whenever it was needed. This showed a family vibe because the clients got to work with multiple therapists in one session and each physical therapist has their own unique look and take on rehabilitation. Furthermore, this was an engaging and friendly environment for the employees at ATI because whenever there was help

needed, each employee always offered to lend a hand. This kind of environment encouraged me and I hope one day I can work in a similar environment. Even though I was not paid or considered an employee of ATI, they still made me feel like part of the team, almost all of the employees refereed to me by name and whenever I asked to observe anyone besides Dr. James, they were always willing to answer any questions and also ask questions to ensure I was engaged and learning throughout my entire internship there.
In addition, I was able to experience outside a clinical situation, the high schools in the Federal Way school district.

Since I graduated high school, the safety of the athletes has tremendously improved. I graduated from Federal Way High School in 2012, and at the time, there was no trainer available to students during after school programs. Further, injury concerns that were not concussions were mainly up to the coaches and players to determine whether or not they would like to go back into the game. However, now there is trainer available 4 times a week after school for all athletes. Also, during games, the trainers from ATI must attend every game and if there is any type of injuries, the trainer is the only one that can determine if he/she is cleared to return to the game. This improvement of safety has brought me optimism since the development and safety of the teenager is more important than winning or losing

games.
Overall, ATI was a great experience for me and I would recommend it as an internship to exercise science students that wish to become a physical therapist in the future because I was able to learn a variety of different rehabilitation techniques. Each rehabilitation techniques look at an injury/recovery in a different way. Further, you will always continue to learn because each physical therapist brings something new to the table.