High School Therapy Day at The Pediatric Place
Investing in the Therapists of Tomorrow
At The Pediatric Place, we’re always thinking about the future. We think about how the skills we’re teaching kids today will enable them to succeed tomorrow. We think about how we can expand our services to meet needs in our growing community. And we think about how we can prepare the next generation of therapists to serve future generations of kids.
TPP has a long history of investing in the therapists of tomorrow. From shadowing opportunities and internships for high school and college students to hosting graduate students for clinical placements, we seek to impart a passion for pediatric therapy and provide expert training to budding professionals. A number of these former interns and student clinicians were so impressed by their time at TPP that they later returned as therapists to help us serve the kids in our community. TPP physical therapist Anna Person is a perfect example of our “Grow Your Own” program. She completed an undergraduate internship at TPP while attending UCM. She attended graduate school out of town, but returned as a full-time therapist following graduation.
“At The Pediatric Place, we believe in our ‘Grow Your Own’ program,” explained Marketing Manager Brittany Hendrick. “By fostering their interest early on, we help set them up for success. It’s incredibly rewarding to cheer students on in all aspects of their lives. We get to celebrate every milestone with them until they graduate and, hopefully, join our team.”
On January 23, TPP hosted our first High School Therapy Day at our Clinton clinic. Thirty-seven students and five advisors from local high schools joined us to learn about pediatric therapy careers and get a first-hand look at the life-changing work that takes place in our clinics each day. Students met with members of our mental health, physical therapy, speech and feeding therapy, and ABA teams to learn about each field, and even had the opportunity to see therapy in action.
The students who attended expressed that they enjoyed the interactive, hands-on experiences and were excited to see how the concepts they heard about in break-out sessions with our therapists are applied to help kids in real life. Attendees also expressed that they appreciated the information they gained about potential career paths, educational requirements, and volunteer opportunities.
“The day was a huge success because it allowed students to see firsthand how therapy changes lives,” Brittany said. “Even if they don’t follow the exact path of our ‘Grow Your Own’ program, we hope we’ve sparked an interest in the therapy world. Seeing students’ engagement, curiosity, and excitement reminded us why outreach like this is so important for the future of pediatric therapy.”
Do you know a high school or college student interested in pediatric therapy careers? Respond to this email to learn more about upcoming opportunities.
