Today I wanted to be ambitious and visit 5 PT schools in the Los Angeles area. I got to 4 schools and met up with a new Therapy Exam Prep’s Team member for dinner. I lost count how many different freeways I went on today to visit the different schools.
Loma Linda University
I started off taking 101 from Hollywood to 10 East to get to Loma Linda University. It took me a little while to find where the PT program’s building of Nichol Hall was at as no one seemed to know when I asked for directions. I parked on the street and hiked up the hill to get to Nichol Hall. I was fortunate enough to be able to sit and talk with Dr. Larry Chinnock, Associate Chair for the Physical Therapy Department. He was happy to spread the word about Therapy Exam Prep to the PT students as they were out on clinicals. I left flyers and bookmarks with him. A PDF flyer was also emailed to him so he could reach the out of town PT students.
Western University
As I was driving towards Los Angeles driving on the 10 Freeway, I missed the exit to get off for Western University. I ended up having to go on the 71 Freeway to get to the school. I found it interesting that the Health Science Campus was at the end of a mall strip. The location of Western University had an old downtown feeling – very nice and calm. I went to the Student Services and didn’t get very far with talking to anyone from the PT Department. Nobody wanted to talk with me and since I didn’t have an appointment they wouldn’t let me even go or inform where I could find the PT department was located. I couldn’t get a contact or even email to inform the school about the Therapy Exam Prep. I was told it was against the school’s policy for any solicitation and informed me that exam prep is not done on the campus itself. So, I left the flyers, bookmarks and my business card with a woman in the admission office.
I headed across to the bookstore and was pleasantly surprised with the Physical Therapy textbooks. Some of the books that I felt would be beneficial for PT examinees were “Physical Therapy Management“, “Pharmacology For The Physical Therapist“, “Diagnostic Imaging Physical Therapists” and “Prosthetics and Orthotics Lower Limb and Spinal“. All of these books were not around when I went to PT school.
Azusa Pacific University
Once I left Western, I took route 71 to 57 to 210 Freeway to get to Azusa Pacific University. The PT Department is in the West Campus but I had to go to the East Campus to get a parking permit. Hardly anyone was there including students when I arrived. I talked with Betsy Holt, the Administrative Secretary for the PT Department and provided me with the email to Michael Laymon to talk about TEP. I handed her TEP’s flyers and bookmarks to distribute to the students when they came back from their break. This week apparently was finals and no one was around. I also checked out the bookstore.
University of Southern California
I took the 210 to the 605 and then the 10 Freeway to go back to my PT School on the USC Health Science Campus. When I first step back onto the campus, I was able to talk with Dr. Carolee Winstein, the Director of Motor Behavior and Rehabilitation Laboratory, and professor for the Motor Learning and Control for the PT Department. I went to the PT Department and spoke with Jill Hopkins about TEP and the opportunity for the PT students to be helped from a couple of USC alumnus. The flyers and bookmarks were distributed to the students.
I went to the bookstore picking up a few PT materials and then visited the library. There have been some changes in general with the campus and including the library. I also noticed an increase in the PT student admittance there has been a lot of changes in the lab for the better.
Dinner with Jason
After coming back, I met with Jason Wong, DPT, a 2008 USC alumni to welcome him to the Therapy Exam Prep’s Team. Jason will be an instructor for TEP beginning in May and will also help with other aspects to help PT examinees pass their NPTE. It was nice to compare notes of how the program has changed since I left USC. Also to understand what he went through for his NPTE preparation. TEP welcomes Jason!