Kayla Huelsman chose Wright State University because nearly all of her credits from her associates degree at Sinclair Community College transferred towards her Bachelors in Sports Science. WSU gave her a cost-effective 4-year college option with an easy commute from her home town of Tipp City.
She commented, "I’ve always had a passion for sports along with the diet and exercise elements that came along with it. I suffered an overuse injury in high school soccer and needed physical therapy to return to play". As a result, she decided to pursue physical therapy as a career first attending Sinclair Community College majoring in Exercise Science and then Sports Science at Wright State University before getting on a Pre-Physical Therapy track through the College of Science and Mathematics Pre-Medical Studies Post-Baccalaureate program. "My time at these institutions along with the internship opportunities only reinforced my strong desire to pursue PT as a career".
Once Kayla made her decision, she talked with her advisor to map out the pre-requisites needed for her eligibility. "Advisors are equipped to put you on the best path toward your goal while making sure all the pre-requisite courses are being met". Field experience was encouraged, and she acquired a large amount of observation hours. Interniships have played a hugh role in Kayla's education and she completed two. One through Miami Valley Hospital and the other through Kettering Health Network. Each opportunity allowed her to implement classroom learning into a clinical setting.
Her favorite class was the anatomy and physiology series which she credits for fully preparing her for the anatomy and physiology intensive courses in PT school. She said, "Rittuci and Severt here at WSU do a fantastic job of teaching the difficult material that comes with a courses like this series".
Other enjoyable classes were the Women’s Studies and the Cultural Anthropology for the Health Care Professional. These courses challenged her to open her mind in new ways.They also taught critical thinking practices, a valuable tool for her future career.
Throughout her undergraduate program Kayla experienced several detours. "At first I didn’t take my education seriously and unfortunately that had an impact on my GPA and consequently, the trajectory of my college career". Her advice for incoming freshman would be to give college your best effort right from the very beginning and to never hesitate to ask for help from advisors, peers, professors etc. She said, "WSU offers a very helpful environment with many tools to help students succeed".
She became involved in the Pre-Health/Pre-PT club which provided a lot of opportunities to volunteer out in the community. "It was an enjoyable experience, and looks really good on graduate school applications", she said. The club also brought in speakers who provided insight on specific programs of interest, and valuable advice for applying to graduate programs.
When it came time to select her DPT program, she researched programs of interest and started to work towards meeting their requirements. Before going through the formal interview process she practiced. "I set up a mock interview with career services at WSU which really helped me thoroughly prepare for the kinds of questions I was asked. I recommend others do the same as this was a very valuable experience for me and helped me tremendously during my interviews".
She currently works as a Physical Therapy Aide at Xcel Sports Medicine in Vandalia, OH where she has the opportunity to work closely with therapists and learn a lot about the profession. "I truly feel prepared to take on a graduate level education for Physical Therapy at the University of Dayton this fall".
