Chelsea is also currently working as an attendant for a boy with Fragile X syndrome. She has worked with him twice a week for the past 3 years and learned so much from him and gained a lot from spending time with him. She is also a Therapeutic Recreation Leader for Parks and Rec. She teaches a group exercise class for individuals with disabilities every Friday morning in downtown Charlottesville. Finally, she works as a medical fitness professional at FCAP. This role has been one of her most rewarding and enriching experiences at UVA and she is grateful for the opportunity to share about it with you in this post!
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What is Innisfree Village?
I work at Innisfree Village through a program called the Fried Center for the Advancement of Potential (FCAP) as a medical fitness professional. Innisfree Village is a life sharing community with adults with disabilities. Innisfree, along with FCAP, was started by Barbara Fried. Barabara's son, John Fried, has an intellectual disability and a true passion for tennis. John has won 2 gold medals at the national Special Olympics for tennis and plans to compete for another gold next year! His love for the sport coupled with the Fried's dedication to fitness were the perfect ingredients for FCAP. Barbara asked her family personal trainer and physical therapist, David Ludeka, to help her get this project off the ground. Since then, FCAP has become a dream work environment. We see patients from the village with anything from scoliosis to simple gait abnormalities; we also train the village volunteers on form and technique, and even get the chance to work with some of David's own personal clients from outside of the village.
How did you learn about this experience?
I heard about this opportunity through one of my roommates who is also a 4th year Kinesiology student. She started working for David two years ago and would rave about how amazing her job was. When she told me they were looking for extra help, I was interested to find out more! Last spring, I enrolled in the Independent Study class taught by David on what he likes to call "evolutionary mismatch." This class may be offered again next Spring, so keep an eye out if this interests you! He used this class to train students on techniques such as taking blood pressure and conducting evaluations while also taking us out to Innisfree for some shadowing and hands-on training. At the end of the course, a few students were selected to start work that summer. I was luckily chosen for one of the spots and I've been working at FCAP since! The benefits of networking and using connections you have to find new opportunities is so beneficial. I encourage everyone to start conversations with your peers and professors about experiences they have had or heard about. The best way to learn if an option would be a good experience is talking to someone who has been through it first-hand.
Why did you decide to engage in this opportunity?
I was already heavily immersed in working with individuals with disabilities and truly enjoyed working with those individuals. In my experience, I've learned just as much from those I've worked with as I hope they learned from me. Ever day you find a new challenge and different hump to overcome -- and when you figure out how to solve the problem, it's one of the most satisfying and gratifying feelings I can ever explain. So I knew the chance to learn more about physical therapy and work in a clinical setting while working with my population of interest was an opportunity I just couldn't miss out on.
What did your experience in this position consist of? Can you describe a typical day?
The clinic at FCAP is structured in a very different way than a typical clinic. My technical title is a medical fitness professional but we call ourselves the interns. When we get a new patient at FCAP, we first conduct an in depth evaluation. We partner up for these evaluations so we can have an extra set of eyes on each finding we come across. This evaluation starts with taking and recording vitals and height/weight, then we go through a background screening to find out about previous injuries or conditions we should know about. Then, we conduct a structural exam (checking for scoliosis, leg length discrepancies, etc.). After these exams are completed, we step outside the room and conduct a gait analysis that is followed by a functional evaluation. Once all exams are complete, we send our evaluations to be checked by David and make a plan to treat. Our workouts are structured and planned around the problem(s) of interest we are trying to correct. For example, if a patient has scoliosis we would include specific stretches and Erector Spinae muscle exercise to help normalize the curve.
Why do you recommend this opportunity for other UVA grads?
I would absolutely recommend this opportunity to anyone at UVA! Although I would be sure you either have some experience working with individuals with disabilities beforehand or possess some level of comfort working with them because it is a challenge for sure! If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email a cau4fc@virginia.edu and I'll try to help you out.
How did this experience help to prepare you for your next step?
This experience has taught me so much already. I've always learned best through hands-on experiences as compared to reading a textbook. This experience has also led me to my plan for my bridge year before applying for graduate programs. I'll be working here through 2019. Not only has this experience brought so much educational benefit but it's helped me develop my character and professionalism on a whole new level.
