Brainstorming the new PTCAS essay prompt, and I'm very lost!

[monalisa89]

Hi all,

I've been trying for the past few days to figure out the new essay prompt that was posted for this years cycle, and I don't think I understand what it's asking.

The prompt is: "What is professionalism in the context of being a student in a doctor of physical therapist degree program?"

If anybody could help me, I'd be beyond thankful!

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[dgt329]

I kind of re-imagined it as "How has professionalism changed throughout your education/career/life, and how do you anticipate it to change in PT school?"

 

[FutureDPT10]

What does professionalism mean to you [in the past, present, and future] is the general gist of the question. The whole PT student part to me is simply just saying why is professionalism important in a major such as ours?

-so you could flat out answer that question, which may answer the question but may not stand out to a committee
-you can personalize it with a story where they can virtually visual a moment in your life where professionalism stood out to you and you began embodying a new type of professionalism due to the experience
-you could talk about how the concept of professionalism changes throughout life and different fields and the importance of a good professional practice
-you could write any essay honestly and tie in how it showed professionalism in your life and the show the inportance of it in our professions
-give the general term of what professionalism means to the average person, then give an experience that showed YOU that professionalism is so much more than some definition found on dictionary. Show the emotion of how someone with good professionalism is responded to vs no professionalism and how that's important to keep in this field.


Not sure if this helps at all but best of luck in writing your essay!

 

[ecbprept4]

I wrote about professionalism as both a physical therapist and as a student in grad school by discussing the various qualities that makes a physical therapist and graduate student professional. I also discussed how I embody these qualities.

 

[ecbprept4]

I think this essay question was created because everyone will perceive it differently and create their essays around that.

 

[DPTgirll]

This is how I am interpreting the prompt:
The question is asking "in the context of being a student" therefore, what does professionalism mean to you being a student in the DPT program? For example, punctuality is important, focus, also part of the program includes working with patients therefore how would you being professional in the different aspects of the degree program.
I dont think it is asking what professionalism means as a DPT or at least thats not the whole idea. Its more about being a student since obviously we are not DPTs yet.

 

[TDPT]

I think this essay question was created because everyone will perceive it differently and create their essays around that.

This. I would say there's no wrong way to go about it, but I think it's important to make it as personal as possible while still answering the prompt.

What I basically did was followed a 5 body paragraph format, and each main body paragraph gave an example of an aspect of professionalism that would be important as a STUDENT in the DPT program (ex. effective communication), and tied it in with one of my own personal experiences that showed that I understand it, embody it, and understand that it's important in the DPT program and then I elaborated on how.

Hope that makes sense!

 

[j306c954]

Same as above. Before the question is stated, the applications instructions are as follows:

"Use your own words to create a brief personal essay that includes responses to the question below."

So personally, I believe the inclusion of "brief personal essay" means to write about personal experiences and how they tie in with the question at hand.

 

[beyoutiful_sunshine]

What I basically did was followed a 5 body paragraph format, and each main body paragraph gave an example of an aspect of professionalism that would be important as a STUDENT in the DPT program (ex. effective communication), and tied it in with one of my own personal experiences that showed that I understand it, embody it, and understand that it's important in the DPT program and then I elaborated on how.

That is exactly what I did.