I N T E RVI E W AN A LYS I S

TO:

DAVID PACK

FROM:

LAURA BUTCHER

SUBJECT:

INTERVIEW PRODJECT COMM-1010

DATE:

On September 10, 2015 I had arranged an interview with Kirk D. Kingery, PT,
CHT of the Jordan Valley Medical Center in West Jordan. This is where I was seen for a
mallet finger back in June, I was treated by Mr. Kingery.
My field of study is sports medicine or medicine in general I aspire to become
either a sports med physician or physical therapist and obtain my nutritionist license. This
field has always interested and I would love to learn more about both careers before
picking my major next fall. After speaking with Mr. Kingery I believe I may now have an
idea about my career path and what I need to do to obtain my degree and career as
Physical Therapist.
This Memo is a summary of all that I learned from my interview with Kirk D.
Kingery.

Physical Therapy
Kirk Kingery shared with me what inspired him to become a physical therapist.
When Kirk was 14 he got a knee injury and had to go to a physical therapist and decided
that was what he wanted to do for his career. Physical Therapy is in high demand because
the baby boomer generation will lead to increased demand for Physical Therapists. Kirk
says the one thing about Physical Therapy is that theres so many places and options to
work in.
There are many different kinds of Physical Therapist, Kirk is a Certified Hand
Therapist but there are also many other certification like sports medicine, neurological,
oral and many more different divisions of Physical Therapy. Kirk had stated there were
many more but I couldnt possibly list them all. Each specialty has its own schooling and
certification process.
When dealing with patients Kirk likes to comfort people by letting them know
that they can go at their own pace and tries to comfort them with their anxieties. He
explained that often patients have lost their confidence and thats the main part of the first

visit, restoring confidence and letting them know that everything will be okay. He also
shared that he likes to use his humor to relax patients and encourage them that it will be
okay.

Daily Routine
Kirks Kingerys typical day is about 80% working with patients and helping them
stretch or work with strength and stability. He also works with a hand surgeon so he has
to fit in patients for splits and cast setting along with his normal patients when the
surgeon sends patients down to him.
The work day is usually a 10 hour shift 8 hours consisting of work with patients
and 2 hours of paper work. According to Kirk Kingery he gets to do 8 hours of what he
loves doing and 2 hours of the boring stuff i.e. paper work. Most of his work is conducted
alone but some Therapists work in groups. He work 4 -5 days a week but some days he
gets to go home early.
Appointments can last 45 minutes to 2 and a half hours but it depends on the
patients pain tolerance and the type of injury they have. The most common injury
Kingery treats is called a diastole radius fracture an injury that takes place in the forearm.
The next is traumatic injuries and joint reconstruction injures.
The best part of Kirk Kingerys job is working with people. He said that he does
his job for the people. He loves working with people and getting them to feel better and
restoring their confidence. He feels that its very rewarding work to actually see that what
youre doing is making a difference in peoples lives.

Education
To become a Physical Therapists you need to obtain a doctorate degree. First you
must complete all your prerequisite classes. These classes can vary but consist of classes
like biology chemistry physics phycology and obtain your bachelors degree. Then you
will continue on to 3 year Physical Therapy school program to obtain your Doctorate.
Upon graduation from Physical Therapy school then you get a license and you are a
Physical Therapist. There is a very low dropout rate for Physical Therapy. After being in
Physical Therapy people can find their niche and return to school to become certified for
that specialty. This is what Kirk Kingery did. He decide that he really liked working with
hands and went back to school to get certified for hand therapy.

According to Kingery Schooling for Physical Therapy was easy but he says its a
lot of memorization. You have to know everything you learn through your three years of
schooling. You have to memorize all muscles and nerves what they are and what they do.
You do about 2 year of biology, 2 years of Chemistry, 1 year of advanced physics and 1
year of phycology. One of Kirks favorite class was Neuro Anatomy he thought it was
interesting and he got to deceit a brain and learn how it works. He said you can expect to
work on cadavers and other human party to dissect during your schooling courses.
Physical Therapy is a very competitive career. It can be hard to get into because
so many people want to be a Physical Therapist. It pays very well and has a high demand
and job security. Its also hard because some schools may only have so many openings
for the career and get tons of applicants to choose from. The best way to secure a spot in
this career is to have really high grades in your perquisites. You also have to go to
interviews to get into to Physical Therapy school it can be in a group of singly but you
must impress the interviewers. Before you apply to Physical Therapy school you have to
have contact experience in a Physical Therapy clinic by volunteering for so many hours.
Internships will need to be done before the application process as well. The best time to
do this in the summer and closer to your application date so the clinic can remember who
you are for the recommendation.
Kirk recommends that you start volunteering and internships as soon as possible.
He suggested that I find out what the perquisites are and what their requirements are for
volunteering. According to Kirk the volunteers that get involved are the ones that learn
the most and the ones that they give good recommendation to. He mentioned that his
clinic is very flexible and offered to give me the information I would need in order to
start volunteering in the near future.
The best advice he gave me was to, Work hard, keep your eye on the goal and
stick with it he says, Its hard and it will get discouraging sometimes because of the
class and the interviews but just keep going forward(Kirk Kingery). He also mentioned
having a good support system helps get you through the hard times.
After having this interview with Kirk Kingery and learning about what a Physical
Therapist does, the daily schedule and the education required to obtain a Physical
Therapist Doctorate I feel like I can make a better decision about what I want to do for a
career. I still believe I want to interview a Sports Medicine Physician for more
information but as of right now I am leaning towards Physical Therapy for my career

choice. It just sound so rewarding and fun to work with people and see that what youre
doing is working and making their lives better.

Interview Analysis
This Interview gave me the knowledge I needed in order to make a better decision
about my career choice before attending the University of Utah next fall.

Analysis of my Career Choice

Based on what I have learned from the interview I believe I want to become a
Physical Therapist. It sounds like very rewarding work and the kind of work I would love
to do every day of my life. During the interview closing I asked Kirk Kingery about his
opinion on my options Sports Medicine Physician or Physical Therapy. He stated that if
he had a choice he would choose Physician, the pay is very good but the schooling is very
hard and long. He explained, that medical schooling isnt for everyone and mentioned
that Physical Therapy is a good career for women because it pays well but allows for you
to have time to start a family. Being a doctor requires years of schooling and long hours
of work. He recommended that I think about what I want in the future as far as kids and
family goes and base my decision on that and how long I really want to go to school. In
all I feel that Physical Therapy might be the perfect career path for me but I will have to
conduct another interview with a Sports Medicine Physician to be sure.
I know for a fact that I have learned valuable information about the process of
school, volunteering and internships that will come in handy later. I know believe I will
start my volunteer work next summer to get a head start before I start my perquisite in the
fall at the University. I was honestly so excited about the interview and what I learned I
smiled all day long and I still smile as I write the analysis. I love the medical field and I
thank you for this Assignment that helped me learn so much.
Analysis of my Interview Process
I have learned that interviews can be used for all kinds of inquiries. I honestly
never would have even thought to interview someone in the career choice I was
considering. When I think of interview I just think job employment or insurance
application but interviews can be used in many aspects of life.
The fact that I used to do interviews for my job as an assistant manager helped me
be more confident in my interview skills. I conducted my interview with a list of

questions to keep my order and stay on topic. I also took a recording device because I had
a lot of open ended questions that would prompt for many or long answers and I didnt
want to be rude and write the whole time he was talking. Kirk went above and beyond
with his responses to my questions and I feel as though I learned so much in such a short
amount of time. The interview actually last 40 min plus because he gave such great
detailed answers filled with really good advice. The best part of the interview was the end
I thank Kirk for his time and all the great knowledge hes shared with me and then he
gave me information on getting to volunteer next summer! I am sure I will see him again
soon.
If I had to do the interview again I would say I need to work on my responses and
the way I asked the questions. I was worried about taking up too much of his time so I
stammered through some of my questions and felt awkward about replying to some of his
humors remarks about schooling. I also missed a question and had to readdress the
question at the closing of the interview.
In essence I loved this assignment and believe I learned so much. I will now use
what I have learned to obtain an interview with a Sports Medicine Physician and learn
more about my options before next fall. Thank you again for this assignment it was fun.

Letter of Thanks
Laura Butcher
12698 S. Legacy Springs Dr.
Riverton, UT 84096
September 11, 2015

Mr. Kirk Kingery

3584 W. 9000 S. Ste102
West Jordan, UT 84088

Dear Kirk,
Thank you again for allowing me in learn so much about your career.
There are so many great Tips and advice you gave that will help in choosing
my career path. During your interview there were a few things that really
inspired me to become a Physical Therapist.
I really admire the way you love your job. You simply said you do it for
the people and love the way you get to help them recover and restore their
confidence. This is such a wonderful and heartfelt reason for being in the
medical field and I agree that the people are the best part. Making a
difference in someones life and getting to see that must feel amazing. You a
very inspiring individual and you have inspired me to become a Physical
Therapist. Thank you again for all the knowledge you shared. Everything I
learned will help me get through schooling and obtain a career in Physical
Therapy.
I greatly appreciate the time you gave me for this interview and all the
tips and advice you shared. I feel more confident in my career choice and
thats all thanks to you and your knowledge thank you so much.
Sincerely,
Laura Butcher