PHE 150 Fall 2013

Career Project Part 1

Interviews
This assignment will require you to contact, either in person or via telephone, at least two
individuals working in the career area your group is assigned. During the interview, you will ask
questions to help you learn about their preparation and experiences in the field.
Who do we call?
Each member of your group will interview two people and no two group members can
interview the same person
Each individual interviewed must work at a different organization or location (thus,
everyone cannot call the same place, even if they talk to different people)
The individuals you interview must be people you do not already know and may not work
at, or with, Loras College (in any capacity)
Each group is encouraged to interview individuals from different regions of the country,
with a range of experience levels, and of both genders
It is recommended that you secure multiple individuals to contact in the case that one or
more cannot be reached in a timely manner. Students are encouraged to call more than
the minimum number of required individuals
What do we ask?
All interviews must include the standard questions included on the Telephone Interview
Sheet (name, place of employment, certifications, etc.)
Each group will also develop at least 5 common questions. All members of your group will
ask these 5 questions of all individuals that are interviewed. Be sure not to duplicate any
of the standard questions already included on the Telephone Interview Sheet. Brainstorm
as a group to determine what information you would really like to know about their career
paths, job opportunities, personal characteristics, or challenges of their jobs. Record these
questions in the space provided on the Telephone Interview Sheet
Each individual will also have several questions that are unique to the individual. Often
these questions are not formulated in advance, but evolve naturally based on the
conversation in progress. These questions should be recorded on the interview sheet as
they occur.
What else do we need to do?
For each person you interview, complete the Telephone Interview Sheet
Following each interview, you must you must send an e-mail thanking the individual you
spoke with. IT IS REQUIRED THAT YOU CC YOUR INSTRUCTOR ON THE E-MAIL. Your
e-mails should be sent within 24 hours of your interview and must be sent prior to
Monday, November 11th at 7 am. It is critical that you are professional in every
aspect of this conversation and email. You may one day be working with or for this
individual! Be sure to enter a something in the subject line (Thank You) and your email
must include a greeting (Dear Mr/Mrs) and a salutation (thank you for your time,
sincerely). Include your full name.

Failure to copy Dr. Glover on the thank you e-mails sent to your interviewees by the
deadline will result in a student being removed from his/her group and receiving a
grade of zero for the entire career project assignment.

Telephone Interview Sheet

The following information sheet must be complete to receive credit. Please review the sheet
prior to making your phone call so that you are prepared prior to conducting your interview. This
sheet may be hand written.
Please remember to be professional and polite when making your calls. Remember, you are
representing Loras College. Negative feedback regarding your demeanor from interviewees may
result in a severe deduction of points on this assignment.
Your Name: Sara Hahn

Career Field: Cardiac Rehab

Standard Questions General Information

Time of call:

1:15

Day of call: 10/25/13

Length of call: 10 min

Date of thank you e-mail (Your Instructor must be ccd):

Interviewee Information
Name:

Mike Turner

E-mail address: mturner@edward.org

Phone number: 630-527-3388

Place of Employment (include name of agency and city and state):

Edward Hospital, Naperville, IL

Job/Position Title: exercise physiologist in the cardiac and pulmonary rehab department

Length of Time in Position: 7 yrs at Edward Hospital and 1 yr before that at a different location

Education and Certifications (list any degrees or certifications held):

Bachelors & Masters degrees in Exercise Science at University of Northern Illinois

Professional organization membership (identify any professional organization the interviewee is a

member of):
Mr. Turner is a member of the Illinois Society for Cardiopulmonary Health and Rehabilitation
(www.ischr.org)

Common Group Generated Questions

You may use additional sheets of paper as needed to record the responses.
1. Why/how did you specialize in the area you now work in?
Mr. Turner started as an AT major as an undergrad, but realized as he was doing some of the
programs that that was not something that he wanted to continue to pursue. Instead, after
interning in Cardiac Rehabilitation, he found that this was something that he enjoyed and found
exciting. Then, because he had no luck finding a position after receiving his undergraduate
degree, he continued his education in graduate school.
2. What led you to want to pursue a field in physical therapy cardiac rehabilitation (they are
distinct fields)?
Mr. Turner wanted to work in Athletic Training at first because it was a more athletic population
and this is what originally drew him to study the rehabilitation field (though he decided to pursue
Cardiac Rehabilitation in the end).
3. What is the best advice you received while working toward your degree and/or what is the
best advice that you can give to someone pursing this field now?
His advice largely consisted on focusing on education: he advised that I study hard in my classes,
that I not be afraid of gaining further education in graduate school, and that I work to gain
observation hours in any areas I might have an interest in.
4. Do you think that being highly and widely certified throughout the physical therapy field
offers more advantages than specializing in a specific area?
His opinion on this topic was that certification can help to distinguish you when applying for jobs,
but that it is not necessarily required for you to be able to do your job. He saw gaining further
certification in any field as being a way to make yourself stand out, but that, ultimately, it
doesnt dictate how well you perform your job.
5. Looking back now at all that has led you to your current situation, would you change
anything or are you happy with the road that led you here?
Exercise science degree is narrow; not many career choices; would have gone for nursing degree
first, then master degree; fewer limitations; more career paths that way
In hindsight, he would have chosen to pursue a degree in nursing before going on to exercise
science because, in his opinion, it would have given him more career opportunities and opened
more doors for him. He sees the exercise science major as being a bit limiting in the job/career
opportunities that alone can provide and so would recommend branching out to a broader area
(nursing, in this case) to yield more career options in the end.

Individual questions asked/other information

You should have several questions that you ask in addition to your common questions. These will
likely include pre-planned questions and follow-up questions to interviewee responses. Please
use additional paper as needed. Any additional documents should be stapled to this form.
Please save this form you will need it for the rest of the career project assignments.
1. What is the hardest part of your job?
For Mr. Turner, the hardest part of his job is dealing with patients who dont want to comply with
their treatment plans or who are unreceptive to it. However, he also saw this as being a potential
reward, in the end.
2. What is the best part of your job?
Discussing this with Mr. Turner was great; I could tell how sincere he was in discussing this. He
finds that the best part of his job is when, after working with a patient who may not have been
receptive to treatment originally, they see the gains they can make from the work they are
doing. He enjoys seeing his patients make that turn around and watch them make
improvements. He says that ultimately, it is about helping people and that he loves getting to
build relationships with his patients. In cardiac rehabilitation, doctors see their patients starting
when they are first in the hospital, through the traditional rehabilitation setting, and sometimes
beyond. This journey usually spans three months and over that time a bond forms between the
doctor and the patient and that can be very, very rewarding for both individuals.
3. Do you think it is necessary for someone in the rehabilitation field to be an athlete?
Mr. Turner didnt think they necessarily had to be an athlete, but that it is always a plus if they
lead an active and healthy lifestyle.