Three years ago, as a physical therapist assistant (PTA) student at Brigham Young University-Idaho, Brendon Larsen, PTA, like his classmates, was required to complete 2 clinical internships. The rotations, he recalls, were "really varied": One primarily was inpatient, the other mostly outpatient, and they exposed him to everything from home-based wound care and pediatrics to palliative care and sports medicine.

"I wouldn't say I loved every aspect of my clinicals. I saw a lot of patients whose conditions were outside the niche I'd envisioned for myself. But their variety taught me a lot about the profession and led me to where I am today," Larsen says.

He now is working with RehabVisions in the therapy services department of a critical-access hospital in rural Prosser, Washington. He's also a credentialed clinical instructor (CI) through the American Physical Therapy Association's (APTA's) Credentialed Clinical Instructor Program, and he serves as the local RehabVisions site coordinator of clinical education. Finally, Larsen says, he's deeply involved with APTA itself, as treasurer of the Academy of Aquatic Physical Therapy and district co-chair within the Physical Therapy Association of Washington. "I'm often going to meetings and conferences. Between work and travel, I have no trouble keeping busy," he says.