Alyssa Campos

KIN 347

March 10, 2023

Introduction

Ethics is the universal beliefs on how a person should act in a way that is morally correct.

Ethics in theory seems simple, act in a way that is “good” because it is the morally correct thing

to do. However, ethics in practice is not so simple, sometimes the morally “right” thing to do is

not always so clear and ethical situations become even more complex when factors such as close

relationships and rules are considered. In this paper I describe an ethical dilemma from my past

involving infidelity. I then think critically about ethical challenges I may face in my future career

as a physical therapist. Lastly, I discuss how in this career I will work to advance equity and

further eliminate disparities in the healthcare community.

Part I: The Past

As a child most ethical quandaries are answered by those who take care of us, a parent

telling their child not to lie or a grandma punishing a child for disobedience. A child’s guardian

guides a child through all kinds of scenarios, and they make the decision between what is

morally right or wrong, however there are instances when those who are supposed to guide us

lead us astray and make morally wrong decisions themselves. For example, when I was a child

probably around nine years old, I asked my father to play on his phone, and while I was on his

phone, I discovered text messages and pictures of him with another woman who was not my

mother, it was blatantly obvious that they were in a relationship. As a child I was appalled at how

my father could betray not only my mother but our whole family with his infidelity. However, at

the same time I felt guilty and blamed myself, I kept thinking maybe I did something wrong, and
I questioned what I could do to be enough for him so he wouldn’t have to seek out a different

family. This guilt could be traced back to my very close relationship to my father, as a child I

idolized him, and we shared a bond that I just did not have with my mother in the earlier half of

my life. I immediately questioned whether or not I should tell my mother, or if I should protect

the man who meant the most to me. I knew that if I told my mother there was a possibility that

they would divorce and my relationship with my father would be strained as I would obviously

be to blame for their separation. This fear and anxiety lead me to ignore what I had seen, and I

ultimately decided not to tell my mother. Looking back at this decision now at almost 20 years

old I would’ve told my mother as soon as I saw it on my father’s phone. In the end that decision I

made as a child had no impact on the fate of my family, if anything I simply delayed the

inevitable, but only slightly, soon after this instance my mother found out my father was

unfaithful and although it took nearly a decade later for them to divorce it still occurred and I

now have very little contact and respect for my father. I would advise my younger self to not be

so hard on herself because absolutely none of the decisions made by father could be blamed on

us, and I would say to start talking to our mother sooner we have a lot more in common than my

younger self thought we did.

Part II: The Future

I am attending UT to further my education as an exercise science major in hopes to get

into a physical therapy program after I graduate to obtain my masters and ultimately become a

pediatric physical therapist who works closely with children. In five years if all goes to plan then

I should be freshly graduated from my Doctor of Physical Therapy program and searching for

my first job working in my actual career. Ethical challenges arise in every aspect of life, but

those decisions to ethical challenges during a career can impact the future of your career and the
lives of others especially in healthcare. At this moment in my career an ethical challenge I may

face is choosing a hospital to work at that best matches my personal beliefs while also paying me

a wage I deserve. For example, some private hospitals may have religious affiliations and may be

notorious for reserving treatment to a specific group of people however their wages might me

higher than public hospitals. By contrast the public hospital may serve all types of people but

they may pay their employees less money and require more hours of work. In this situation I

would choose the public hospital despite getting paid at a lower rate, the reason for this decision

is that I don’t think I could work at a place where I didn’t agree with the core values of it, and I

would want to provide adequate healthcare to all. Another factor that leads me to this decision is

that at the start of most jobs in healthcare you get paid a starting wage and overtime that amount

grows with more experience and respect, so I know that if I take the lower paying job overtime

that salary will surely grow. Looking even further into the future at 10 years into my career, I

would ideally be an established physical therapist working in an environment that I love. At this

stage in my career an ethical challenge I may face in the realm of physical therapy would be

providing adequate healthcare with the constraints of costs for certain patients. For example, if a

child came in for a consultation and I found that she needed serval rounds of treatment and

therapy for various issues but the parent’s insurance for the child will only cover the costs of the

first session of therapy for only one of the issues and the parents were unable to pay out of

pocket for the rest of the treatment. In this moment I believe that the ideal answer that I could

make would be to try to communicate with the hospital and the insurance to negotiate a lower

price for the patient and I would provide at home treatments for the patient if the hospital did not

provide a lower price. I believe this would be the best way to proceed because it does not break

any rules that hospital has in place, but I am still doing everything I can to improve the patient’s
heath despite the challenges presented. This decision still is not perfect, and some guilt may

linger for not being able to give the child all the proper treatment they need, but I still chose this

as the decision I would make because it seems to be a good “golden mean” for the scenario.

Part III: Conclusion and Connection To College of Education Signature Impact

Areas

The College of Education has various core impact areas that it focuses on teaching to

students, the impact I will be discussing is how I will advance equity and eliminate disparities in

healthcare specifically for people through my career as a pediatric physical therapist. As a

pediatric physical therapist, I will encounter all kinds of children that have varying abilities and

learning styles. I will respond to this by creating rehabilitant physical activity programs that

consider these differences among children and I will create programs that can be accessed and

used by all, I will create programs that can be easily modified to suit the needs of each

individual. The biggest goal I have for my career is to help people with disabilities be included in

physical activity programs and for these programs to be created to work for all children not just

those who are deemed able bodied and able minded. By chasing this goal, I will be implementing

the College of Education’s signature impact area to eliminate disparities and propel equity for

all.