Mackenzie Plant, a rehab science major from Plymouth, had an internship last semester with Professional Physical Therapy. She’s worked with this company since October of 2023, but she started interning with them in fall of 2024. Professional Physical Therapy has locations throughout New England, and Mackenzie has worked in five of their clinics: Andover, Bradford, Haverhill, West Dartmouth and Centerville.
Her day-to-day operations at Pro PT involve helping the patients get started with their exercises and then sending them over to the therapist,
“I have access to all of the patient’s charts and I will run them through exercise programs,” she said. “They have a whole list [that includes] their reps and weights, and if they’re getting a new exercise introduced, I’ll show them how to do it.”
Working with Pro PT has given Mackenzie some valuable experience, including how to juggle multiple patients at once,
“I’ll be working with two or three people at a time [and] set all their stuff up,” she said. “I’ve been able to learn how to multitask in that kind of setting, which is not easy to do. I give the therapists so much credit.”
Mackenzie is also a cheerleader at Merrimack, and she recalls her experience with injuries growing up as a key reason for being a physical therapist,
“It was the summer going into college, I had PT on my back…I pulled a muscle,” she said. “I [felt] that I could see myself going into a field like this…the more I started looking into it, I really liked the idea of it, and it’s been awesome so far. I love it.”
She plans to use all of her working hours, which is about 850, for her graduate applications.
For others looking to get into this field, Mackenzie believes the best advice is to be proactive and get involved with internships as soon as possible,
“It’s a lot of work,” she said. “But, Pro PT has allowed me to network, because each clinic [has] three to five therapists. Each therapist has their own treatment style, so I’ve learned things I like and don’t like and what I might want to use in the future.”
This internship puts her one step closer to her goal of earning a doctorate of physical therapy and becoming a licensed physical therapist.
