1. I have learned more during the past 8 weeks of a full-time clinical than I learned in over 2 years of PT school. I guess I really am a "hands-on" learner. But in all honestly, what does that really say about our PT program? I'm not trying to complain about my grad school, but I do feel that there must be something lacking.
2. Going along with my point #1, our Therapeutic Exercise class was a serious JOKE. I will, and already have in my clinical paperwork that I'm turning in at the end of the week, make a point to the appropriate person about this one. That class was so disorganized and ridiculous. Although my clinical was primarily acute care, I was able to do a lot of work with orthopedic outpatients. Initially, I felt like a complete dumb@SS because I had no idea how to progress a patient or even what types of exercises were appropriate to start them at for their given diagnosis. By now, I feel pretty comfortable with a lot of the basic diagnoses, but still...how in the world did I ever pass that class and come out not knowing ANYTHING about outpatient therapeutic exercise?!? Oh wait...I know....probably because all of the tests were given as - "here, memorize these practice quizzes and those will be the exact same questions that are on the test. there is no need to actually read the book or actually LEARN anything." Yes, this class needs to be totally revamped with a DIFFERENT instructor, one that is not in the process of earning his PhD.
3. If you do not like a PT that you work with, take up with that person, don't take it out on the student who is working with him. For example, if you are a receptionist/secretary who works in a certain therapy department and do not like a PT that works there, you should go and talk to that certain PT and work out your differences. If that certain PT has a student working with him, you should not automatically assume that the student is the exact same as her (or his) clinical instructor. If said student says "good morning" to you in the morning, the polite thing to do is say "good morning" back, or at least grunt in acknowledgement.
4. In contrast to #3, if a student and CI are supposed to be working together, please don't take it out on the student if she (or he) comes back from lunch a little earlier than her (or his) CI. If the student comes back 10 minutes earlier than the CI, please do not assume that the student wants to take on all your extra "jobs" that should never have been done by the student in the first place. If said student offers to do the extra stuff, fine. But do not assume that the student is dying for extra work to do when the CI isn't even back from lunch yet.
5. 8 week full-time clinicals should NEVER be scheduled for a time when students are trying to finish their scholarly projects. Absolutely no scholarly project work will get done, leaving the student frantic to finish the project in only 5 short weeks. It will be a frustrating mess, especially when some students, like me, are trying to study for our CSCS exam.
6. Apparently the people in my town have finally found someone else to gossip about, other than me. While I am grateful that they've moved on to a new topic, I still think it's pretty ridiculous that the people in this town can't just grow up and mind their own business. All this crap just makes me want to apply for jobs in Toledo next year and go move into my dream apartment on the Inverness golf course where my brother used to live. I'm pretty sure Toledoans are too busy b*tching about Carty Finkbiner to worry about what I have been doing with my life...which is absolutely nothing but work and study and play a little golf.
7. Nothing gets on my nerves more than people who don't read their email the FIRST time. I don't think I even need to elaborate on this. Please stop wasting my time by questioning things that have already been clarified in previous emails. I just wasted 20 seconds of my life reading an "important" email clarifying a point that was already made over a month ago. Ugh.
8. Guess what cardiac rehab? A majority of my patients use the pulley machine to do tricep pushdowns. You may have EVERY SINGLE ONE of your patients use it for rows, but if you are done with your patients for the day and I go set up the pulley machine for tricep pushdowns, there is no need for you to walk over and RE-SET it for rows just because you're going to use it that way IN THE MORNING. I re-set it for you every single night, so there is no need to try to make a point by wasting my time re-setting the machine I have just set up for my patient just so that I have to re-set it for my patient and then re-set it for you. I realize that you all have to be to work at 7:30am but you get to leave by 4 every single day and you see a whole, what like 10 patients a day between the 3 of you? Let me use the pulley machine how I want to use it and just trust that I will re-set it for you. I ALWAYS do. Don't waste my time and I won't waste yours.
9. Patellar fx patient - you are not funny. You keep trying to make jokes with your pathetic attempt at sarcasm, but no one is laughing. Telling me how you hate your doctor and you call him "gorilla man" for some really odd reason (the man looks nothing like a gorilla) does not impress me. And...when we go for walks in the hallway, please stop asking me who every single person is. Just because the patient two doors down has visitors, does not mean I have a f-ing clue who those people are. Stop asking me, "who are those people?" "should I know those people" "that better not be so-and-so from my work, is that him?" How the heck should I know? And please stop pretending like you are giving me your full effort by walking "just a little bit farther down the hall" when I know for a fact, you are just trying to get to the next room to peek your head in and be nosy and ask me, "who's in that room?" Next time you ask me, I am going to tell you that Hippa is in that room. Hippa Violation, and she is not so happy to meet you.
10. If you are a certain scholarly project advisor and you wanted your group of students to meet with you next week when they are in class, you should have already emailed and scheduled a meeting. Since you haven't done so, I am assuming that you want no such meeting, and therefore, none will occur. I am sick of all the last minute B.S. that you throw at me and expect me to get done YESTERDAY. Don't expect me to bust my butt to meet with you when I emailed you 3 weeks ago to set up a time. I refuse to drive one hour one way just to meet with you for a half hour meeting and get b*tched at for all of the things that I didn't accomplish while WORKING FULL TIME. You're done until September.
#9 - I was talking with a nurse friend yesterday and he mentioned a patient he had cared for the previous day as Mr Hippa. sounds like a good way to reference people. :D
ReplyDelete#6 - You must live in a VERY small town. What exactly are they gossiping about anyway? The usual sort of stuff like "when is she going to get married?" Or do they pick on other parts of your life?
#1 and 2 - I had a teacher in college who said that college was nothing more than a place to spend time while growing up. I know that what you have been doing is much more than the average college student (in years at least). I have found that the only place I really learned anything valuable was when I actually got out into the work place. Maybe I am a hands on learner too but I tend to think that most people don't come out of their academic training with any real clue as to what they need to do when they land a job. Its a shame I suppose but doing it for real is really the best teacher of all. :)