Despite the fact that I'm really enjoying the outpatient setting, I am starting to realize that maybe sports medicine just isn't for me. I do like working with athletes and learning how to treat various types of sports injuries. However, I only like working with athletes who are over the age of 20. Teenage athletes are pretty much getting on my nerves to put it bluntly and their parents are getting on my nerves even more. I know that this is my specialty clinical and the reason I got my CSCS is because I really wanted to work with athletes, but I will give you just a few examples of why I am starting to change my mind about what I really want to specialize in.
- Athletes (the teenage ones) all come in with their cell phones and iPods. Now, I am not one to ever knock the use of cell phones and iPods. I have both and I use them regularly. I don't know what I would do without texting. However, teenage athletes 99% of the time feel the need to be texting throughout their therapy sessions and/or listening to their iPods so they are NEVER paying attention to what you ask them to do and you always have to either a) wait till they are done sending a text or b) shout out your instructions to get them to listen.
- Teenage athletes never want to use the correct form with exercises. They all think that faster is better and they are all just trying to get through their "workout" as fast as possible. They don't seem to grasp the fact that they are there for physical therapy, not a practice session.
- The parents of teenage athletes can be super pushy and rude. Case in point - we are seeing a 14 year old kid with Little League Shoulder. This is when the epiphysis separates in the throwing shoulder. It is a very serious injury and getting back to pitching too soon can cause serious damage. The problem here is, this kid is an outstanding pitcher. He has the potential to go pro someday and he and his mother know that. They are not at all interested in actually going through the appropriate progression of therapy. They also do not understand why we are working on core strengthening with him. I guess they do not understand that your arms are attached to your trunk and it's the entire upper body that's involved in throwing a ball, not just your arm. But whatever...So the past 2 times I've called this kid in from the waiting room, his mom has come back to the gym with him. The first time, she got on my CI's case about the core strengthening and basically told him that he should just work on her son's arm and forget the rest. The 2nd time (yesterday) I called the kid back and she came charging in behind him and told me basically that she didn't want me to see her son because they had waited all week to get an appointment with my CI. She wanted my CI to do an "assessment" for her son to see if he was ready to get back to pitching. Um ok....so that made me mad that she thought I was too much of an idiot to treat her son and it also made me want to shake the crap out of her and tell her that there is no way in heck that her son is ready to pitch again. So I get my CI and I just go start seeing our other patients. I see he is speaking to this woman and her son for a long time and getting frustrated. I hear the mom basically say how frustrated she and her son are that "PT isn't working." It's safe to say that I never ever want to work with parents like that who want to destroy their kid's potential pro career by pushing them too hard as a freshman in high school. You've got to be kidding me.
- Athletes whine and have the lowest pain tolerance imaginable. We have adults who've been through total joint replacements who work harder than an athlete with a sprained ankle. It's annoying.
- They are always late for their appointments or just plain don't show up. Our highest rates of No Shows are the athletes.
- There are only about a handful who actually are compliant with their home exercise program and it is very obvious.
- They are so disrespectful toward their parents. I evaluated two athletes this week who were completely rude and disrespectful toward their parents throughout the entire evaluation. They talk back, act like little snots, and one kid threw his sweatshirt at his mom and hit her in the face when I asked him to take it off so I could see his shoulder.
These are just a few of the reasons why I'm starting to question my choice to get into sports medicine. Don't get me wrong, I really do like it, but I find myself gravitating toward the patients who are older and more mature every single time we are double booked and I'm starting to get the hint from myself that maybe athletes just aren't my cup of tea.
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