This post is included in a 5-part series about my part-time clinical in PT school, which occurred during my 2nd year of physical therapy school. Click the following links for the complete series:
Day 2
I helped my CI with an evaluation today and it didn’t go as well as I had planned. My CI told me about the eval about a week before we did it, and he told me to look up information about plantar fasciitis. I wrote down information that I learned about plantar fasciitis and exercises I would have her do before I got to the clinic, but I still struggled with the eval.
It was difficult to know what questions to ask, and I found myself typing too much instead of listening to what the patient was saying. I’m glad that I was able to help with the eval though, because it gave me a much better idea of what to expect the next time I do one.
I introduced myself to many more patients today, and felt more confident when talking to patients. I still need to work on communicating when measuring ROM, doing MMT, and explaining exercises. It does feel like I don’t have much experience with ther-ex because I never worked as a tech, so instructing exercises hasn’t come very easy for me.
I saw several new things in the clinic, including backwards walking on the treadmill, a transverse friction scar massage, and a honeycomb shaped dressing over a scar. I also learned more about knee replacements, e-stim, and disk herniations.
Overall I felt a lot more confident in the clinic than I did the first day. I was able to joke around with my CI more, and didn’t get as frustrated with myself when I made mistakes and didn’t remember things that we’ve learned in class already.