I am not necessarily calling my clinical a bad clinical, but it has gotten extremely boring. At first I have been seeing 6-7 patients a day, but now I'm down to only 3 a day and bored off my mind. And my CI says I am doing a really good job and the clinic remains busy. Anyone else had a bad experience with their clinical?
Has anyone had a bad clinical experience?
- Thread starter tcapri87
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Why aren't you spending your time constructively, i.e. reviewing the PT literature, observing your CI? This is your time to learn and reflect.
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If the clinic is busy, you should be busy. If you're finding extra time between patients you should be observing/cotreating, asking to take on a bigger caseload, or discussing with your CI what other projects you can take on. Initiative is a huge part of learning and of being professional.
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I haven't done my first clinical rotation yet, but when I was a volunteer, there were some slooooow times in the clinic, especially in the early afternoon. I usually reviewed my anatomy flashcards, looked at patient charts, or looked at some of the books and references the PTs had on the shelves. I can't say I understood too much at the time, but it made the time go by much faster.
Kevin
Kevin
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If PT clinicals are anything like AT clinicals, the experience has a lot to do with the CI. It's tough to stay disciplined and 'fill time' when a clinic is chronically slow or your CI isn't making a good effort to challenge you and include you. I don't mind observing at times when I don't have 1:1 patient contact but this should include the CI verbally quizing the student about info relevant to the case. I've had really great CIs that would periodically take 1 hour blocks to review competencies or do mock evals even though they could have been catching up on notes or something with that time. Other CIs I've had I felt they didn't care about my experience or growth enough & that just made me apathetic even though I should have taken more control and made my experience more valuable.
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I agree with this completely.
I am confused as to why your patient load has decreased when you state the clinic is still busy?
If there is still an abundance of patients, I would simply express to your CI that you would like a heavier patient load. If there's not, maybe spend some one on one time reviewing/practicing things with your CI. Depending on the setting, you could also go ask to observe other disciplines. Observe a surgery, a podiatrist eval, an audiology session, etc.
If there is still an abundance of patients, I would simply express to your CI that you would like a heavier patient load. If there's not, maybe spend some one on one time reviewing/practicing things with your CI. Depending on the setting, you could also go ask to observe other disciplines. Observe a surgery, a podiatrist eval, an audiology session, etc.
