nervous for clinical

[PacDar]

I was wondering if people could offer some advice/support. I just finished my second year of of my DPT program (which means that I've completed all of my academic coursework). Last summer (1 year ago) I had my first clinical internship in outpatient orthopedics. Even though my CI rated me very highly on my CPI, I felt like I wasn't where I should have been (while my CI was very nice, she was not a great teacher and not very comfortable with providing constructive criticism). I also feel like one of the weaknesses of my program is that it does not have enough coursework on technical PT skills (i.e. we had a lot of classes on things like policy, ethics, and quality in health care). It has therefore been one full year since I've studied orthopedics. This is making me very nervous about my upcoming clinical rotation. I feel like I've forgotten so much of what I learned...and while I did very well in my classes, the fast-paced nature of the program essentially forced me to cram for a lot of the material and only learn it very superficially. I feel like I don't have a firm enough grasp of the basics (for example, I can do all of the group manual MMT's, but I forget many of the MMT's for specific muscles that are not tested as frequently). I have started reviewing and studying my notes from last year to prepare for my clinical, but it doesn't feel like enough. And I know that 99% of the other students in my program are not studying right now...they're all enjoying their vacation time before clinicals. I guess what it comes down to is that I'm really lacking self-confidence and experiencing self-doubt. Any advice or words of wisdom?

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[markelmarcel]

Remember, you are still a student so they don't expect you to know everything! You are still there to learn. (I am telling myself this currently as I just started my first clinical). Brush up on your notes, be an active learner, take initiative and ask questions! My CI has asked me to look over things every night and I go in the next day with my mind refreshed and am prepared with a couple questions of my own. Even silly ones, like how do you palpate the infraspinatus easily, as an example.

So, remember, you don't have to place so much pressure on yourself. Be upfront with your new CI and tell her how your last experience was (at my school we actually get to give a self-assessment to our CIs on our first day about what we have experience with and to what level [classroom only, lab and classroom, clinic, etc] which is nice) and what you hope to accomplish during your time at your new placement. I told my CI I definitely wanted to work on documentation skills (writing assessments) and working on my confidence level of my skills.

Take it one day at a time, and good luck!