Being a “C grade” DPT student

[DPT5466]

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Hello everyone,
I’m in my 2nd year of PT school and overall I feel like I’m doing fine/ok and getting through the program but kind of at the minimum. I know that a lot of people say that grades don’t matter as long as you pass PT school etc (even some of my professors say this). But idk I wanted to get input from people who have not received the best grades in PT school and see how you guys are doing now (gone through clinicals or finished school ). I do feel worried that I won’t be that great in rotations because of my low grades. It very difficult for me to get As in exams for most of my classes. I have mostly gotten Cs on my exams and a few As/Bs (and unfortunately some Ds when class averages were low).
I have performed very well in all of my practicals (As on all of them) and those have saved my grades most of the time,but I feel that practicals are so much easier than writtens.

There are definitely times when I know why I got a bad grade on an exam due to procrastination or burnt out, but generally I do study a lot and try my best. I just need to do a lot of repetitive studying and that’s why PT school has been tough for me because of time management.

Thanks

 

[truthseeker]

You don't get into PT school without having academic ability. You obviously have proven that you are capable of getting good grades or you would never have been accepted in the first place. Grades in PT school really don't matter, but the information does. I have been a CI for 27 years. I expect my students to be able to know the basic didactic information but its the really good ones that don't just spout lists of things that they memorized, they see the bigger picture. For example, how the foot influences the knee, how the hip influences the back, and how the brain influences everything. there are two types of PT students that I have noticed, the list memorizers, and the thinkers. It sounds like you are one of the latter and as long as you pass your classes, learn the material, and be able to cross reference concepts from those classes and apply them when you have a real live patient with co-morbidities in front of you, you will be fine. The grades that matter the most IMO are the ones you get in your clinicals.

 

[ya1]

I have to say that again: grades do not matter as long as you are passing PT school. You ARE good enough if you are still in the program. If you were not good enough for rotations/graduation, you would have been kicked out of the program or left behind to learn what you are supposed to learn. Repetitions are the key for learning and you will get much more of those repetitions when you start working. Unless you have extra experience, you will not know much by the time of your rotations start or by the time you start working. Yet, you will know enough to be able to do PT safely within your knowledge borders (which may or may not be enough depending on the severity of your patient's condition). It is OK not to know everything when you start working or even 10 years down your career road. You just refer patients to more experienced PTs or healthcare providers who will be able to help them. Keep doing what you have been doing and you will really be ok!