Difficult CI

[Anomaly_Anomaly]

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Any advice on dealing with a CI who is generally patronizing, demeaning, gives no feedback when prompted, and has no interest in learning what you need as a student?

 

[PTpursuit]

My CI was no cake-walk to deal with.. she was socially awkward by every definition of the term. She wasn’t outgoing or helpful, and was generally dismissive to a student on their first clinical afil in acute care. I would reach out to your ACCE, before it’s too late. I passed the CPI, but dreaded going there everyday solely because of her. Meanwhile, every other PT there was chill and I would have loved to work with them. Sometimes you get dealt a bad card, not worth risking everything for!

 

[Anomaly_Anomaly]

My CI was no cake-walk to deal with.. she was socially awkward by every definition of the term. She wasn’t outgoing or helpful, and was generally dismissive to a student on their first clinical afil in acute care. I would reach out to your ACCE, before it’s too late. I passed the CPI, but dreaded going there everyday solely because of her. Meanwhile, every other PT there was chill and I would have loved to work with them. Sometimes you get dealt a bad card, not worth risking everything for!

Thank you for this input!! Other clinicians I have worked with in this sitting while my CI has been out for a few days have bee a dream to work with, so all signs point to just this clinician. I will try to keep my head down and just pass this clinical, I guess. This is my last clinical, and I have never had a CI who seemed to actively discourage me from speaking or taking initiative.

 

[truthseeker]

maybe ask the CCCE if you could spend more time with the other clinicians.

 

[starrsgirl]

At least ask to set up some feedback sessions. Good goal is 1x/week...just say it's important to you and block it out on the schedule.

 

[Azimuthal]

This is why CI credentialing is important. The course provides helpful tools to make one a >decent CI.

 

[truthseeker]

with all due respect, either you are or you aren't. the credentials don't give anyone people skills.

 

[Azimuthal]

with all due respect, either you are or you aren't. the credentials don't give anyone people skills.

Of course not, but it does give some pretty good tools for student and CI learning. For me, it provided some insights into interpersonal communication, signs of disengagement, when to contact the school, etc. It has components that indirectly tells you if you shouldn’t be a CI, i.e., not wanting to, over burdened, limited social skills, limited stress outlets, authoritative nature, blah, blah, blah. It might be a reality check for some, though I understand that many facilities require PTs to take students for their clinical ladder system. Also, you can have great people skills and still find the course beneficial.

 

[Anomaly_Anomaly]

Of course not, but it does give some pretty good tools for student and CI learning. For me, it provided some insights into interpersonal communication, signs of disengagement, when to contact the school, etc. It has components that indirectly tells you if you shouldn’t be a CI, i.e., not wanting to, over burdened, limited social skills, limited stress outlets, authoritative nature, blah, blah, blah. It might be a reality check for some, though I understand that many facilities require PTs to take students for their clinical ladder system. Also, you can have great people skills and still find the course beneficial.

Thank you for your thoughtful insight! Yeah I am this CI's third student in a row (she mentioned having each of us back to back with only a break in between...) I did try scheduling feedback session earlier in the morning, since she usually gets to work 5 - 10 minutes before the first patient, and though she said she would be there, she never showed to them. 'Signs of disengagement' definitely go both ways.

 

[DopaMiners]

I know this thread kind of died out but as a clinician and former student who sought out my specific rotations, and lucked out with my CIs, quick advice:

You’re paying for that education. The CI probably understands the value in that, since we’re all in debt up to our eyes (I’m married to a PT, we still have 250k between us and 4 years out).

Openly stating what you need out of it makes you come off as a strong student, or that’s how I perceive you. Unfortunately some therapists want students to lighten their caseload when it’s actually supposed to be the opppsite as a mentor.

Speak up and if they aren’t willing to discuss what you’ve covered with learning styles, goals, etc. - document it with weekly goal sheets and report to your CCE/ACCE.