Fearing the Clinical

[deleted797640]

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Any thoughts from current or past CI's who have tips on handling the fear of a first clinical? I have done well in my courses and such but I do not feel confident enough to treat patients I feel like it would be a disservice to them, I am unaware of the level of "skill" expected of me in the clinic. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ptbusiness]

Don't worry about it! No normal CI would expect you to be super knowledgeable during your internships, especially the 1st one. It is just introduction for you into PT. It's CI's job to make you feel comfortable in that environment. It would not be safe and it is illegal for your CI to leave you alone with patients or ask you to treat patients if you have no idea what to do with them. There is a small possibility that your CI will be an a** h***, but most of them are nice, understanding, and very helpful.

 

[deleted797640]

Thanks so much for the response!

 

[ptmonster]

It really depends on your CI, I was one of those unlucky ones and i almost failed my first clinical. My CI critized every little actions i do.
On the other hand, my second CI was the opposite of my 1st one. I was very happy and it was a great experience.
My advice is that if you got a not very nice CI, just try hard to make your CI happy until you clinical internship ends.

 

[wiseOldPT]

Also an unlucky one. Sadly schools are pretty desperate to get enough clinical slots which results in a lot of bad CIs. If this happens, alert your school immediately if you think there are issues with your CI. Much better for you to say something before your CI complains about you to the school.

 

[deleted797640]

I find that very interesting since CI's don't get paid, I find it strange many who "hate" doing it would put themselves through that extra workload.

 

[wiseOldPT]

I don't think it's that they hate it, I think a lot feel powerful by making students feel horrible. Seems especially true with more junior PTs. But there are a lot of really great CIs out there as well, so advocate for yourself if you are in a bad situation!

 

[truthseeker]

I think the sample of comments to your question skew toward making you think that you are more likely to have a bad CI. I think the vast majority of us who act as CIs do it because we like it. Relax, learn what you can, do the assignments, read what is provided and be positive. You will be fine.

 

[ptmonster]

Scary stuff

 

[Azimuthal]

As your first clinical, you’ll be supervised pretty closely. Take the time to learn as much as possible. Yes, some CI’s are CI’s because their clinical ladder requires them to be and that can be a good or bad thing, but like truthseeker said, most of us do it because we enjoy it. I haven’t had a bad student yet, just...programs that are developing in certain areas.

 

[ptbusiness]

I find that very interesting since CI's don't get paid, I find it strange many who "hate" doing it would put themselves through that extra workload.

CIs benefit from taking students: their work productivity skyrockets. Firstly, you are doing work for them (and most if not all of them are doing other work while you are working with their patients) . Secondly, they document that they are "training an intern" which again increases their productivity. I had 1 CI who had 100% (!!!) productivity because he had me as an intern ( productivity changed from 60% to 100% as soon as he put "student training"). So at the end of the day it is supposed to be a win-win situation.

 

[Azimuthal]

CIs benefit from taking students: their work productivity skyrockets. Firstly, you are doing work for them (and most if not all of them are doing other work while you are working with their patients) . Secondly, they document that they are "training an intern" which again increases their productivity. I had 1 CI who had 100% (!!!) productivity because he had me as an intern ( productivity changed from 60% to 100% as soon as he put "student training"). So at the end of the day it is supposed to be a win-win situation.

Not always true. It really depends on the setting and population. If you mostly see Medicare patients, watch that productivity plummet.