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?
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Has anyone had a bad clinical experience?
Started by 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.
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.
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
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.
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.
