Most difficult subject in the MPT Program

[uhapt]

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First DoctorJay, whats up man, its Dmitry here and the summer term just ended, I'm with a 3.0 and I feel fine with that because thats all you need. I wanted a better grade but Clin. med. brought me down from a B+ to a B. Jaun says hello too.
So the fall of my senior year is about to begin in two weeks ( second semester into my masters, the first was a rude awakaning) and I heard that if i could make it through that 18 credit semester than, well I'll be fine after that. I got cardiopulm, nueroscience, kines, physical agents and all the labs. DoctorJay said focus on classes with the highest credits and that was right-on.
So I'd like to hear what your advice is and what was the most difficult/easiest subject in PT school.

 

[DOctorJay]

Hey Dmitry, glad to hear you made it through. I'm currently in my first week of med school and loving it. Your summer was difficult and I applaud your accomplishment. Now get ready, this next semester is hell. Once you get through this though the rest will fall into place. I know you probably thought you worked harder than you ever have before but this upcoming semester is tough.

Most difficult with Juan - Kinesiology (go to every review session and MEMORIZE his practice test - seriously, you won't be disappointed). USE YOUR EYES IN LAB AND OBSERVE PEOPLE MOVING. Think to yourself about the coupled motion that's occuring in the spine, glenohumeral joint, the posterior roll and anterior slide of the knee joint, and if you learn only one thing let it be the CONCAVE/CONVEX rule!

Cardiopulm will be difficult but is very interesting and extremely important for your clinical rotations (especially acute care). Don't BS your blood pressure checks, test many people and different ways (supine, standing, sitting) and you will be a pro come time for affiliations.

Neuro sounds hard but is also interesting and if you put the time in you'll do fine. Find a nice five year old with good dexterity to color in your neuroscience coloring book - biggest waste of time in my opinion, did not help me at all.

Physical agents is low key and is the first time you start to learn about actual PT treatments - focus in on contraindications and when to use caution with certain agents.

Keep asking your profs questions and ask them about how they practice and what they actually do. We tend to forget they have lives outside of academics and it's amazing what kind of research, practice, and experience they have (Yvette consults for Harvard, Juan is a huge research guy and makes amazing sangria) understanding these things will help you see the light at the end of the tunnel and may help you form your own conclusions about how you want to practice in the future.

ENJOY your break, and feel free to contact me.

-J

 

[uhapt]

Jay

Besides the fact that I have to study more, what make the fall semester so difficult. Is it that the info is that much harder than the summer or just more of it?

Michele says hi.

 

[Howard Roark]

good luck

 

[DOctorJay]

Jay

Besides the fact that I have to study more, what make the fall semester so difficult. Is it that the info is that much harder than the summer or just more of it?

Michele says hi.

D,

what makes it difficult is that you're going to be in class 30-35 hours a week if I remember correctly. This takes some getting used to and it significantly decreases your study time outside of class. The material is much more conceptually difficult especially with kinesiology. Some of the other classes won't be conceptually difficult but volume can become troublesome. If you stay ahead in the beginning you'll be fine so start reading as soon as class starts, don't lag into it cause it'll be difficult to catch up.

Please say hi to Michele for me if you see her. She's one of the best clinicians I know and is a great teacher in the clinical setting.

One more thing, once you get through this fall semester you'll be over the hill and ready to coast. Spring semester is still difficult but you'll be more than prepared for it and it will definitely feel easier. If you want some help picking clinical rotations let me know cause I have the inside scoop on many of the places.

-J

 

[uhapt]

Jay as always thanks for the advice. I just spend a ton on books today and I started looking over the info. It seems to be a lot of info especially without the syllabus to at least guide you. Are there a lot of presentations/papers duting this semester? Dr. certo is teaching cardiopulm. I was looking over the covex/concave rule before I guess i can read at least a couple of chapters on each subjuct before the fall semester begins. Hope you are doing well in Med. school!!

Dmitry

 

[DOctorJay]

Hey D,

no problem with the help. Definitely difficult to start the reading without the syllabus. Don't kill yourself before class but it is a good idea to review so you know what's coming up. I can't remember there being a lot of presentations/papers this semester. You will get a ton in your second year, lots of group work, etc. If you're not familiar with powerpoint spend some time fooling around with it. You will be expected to use it for your presentations and it really is important to look professional and have interesting transitions (Juan in particular loves it when people know how to use this technology to make things really stand out, don't go overboard or cartoony but use the program to its potential - you'll most likely be presenting some video from his gait lab to the class in Kines lab). There's a really good explanation of how to make useful visual presentations in your Portney and Watkins research text (towards the end). For neuro make sure you LEARN THE TRACTS. Mary loves this stuff and if you go over it enough times it will sink in (this was my least favorite part but ends up being very clinically relevant).

I think that's it for now, keep the questions coming.

-J