Need advice from current or past students

[strivehigh]

I'm a first year DPT student in upstate New York. So after both a summer and fall semester, I still have a 4.0 gpa - not that that matters anymore but just to give you an idea of where I'm at gradewise. After these semesters I've learned that I'm really good at studying for exams and practicals, but I feel that I'm forgetting a lot about what I've learned already and it's only been a few weeks off from school. Is this normal to students? Forgetting these things so quickly is starting to scare me about my future of being an actual practicing PT. Also after being around such intelligent people (students, instructors) I'm still not sure if I will be able to see the realm of physical therapy as well as they do/will. If that makes any sense. Are these doubts normal and just all a part of the experience? Or is my future possibly in jeopardy if I see things this way? Some personal experience from current or past students would really help! Thank you.

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[purrple49]

I feel the same way. I'd love to hear what others say about this as well. Might get more responses posting in med student forums, even though we're in PT.

 

[ptbusiness]

Don't worry about it! You forget things because you are not using that knowledge on daily basis. The purpose of PT school is to build the base for your knowledge, not to make you remember everything you learn. When you start working, information that you need to know for your setting will become repetitive and you will be well-oriented in that environment since you will be using it every day, over and over and over again. There is always internet available if you need to look something up.
Your PT school classes will start getting repetitive too as you keep going through the program. So you will be reviewing the material you have learned (and forgotten lol). You will not need to re-learn everything from scratch by the time you get to the boards.

 

[dannibambi]

ptbusiness is spot on. It's completely normal because you haven't put it into practice yet. You'll really start remembering and connecting to the material a little in your classes later in the program in which you have to analyze patient cases and write about or demonstrate what you would do after you've reviewed information (repetitively), but you'll really start to retain it when you call upon that information in your clinicals and again when studying for boards.

 

[deleted797640]

There is an article on here about impostor syndrome essentially this is what you are feelings it was pretty informative. The best thing you can do is when studying for new material think of all the previous material which may influence the way you view the new material. I doubt any PT student feels like they are PT material after a few semesters. Cut yourself some slack

 

[theheartyroots]

I'm a first year DPT student in upstate New York. So after both a summer and fall semester, I still have a 4.0 gpa - not that that matters anymore but just to give you an idea of where I'm at gradewise. After these semesters I've learned that I'm really good at studying for exams and practicals, but I feel that I'm forgetting a lot about what I've learned already and it's only been a few weeks off from school. Is this normal to students? Forgetting these things so quickly is starting to scare me about my future of being an actual practicing PT. Also after being around such intelligent people (students, instructors) I'm still not sure if I will be able to see the realm of physical therapy as well as they do/will. If that makes any sense. Are these doubts normal and just all a part of the experience? Or is my future possibly in jeopardy if I see things this way? Some personal experience from current or past students would really help! Thank you.

These feelings will usually always linger, and that is not a bad thing! The biggest thing about physical therapy school is understanding the fundamentals of our job. The clinical part is where you put all your background knowledge into action, AND you understand WHY you're doing things. For example, when you gait train a patient with stroke, you may be facilitating the gait mechanics to allow for dorsiflexion and some hip flexion. Why? 1.) you are making them walk by moving their leg, in the most laymen terms 2,) you are maximizing neuroplasticity by repetition to promote neuromuscular re-education and allow external input to the sensory and motor receptors to facilitate clearance of the foot with ambulation.

Does all knowing all that stuff really matter? Sometimes. Will knowing things make you more confident in your interventions and plan of care? YES!!!

Will you not know some things when you get to clinic as a licensed PT? YES.
Is it okay to continue learning, because learning will always be a part of our job? YES. I always look up research articles and current evidence to keep learning. If I'm unfamiliar with some things regarding neuro-rehab I always look back on my textbooks or on our reliable Google.com.

Feeling that you don't know everything is a good thing. Feeling like you need to brush up on things to maximize patient care is the most important aspect to think about when you are licensed. The worst type of therapist is one who does the same things to their patients and do not understand why. Keep looking things up you forget, they will eventually stick and you will be fine


Good luck!!

Nana
Check out my blog for some more PT-related topics!
www.TheHeartyRoots.com

 

[Azimuthal]

I’m board certified and I still know nothing ‍♂️