Practical advice

[jtb93]

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Hello all. Just finished my first PT school practical! While I got a great score on it, I got flagged for lack of small talk which could potentially lead to intimidation in a real clinical setting. I knew this was going to be an issue for me since I have social anxiety and small talk has never been easy, but I know I need to work on this so I can become a successful PT. Any advice on how to remediate this issue? I know this isn't an overnight fix and it will require time and practice, but any tips from others who were in similar situations would be beneficial!

 

[jblil]

You got dinged for lack of small talk in a practical?? Most practicals at my school were typically less than 15 mins and we do it on our classmates, with the professors grading us. It's all business, no time for small talk. Then we have "mock exams" (usually with the faculty playing the role of patients) which take longer, but no small talk there either.

 

[jtb93]

Hi jblil. Yeah, I wasn't expecting that to be a huge factor, especially in my first practical. We were only allowed 10 minutes so I assumed talking would have to be kept to a minimum but I guess not. I have a longer practical next week so my anxiety is already kicking in for that. I'm obviously going to try and talk more for that one. Pretty sure I'm going to have a different professor for that one so maybe they will give different feedback.

 

[jblil]

Not to sound sexist, but current sport events or new car models are usually an inoffensive subject to bring up with male patients. For females, ask if they have a hobby. The trick is to introduce a subject such that the patients will do most of the talking.

I work in home-health and I always look at the pictures on the wall or the mantel. They are a perfect introduction to small talk: photos of little kids --> How many children/grandchildren do you have? Photos of travel --> Have you been to such-and-such place?

 

[Bones26]

First of all, that's silly. A practical is not the time to be evaluated on social skills. In my opinion that falls under your clinical affiliations.

Anyway, the above is solid advice. Ask about kids or pets. Upcoming or prior weekend plans. Where they're from or hobbies. Most people love to talk about themselves when given the opportunity. Ask follow-up questions and be genuinely interested. If you can't be genuinely interested, fake it to the best of your ability. Almost everyone has something you can relate to on some sort of level.

 

[truthseeker]

Hello all. Just finished my first PT school practical! While I got a great score on it, I got flagged for lack of small talk which could potentially lead to intimidation in a real clinical setting. I knew this was going to be an issue for me since I have social anxiety and small talk has never been easy, but I know I need to work on this so I can become a successful PT. Any advice on how to remediate this issue? I know this isn't an overnight fix and it will require time and practice, but any tips from others who were in similar situations would be beneficial!

My recommendation is not to artificially create small talk, but be conversational in your history gathering. Talk to the patient or "patient" in this case and get to know them, how they learn, how they like to communicate. Social skills are, IMO really important to be a good therapist. It really helps to create a therapeutic relationship.
If you have social anxiety disorder, address it. Go to a bar, bowling alley, video arcade etc . . . and talk to people to overcome the anxiety. sign up for "Toastmasters" and learn how to be a public speaker. I can't imaging that you got dinged because of a lack of "small talk" but probably more because of a robotic delivery which is rarely pleasing to someone that is coming to you for compassion and help for a problem that bothers them enough to take the time out of their busy day to ask your opinion.

 

[Fiveoboy11]

It takes a long time to get good at interviewing/interacting with patients so don't worry about it. I assume there was a problem with the interaction, maybe it was awkward or too much silence or something so the grader decided you need to add small talk. Small talk can be ok but sometimes it's best to just shut up too and get to the point. My dentist without fail always wants to talk about the weather, so the whole time he's examining me I'm trying not to laugh/smile because of how irrelevant it is (I live in AZ where the weather has little to no variance). At least have something interesting to say or ask if you're going to go the smalltalk route. Try to do more mock practicals with classmates but to be honest it mostly takes experience to get comfortable. You could always be more knowledgeable re what you're practical is covering so to ask more relevant questions or to assess more relevant information (to keep busy, avoid silence/awkwardness). Once you're comfortable it's a lot easier, but it will probably take years given your social anxiety, but that's ok. Just be pleasant and try to relax. Who cares if you got docked a point because some teacher wants you to be like them or something.

 

[jtb93]

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I was able to take some of this advice (along with 2 Ativan) and nailed my first full 45 minute practical today! It was with a different professor, but I received very positive feedback from him. It was nerve-wracking walking into the room, but everything was a breeze once I was deep into my subjective. Thanks again for the advice, it is much appreciated!