When did you decide on a practice setting?

[thekman]

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When did you decide on a practice setting?

I'm assuming most people figure it out after a few clinical rotations. How many people knew exactly what they wanted to go into prior to starting PT school?

 

[adh28]

I would love to know too, I hopefully will be starting PT school next fall and have huge interests in Geriatrics. Would like to know what people might have knowledge of regarding this field after being in PT school and clinical rotations! Is it common to find a niche and get any special exposure to it throughout your clinical internships?

 

[dizzy88]

To the OP - I went into school wanting to do OP ortho/pain management type stuff because of my experience throughout undergrad. I work in a clinic that focuses on this stuff and really enjoy it. However, I'm still keeping my options open. Part of my clinical this summer will be with women's health, I'm also looking forward to my neuro affiliation. So, we'll see! But, I am still very much interested in ortho/pain management.

adh28 - My first clinical was with geriatrics. I honestly wasn't looking forward to it, but it definitely exceeded my expectations! In regards to finding your "niche" and getting special exposure, that's definitely an option at my program. Your full time internships have requirements (must fulfill one in ortho, acute, neuro, and geri), however if you want to explore more specialized areas (peds, women's health, vestibular, etc) you can do part time clinicals when you are in academic semesters. Or if you want to strengthen your area of interest, you can do all your part time clinicals in geri if you choose. This is just speaking for my program. I don't know if all give you the opportunity for part time clinicals throughout your curriculum. Hope that helped!

 

[Akiramay]

I went into PT school wanting to do pediatrics, but my first clinical was in acute care and I fell in love with the geriatric population. I liked acute care but wished I could be with my patients for longer, so I thought that the rehab setting would be my calling. But I fell in love with outpatient ortho during my second clinical, and didn't feel quite as at home during my third clinical in inpatient rehab. In my second clinical I saw a few patients with vestibular issues, so I would love to keep working with them too. I am currently in my final clinical in an outpatient ortho setting, and I am enjoying myself so far (just finished my first of 13 weeks!). I didn't think I would like outpatient when I started school, but I fell in love with the manual techniques and applying my knowledge of anatomy and arthrokinematics to patient care. Also, I've seen patients with ages anywhere from 10-85 years old, so it's nice to have that variety in outpatient! 🙂

 

[thekman]

dizzy88 and Akiramay, thank you for your responses!

dizzy88: I'm curious about which program you attend, would you be comfortable sharing? I'd be fine with a PM. Do the part-time clinicals count for credit hours at your school? The idea sounds kind of exhausting on top of PT school; have you personally done any part-time clinicals and how do you manage it time wise?

Akiramay; I've always heard that most people go into PT school favoring outpatient ortho (myself included), and then stumble into another practice setting. It's cool that you're leaning toward the opposite route. What initially interested you in pediatrics?

Thanks again for the quick responses!

 

[Akiramay]

I started off in undergrad as pre-med, because I had decided I wanted to be a pediatrician randomly when I was in 5th grade and stuck with that. So when I decided I didn't want to go to med school anymore and switched to pre-PT, I thought I'd like to do pediatrics. Plus I loved my motor development class in undergrad and enjoyed working with kids when I was getting observation hours. Funny how things can change! Our professors and other clinicians would tell us all the time to be open minded and that you may fall in love with something you swore you'd never do. That was commonly heard from the wound care specialists!

 

[thekman]

I started off in undergrad as pre-med, because I had decided I wanted to be a pediatrician randomly when I was in 5th grade and stuck with that. So when I decided I didn't want to go to med school anymore and switched to pre-PT, I thought I'd like to do pediatrics. Plus I loved my motor development class in undergrad and enjoyed working with kids when I was getting observation hours. Funny how things can change! Our professors and other clinicians would tell us all the time to be open minded and that you may fall in love with something you swore you'd never do. That was commonly heard from the wound care specialists!

Awesome! Thanks for your input!

 

[dizzy88]

It's no problem. I go to the University of Utah.

There is one mandatory part time clinical and after that they are optional. All worth 1 credit hour. You are required to complete 40 hours at your site. So, most students do 4 hours 1x/wk for 10 wks. I have done them every semester and it isn't too bad. I'm a firm believer that you get the most out of clinical experience, so I want as much exposure as I can get.

 

[thekman]

There is one mandatory part time clinical and after that they are optional. All worth 1 credit hour. You are required to complete 40 hours at your site. So, most students do 4 hours 1x/wk for 10 wks. I have done them every semester and it isn't too bad. I'm a firm believer that you get the most out of clinical experience, so I want as much exposure as I can get.

That time commitment actually doesn't sound bad at all. It must actually be pretty nice to get some clinical hours while in the midst of didactic learning. Thanks for sharing!