Worried and confused

[Worryguy]

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I feel like I may have given too much information!

 

[DesertPT]

All careers are filled with routine tasks. If you are interested by the human body, you will be interested in physical therapy. If you are not right now, you may very well get interested as time goes on. I would try an shake off your doubts as best you can and give physical therapy school a fair shot before you call it quits. If you hate it though and absolutely can't do it, it would be better to bail sooner rather than later before you pay too much tuition. But you really ought to give it a try, learn to appreciate the miraculous beauty of biology and of the human body, and see if you do develop an interest or even a passion.

Right now at this very moment though, you should try to get some sleep. 🙂

 

[dizzy88]

Sorry to hear about your frustrations. I do think you should give it a shot this semester and see how you feel. Anatomy is the foundation of what we do as PTs and if you genuinely do not have a passion for it by the end, then maybe you should re-think the path that you are on. There is no shame in leaving the program if you truly don't think it's for you. PT school is long, rigorous and expensive, and there is no reason that you should force yourself to go through it if it isn't your passion.

That being said, you may find something that intrigues you once you are in the program. Perhaps outpatient and inpatient (your previous observations) just weren't for you. I didn't know about all of the specialties that were available to me until I got into PT school. I had no idea vestibular rehab even existed in the PT realm and I love it! Definitely something I want to pursue in my career.

Invest yourself in this semester and see how you feel. Best of luck.

 

[Worryguy]

I really appreciate your responses. I will give this semester my best shot and see where i stand at the end, just as you both suggested. Thank you again, I really needed to share my feelings.

 

[NewTestament]

Just watching the PTs was boring and the majority of the procedures seemed routine and not something that I would like to do for a life time. I honestly cannot say PT has been my passion but I do enjoy helping others, am sympathetic, patient, and caring.

You should complete your first term before you decide whether PT is going to be your profession. It seems overwhelming at first. A lot of students probably have the same feelings because the workload is intimidating. Some of the foundational classes can seem boring and technical at first. For example, I still find biomechanics somewhat dull.

Every job is going to have a lot of routine. I said this somewhere else, but you build expertise and skill with routine. If you have the right attitude, there is no reason why you should not be learning something new every day in the clinic. If you're not learning, or if it seems boring, then you're probably not challenging yourself, or you need to change the setting you work in. Outpatient orthopedics is not for everyone.

PT is constantly evolving and there's always new information. The information you learn today will be wrong in five or ten years. Your knowledge and skills have no limit.

Kevin

 

[Azimuthal]

What other professions have you shadowed? Don't limit yourself and keep in mind that exploring that first semester is also taking a seat from someone who is a lot more confident in knowing what they want.

Edit: seems a little late.

 

[DesertPT]

So how'd the first couple of days go then? If you can now find any time or energy to post on this board, that is. 😉

 

[Worryguy]

So how'd the first couple of days go then? If you can now find any time or energy to post on this board, that is. 😉

Thank you for asking 🙂 You're right about being busy. I have been so busy that i have actually not have had much time to think and double guess myself. I tend to think and worry more when I have free time. I have actually started to grow a liking for my classes and hope that I will like future ones even more. I like to thank you again for your suggestions as I was very close to making some drastic (and probably stupid) decisions.

All these threads about the future of the PT field have me worried as well though but that's a different story.

 

[DesertPT]

All these threads about the future of the PT field have me worried as well though but that's a different story.

There are threads on the internet about the dreadful future of every field in existence...not just healthcare, every career in general.

Flip open a college catalog to a random page, name me a major, and I will find you a thread about how much that field sucks. 😀