Slava
Placements are a crucial component of any successful physiotherapy program. They are massive for obtaining experience and practicing on real patients in real life settings. Students tend to shape their experiences in the profession based on outcomes of their placements and ultimately, it is a big factor for choosing a particular branch of physiotherapy. This article breaks down the six keys to be successful at your placement.
1. Choosing Your Placement
When choosing a placement, you are generally able to submit your preferred ten places from a list that provides you with the location of placement, a description about it and your clinical supervisor’s name. Try to pick the placements based on your interest primarily. The second factor is the clinical instructor (CI). You could look up the person on the internet or ask upper year students about their experience with the supervisor. A great majority of CI’s are fantastic, but finding a great fit would make your life a lot easier on placement. If you pick placements solely on location, you might restrict yourself from having an amazing experience.
2. Communicate with your Clinical Instructor
While on placement, your clinical instructor is your best source of information. They know the environment that you are in as well as the patients and staff inside out. Your CI’s have volunteered to take on students. They are here to help you be the best clinician that you can be. Besides answering any questions that you may have, they can also improve your clinical reasoning immensely. This is a major skill when it comes to being a great physiotherapist and working on it at every opportunity will benefit you. Also, ensure that you set the expectations for the placement with your CI as well your comfort level in regards to independence. Once you are on the same page, the whole experience will go much smoother.
3. Look Up Unknown Material
When you are faced with concepts or terms that you do not understand, look it up. Take ownership of your own development. Chances are that these ideas will keep appearing as you continue your career, so understanding them right away will benefit you in a massive way. I suggest making time with your clinical instructor for recap at the end of the day. You could go over some homework with him/her at the end of the day. Having homework on placement seems like a chore but it will make a huge difference with as little as 30 minutes per day.
4. Track Your Patients
Peter Drucker said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” This is a man who revolutionized business management and wrote 39 books on this matter. I am not suggesting that you run your patients like a business. What I am saying is that you have to be able to track your patients’ progress to see if they are improving or not. This will make you more effective at your job. If the patients are not improving, you must change the strategy. In rehab, there are always limited resources for the patient. You want to make the best of those resources to help the person in the best way possible.
5. Care for Your Patients
Helping the patients in the best way possible also stems from caring for that person. Apply empathy (ability to understand and share the feelings of another person). We are not working with lifeless parts. We work with human beings who have goals and emotions and families that rely on them to be healthy. Caring for the patient will make you go the extra mile for them. This means advocating for them in a health care system that is limited on resources and helping them achieve their goals.
6. Make Connections
You will meet a lot of people on your placements. Make the connections with them and show your best qualities. In a direct way, it will benefit you if you apply to work there in the near future. In an indirect way, you are building your own reputation and promoting yourself in a positive manner.
7. Do Not Be Afraid to Make Mistakes
Placements are huge learning experiences. It is a chance to try new skills in a safe environment with the support of your supervisor. This is important to do with supervision to understand what corrections you need to make in the future when you are independent. Despite the ability to try different skills, always prioritize patient safety. This helps to build self-confidence as well as building rapport and trust with the patients.
