The Importance of Clinical Placements for Students

Ever since I was a kid, it has been my life goal to help as many people I can. I have moved around in many different areas of the medical field, but no career had caught my eye as much as physical therapy. As an athlete, I have been in and out of the physical therapist’s office for a majority of my life. Each time I have went I could not help but be beyond grateful for what these people have done for me; they have given me the ability to play the sport I love despite all the hiccups. Physical therapy is a dynamic field within the field of medicine because as a physical therapist one can make a difference in the lives of his or her patients, enjoy job security, and enjoy a rewarding and personally satisfying career.

in the clinical placement, I developed and culturally applied appropriate communication with clients each week I was there. As I would walk down the hall and see a client I always greeted them. As I would enter the rooms that I would be doing client-centered care I greet and introduce the client that I am a nursing student at Humber College doing my clinical placement. If you welcome yourself into a room without introducing yourself that makes the client not feel safe and feel vulnerable, but by saying hello you build respect and develop a trusting relationship with a client. This demonstrates trust-building strategies to develop a nurse-client relationship, introducing yourself and calling the clients by their preferred name. And providing

The medical field is expanding ever so rapidly in today’s society. In the field of Physical Therapy one needs to have the understanding of how the human body works and the injuries one body could sustain. I have chosen a career to help others to battle back from life-changing injuries or surgeries. I will take the first step of joining the medical field by obtaining a physical therapist associates degree. I will become a Physical Therapist Assistant.

Colleges with a medical department often have a master’s program for physical therapy. (“Physical Therapists”) Physical therapy students have a required amount of field work in order to complete a program. Each candidate must work in an accredited workplace for the field work assignments. This part of the program is extremely valuable and helpful for a new therapist entering the field. Working one on one can be difficult even with all of the educational tools. (Curtis 37)

I believe that my personal and professional growth and behavior as a physical therapist is of utmost importance. I base this firstly on my strong connection to those in society who are disadvantaged when it comes to physical therapy, and also on the movement system, movement being “the key to optimal living and quality of life for all people that extends beyond health to every person’s ability to participate in and contribute to society” (American Physical Therapy Association, 2013). This perspective, I believe, is aligned perfectly with the vision statement for the physical therapy profession – to transform society through optimization of movement to improve the human experience (APTA, 2013). After reviewing the vision statement, I strongly believe it will act as my guide by strengthening compassion, reinforcing advocacy, improving quality of service, and strengthening cohesion.

Conversely at SHU, I have visited our DPT students every year across the country as they interned in various clinical environments. Nevertheless, being rooted within the MSI, OMT, and bio-psychosocial framework would define my more than 25 years of (20 years in musculoskeletal) PT practice experience. Graduating with a DPT degree from USC, I am a fellowship-trained, board certified (OCS since 1999) Full Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists (AAOMPT) since 2003, having graduated from the Southern California Kaiser Permanente Manual Therapy Fellowship program. Notwithstanding having an “in press” commentary and “under review” revised manuscript, I have 2 JOSPT (heralding 2 new techniques or treatment approach paradigms) and 1 Journal of Hand Therapy published journal articles and authored/co-authored almost 40 peer-reviewed orthopaedic and manual PT presentations nationally [Combined Sections Meeting (CSM) and AAOMPT] and internationally (World Confederation for Physical Therapy and the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapist). Anchored in clinical reasoning, OMT, MSI, bio-psychosocial

K. H., St Marie, B.,J., Nordstrom, T. M., Christensen, N., Mongoven, J. M., Koebner, I. J., . . . Sluka, K. A. (2014). An interprofessional consensus of core competencies for prelicensure education in pain management: Curriculum application for physical therapy. Physical Therapy, 94(4), 451-65. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/docview/1522798459?accountid=8289 This article puts the blame back on the uneducated or miss education of physical therapists.

Congratulations on making it to week eight of PTA 324 Physical Therapy Across Practice Settings! We end this course with a look at professional development of the PTA. We will be discussing ideas for lifelong learning and maintaining clinical competence. By being in this course, you have already shown a commitment to professional development and lifelong learning. As we come to the end of this class, reflect on the self-directed learning that you have achieved and how your professional development has been affected by your research and the interactions with your classmates.

Reflecting from mistakes and practice are major key components of the learning process. This history taking experience with a patient has been truly effective for my future as a Doctor of Physical Therapy. This experience has helped me a lot on improving my communication and interpersonal skills with patients both verbally and non-verbally. Feedback and review were also truly beneficial aspects in the learning part of this experience.

By implementing a class into the curriculum at the University of Findlay that focuses on the collaboration of physical and occupational therapy when treating prosthetics students will be better prepared for treating a patient with a prosthetic in the future. This type of class will not only teach the ways to assess and treat a prosthetic patient it will also cover how interacting with the other members of the therapy team can improve the overall rehabilitation process. Thank you for taking your time to read our proposal. We look forward to the possibility of working with you on this

This experience prepares the student for the realities of professional practice, acquiring the knowledge skills and attributes to become a safe, competent practitioner (Mcallister 2001, cited in Midgley 2006). Educational audits by the clinical lead universities monitor clinical learning environments for their appropriateness of learning provision, enabling the ward to facilitate change if necessary to ensure continuing suitability as a clinical placement (NMC 2008).

My teaching philosophy focuses on offering students accurate, comprehensive, and intellectually challenging course learning environments by presenting the theories behind topics as well as research supporting or refuting contemporary practices. I feel my pedagogical approach encourages students to understand and to actively participate in the process of scientific discovery. Because athletic training is a clinically-oriented field, I teach the fundamental concepts and principles in a manner that encourages the students to develop critical thinking skills, know and participate in case-based learning, and perform well in clinical settings. As a result of these pedagogical practices, students can directly apply their basic and fundamental knowledge (e.g., theories of rehabilitation) and translate it into clinical practices (e.g., directing a rehabilitation plan for a patient). I believe my approach encourages them to be more engaged and to ask appropriate questions within their clinical settings. As future clinicians, students should be prepared to ask questions and converse about the topic at hand. Finally, health professions such as Athletic Training demand that students master a large amount of

The internship that I acquired during the summer of 2010 at the Greenwood Sports and Industrial Rehabilitation Center (GSIRC), allowed me to gain an immeasurable amount of experience during my tenure at this facility. Within this period, the exposure to new concepts within the physical therapy industry allowed me to observe and work hands on with patients of all ages and disabilities that exposed me to various treatment plans and programs to restore client’s mobility. The essential Physical Education and Exercise Science (PEES) courses taken at Lander University were beneficial to my academic knowledgebase, which prepared me and developed me for the opportunity within the physical therapy discipline. Working as

In my early years of professional education, the focus was mainly on rehabilitative aspect of physiotherapy in hospitals or community

My teaching philosophy is to create an environment that stimulates learning so that students gain the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to become proficient professionals. While teaching foundational knowledge is important, there are other essential skills and abilities that students must acquire in order to successfully transition from being a student to becoming a physical therapy professional. These skills and abilities include thinking critically as well as interacting and communicating effectively with patients and other health care practitioners. I emphasize to students that it is imperative to realize the impact of developing a therapeutic rapport with patients while providing quality, patient-centered care to optimize the healing process. Therefore, when deciding what to teach, I not only consider the content presented, but also how I can foster discussions with students so that they can apply information based on varying contextual factors. I also attempt to provide students a framework for how to achieve professional excellence, which I aim to model as I fulfill my roles and responsibilities as a teacher and provider of clinical instruction. This framework is rooted in five central tenets: