Five weeks of rural physiotherapy in Margaret River has been a blast! The placement gave me invaluable experiences in a broad range of physiotherapy fields, including musculoskeletal, gerontology, neuro, paediatrics and cardiorespiratory, in both a private clinic and public hospital setting. Having such a vast array of clinical presentations kept me on my toes, always wondering what would be next.
Three days of the week were spent in the private sector at AMR physiotherapy, a private practice. Here the case mix was broad, from children with trampoline injuries and wine makers with low back pain to yoga students with knee strains and surfers with complete gastroc tears. The rest of the week was spent in Augusta, housing a somewhat older population. I got close with the members of the community, having one on one physiotherapy sessions as well as weekly exercise groups and outings.
Looking back at my initial entry, my perception of this placement is the same, if not better. I have thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and the unpredictable nature of the rural setting whilst expanding my clinical experience greatly. My initial anxiety subsided within the first week, after meeting my friendly and supportive supervisor and treating some amazing patients who appreciated the extra time spent with them, as well as learning a lot themselves from my learning.
The issues I had to prior to commencing this placement were dealt with throughout the five weeks and by the end I felt very comfortable, reluctant to leave.
To start with I had concerns about my ability to recall information from my studies to apply this to my patient. In the clinical setting, it seems to come naturally and the lectures become clear and relevant. My supervisor was also very supportive with a broad knowledge base and over 30 years of experience in physiotherapy. Even if I was unsure of a test or technique, he would always be close by to assist, or show me a completely different approach to broaden my skills. The close supervision was nerve racking for the first couple of days, though as my confidence grew, so did my supervisors confidence in me and he took a back seat in the sessions, only giving input if I asked or he felt it was absolutely necessary.
The only issue that I had throughout the placement was physical ability. I often came against the problem that I could not overpower my patient in a strength or muscle power test, nor did I have the arm span or size to perform some techniques. My supervisor was very understanding and supportive in this area and taught me some strategies to overcome this, which I employed throughout my time there and this gradually became a less evident issue. I also found that some of my own physical faults, for example internally rotated and valgus knees, became evident when trying to teach a patient how to perform a certain task correctly, like squats. This is something I will continue to face, and hopefully with live what I preach and correct such postural anomalies.
Overall I have enjoyed this experience and have restored my confidence as a physiotherapy student. Having a supportive and welcoming supervisor makes all the difference when on clinical placement and I feel this is 80% the reason I have enjoyed this prac as much as I have.
Musculoskeletal private practice physiotherapy is a great area to work in, and I felt comfortable in my skills and performance in this area.
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