Looking back over this five week placement I feel I have come out stronger, and more confident. With such poor and negative expectations originally, it couldn’t have been worse then what I prepared for. With the main objective of gaining as much information that I could and passing so that I could continue the degree, I had little concern about how I was treated as a student. I have a strong exterior and can handle bullying without the need to retaliate, and in this situation this definitely played to my advantage. After being so confident from my last placement, this also helped a great deal in maintaining my interest in physiotherapy as a potential career.
My supervisor was originally hard to approach and seemed quite rigid in her ideas, though over the weeks, getting to know her I was able to adapt my style to work with hers, which worked to benefit us both. I was a bit disappointed that at the end of 5 weeks, the supervisor was still adamant on attending all assessment and treatment sessions with us students and was reluctant to allow us to do things independently. On a few occasions I attempted to show initiative and commence an assessment, or collect a patient on my own accord, though this did not fly well with my supervisor. So as a result we were constantly supervised, which was mildly frustrating. Overall though, she was definitely an expert in her field and had a lot of knowledge in the field of neuro physio, her explanations could occasionally be hard to interpret, though watching work with patients offered invaluable learning experiences that I will retain and employ in the future.
Royal Perth in general is a public hospital and like expected, is run like the other hospitals I have been to, though as it is a tertiary facility, the demands are just that one step higher. Staffing is an issue and patient’s presentations are that tiny bit harder so the workload can be an issue. Our stroke ward wasn’t particularly busy during our stay, so this wasn’t too evident in physiotherapy, and we often felt it pertinent to assist our fellow staff members with their duties.
My study prior to the placement had been useful, though more practical practice and knowledge wouldn’t have gone astray.
My concerns were evident, especially in the first week or two, though as the placement progressed I was able to figure out a way to adapt to my supervisors methods, which aided in my learning. The barriers to students was clearly evident, not so much from my supervisor, though other staff expressed this attitude, which originally dampened my confidence, though I soon came to realise that in a few months I would no longer be a student and that if they had such low expectations and value for students I would make it an aim to prove them wrong. This provided a drive and incentive to work hard and demonstrate my skills and knowledge to the best of my ability.
Experience is always a concern, though this is obviously something that I can’t impact on and will only take time.
Overall I found neuro physio highly interesting and valuable to translate skills to all areas of physiotherapy. My experience wasn’t the best, though was highly rewarding nonetheless. I feel the skills I have learnt will be integral in my career and would consider pursuing this area or physiotherapy in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment