DPT Year Two
When Monday comes around, I will officially be in my second year of PT school. I looked over the curriculum for the next year, and it's amazing how the focus is shifting to a much more in-depth and complex view of physical therapy. The first year obviously included some basic core classes: gross anatomy, kinesiology, human disease, and neuroscience. This time around, we'll be applying that information to courses like differential diagnosis, growth and development, and health and wellness. We even have a "Leadership and Professional Development" course at some point. Without realizing it, I'm finding myself pretty far down the path toward becoming an actual physical therapist.
Even our clinical education is about to take a much more "serious" turn. Our first two part-time rotations were very much focused on things like patient safety and professional communication. In the next year, we'll complete our first full-time affiliation and prepare to interview for our final year-long affiliation. In each of these, we'll progress to taking on our own caseload and gradually be responsible for every aspect of patient care -- obviously a much more intimidating task than patient safety and professional communication.
I don't yet feel like I could treat a patient on my own, but it's exciting to know that within the next year that can be a realistic goal. With this advanced curriculum comes a lot more responsibility, but it's exciting to be able to see the end product. I expect the tone of this blog will eventually shift toward real "PT" issues rather than the funny quirks that come along with PT school.