Journey of a DPT Student : Education

A DPT Student with Patients

Lauren Rosso — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:42:00 GMT

I completed the first full week of my six-month clinical affiliation, and things are off to a tremendous start. This past week, I was assigned two patients of my very own who I'll likely see throughout their course of care on the inpatient rehab unit....(read more)

How to Get Your Clinical Instructor to Trust You

Lauren Rosso — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:07:00 GMT

Please don't be fooled by the title of this post. I don't have a good method by which to accomplish this. However after starting my fifth clinical last Wednesday, I've realized that earning the trust of a clinical instructor is a very tricky game requiring...(read more)

When Life Happens During PT School

Lauren Rosso — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:32:00 GMT

I've been fortunate over the past two years to have very few life-related interruptions in my attempts to excel at this whole "PT" thing. However last weekend, right before the start of finals week, I received news that my grandfather passed away. The...(read more)

PT Night: Our Successful Goodbye

Lauren Rosso — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:23:00 GMT

I posted last month about PT Night , the tradition in my program where at the end of our second year, students put together a sort of "roast" of the faculty and poke fun at our most memorable moments in the program. Leading up to Friday night, I was unbelievably...(read more)

Should PT Students 'Prepare' for their Clinical Instructors?

Lauren Rosso — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:38:00 GMT

This afternoon at a department-wide scholarship reception, I ran into a student who is a year ahead of me in the program and happens to have a similar clinical rotation as I will have in the coming year. I was picking her brain regarding the hospital,...(read more)

Senioritis -- Acceptable in a Clinical Doctorate Program?

Lauren Rosso — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:28:00 GMT

With four short weeks remaining in the didactic portion of our education, the inevitable is happening -- the general attitude of my ever-engaged class is turning down a road toward apathy. I've been here before. At the end of college, my friends and I...(read more)

Asking for PTO as a Student

Lauren Rosso — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 21:50:00 GMT

With the start of our yearlong clinical only one month away, the logistics of having a full-time "job" are becoming a reality. We recently met with the clinical education instructors in our department to cover the do's and don'ts regarding PTO, stipends...(read more)

PT School -- Everyone Will Get Married

Lauren Rosso — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:29:00 GMT

In case you're wondering what your years in PT school will bring, here's what you can expect -- everyone will get engaged or married. Exaggeration? Barely. Of my 52 classmates, seven are now engaged, three are married and two have had babies. All of this...(read more)

PT Night: Our ‘Goodbye' Celebration

Lauren Rosso — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:29:00 GMT

There's a tradition in my program -- at the end of the second year prior to departing for our yearlong clinical affiliations, the students get together with the faculty for a night of celebration that mostly revolves around the students making fun of...(read more)

Teaching is the Best Way to Learn

Lauren Rosso — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:28:00 GMT

Throughout the course of this semester, I've been a teaching assistant in the neuroanatomy course required for the first-year students in the program. I was very hesitant at the start to take this on, but I've been happy to see how quickly a lot of the...(read more)

Owning a Theoretical PT Practice

Lauren Rosso — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:58:00 GMT

As part of a very in-depth project for our "Leadership and Professional Development" course, I'm in charge of justifying the purchase of an electronic health record (EHR) for our theoretical outpatient private practice. I've been spending a lot of time...(read more)

Capstone Projects

Lauren Rosso — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:14:00 GMT

Now that we've finally learned our placements for our yearlong clinical rotations, we can start the planning process for our capstone projects. The project assigns groups to a specific patient population based on the practice setting where we're working,...(read more)

Yearlong Placements at Last

Lauren Rosso — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:34:00 GMT

Four months of waiting are finally over -- I finally received word about where I'll be for my yearlong clinical. It took every ounce of maturity and focus not to have a breakdown while I was waiting, but I'm happy that I kept myself together because I...(read more)

The Skype Diagnosis

Lauren Rosso — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:30:00 GMT

This weekend I had to stretch my already-struggling assessment skills to the virtual world during a Skype session with my uncle. He's been having shoulder pain for the past few weeks and sought out my opinion via e-mail. We chatted back and forth about...(read more)

Reflections on a Student's First CSM

Lauren Rosso — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 23:36:00 GMT

I just returned from my first trip to the APTA's Combined Sections Meeting, and I'm left with a variety of feelings about the experience. Overall, I would consider the trip a success, but there were definitely some aspects of CSM that left something to...(read more)