A Day in the Life of a PT Student

Solitude

2009-11-19T15:04:00Z

This week I learned that solitude and silence can be very relaxing. Two tests, three papers due within the next one to two weeks, taking my NATABOC, meetings, work, massage-a-thon, family issues, my purse being lost/stolen along with keys, vital medications, paychecks that were to be cashed that day, etc., irritation with peers' lack of contributions during group projects, etc. has all made me stressed this week! It wasn't even like the everyday, "I'm just going through a few things" stress, but...(read more)

Fulfilling My Potential

2009-11-12T13:14:00Z

So many times we hear people discussing whether someone is reaching their full potential. It not only applies in rehabilitation, but in life in general. But what does it truly mean? Is a person's full potential measured based on how others perceive them, or how they perceive themselves? Is it our own dreams, aspirations and goals that require the boost from someone else to tell us our potential, or strictly based on our own desire to achieve? Does this differ between people? This concept has been...(read more)

Career Fair

2009-11-05T15:30:00Z

Our career fair is coming up tomorrow and I cannot wait. The day is sure to be a very exciting and stressful one. So far I have completed my resume and had professors as well as the career services center at Marquette look over it. Well that was the first step...after going to buy a business suit! The hard part came along when I was trying to narrow down the employers that I intend to visit. There are over 60 representatives set to come and only four hours available for the career fair. Add that...(read more)

Laugh, Play, Smile

2009-10-29T17:39:00Z

Senior Farewell and Massage-A-Thon are well on their way, and I can't wait! I am especially excited for Senior Farewell. It is the one opportunity that we get to make fun of all of our previous professors. This year however, our professors are apparently aiming to fight back with a rebuttal...This should be interesting. I think that it is very important for people to laugh. More importantly, it is important to be able to laugh at yourself. In my experience, most of the PTs that I have worked with...(read more)

The Benefits of Journal Clubs

2009-10-22T11:56:00Z

In one of our classes we frequently discuss the benefits of having journal clubs. Often times while in practice, people can fall behind in staying up to date with evidence-based practice (EBP). With such a progressive profession like physical therapy, it is important to stay aware of what is going on within the profession. It is also very vital for reimbursement purposes. There are both new and old biophysical technologies and other treatment interventions that are either not reimbursed or are scarcely...(read more)

Work, Work, Work!

2009-10-15T12:24:00Z

This semester is becoming jam packed with A LOT of work. I don't think that I have had this many projects and papers due since taking English, History, Philosophy, and Theology all in the same semester. It's almost overwhelming at times. Nonetheless, I just keep thinking about the light at the end of the tunnel as I am almost there. I find myself meditating and practicing my deep breathing techniques more often nowadays. One good thing that I have to look forward to will be the topics for my papers....(read more)

The Resume

2009-10-08T18:45:00Z

Now comes the time again where there is just A LOT going on. Besides the loads of projects, papers and tests, we have a lot of events coming up. We have Massage-A-Thon coming around the corner, which was extremely successful last semester. Then we have senior farewell, which is certain to be a blast. And then there's career fair which is sure to be a success as well. One of the most important events of all is career fair. Numbers upon numbers of facilities come to recruit Marquette's finest in physical...(read more)

Why Such Little Recognition?

2009-10-01T13:36:00Z

I've been thinking a lot lately about physical therapy in general. I feel as though there is not enough credit given to the profession. There is so much we do that other professionals only receive baseline or no knowledge about, yet it seems as though we struggle the most with reimbursement, direct access, and support/backing from other healthcare professionals as well as patients. I question why this is. Is it our fault? Are we not taking a stronger enough stand? A poll was recently taken that a...(read more)

Interacting with PTAs

2009-09-23T14:45:00Z

This week I was discussing the roles between PT's, PT students, and PTA's with my professor. I mentioned that, though I have had interactions with PTA's during my last two clinicals, it has been relatively limited in me directly supervising them. While talking to her I expressed my concern with supervising a PTA who has been practicing for an extended period of time. I hear lots of stories about new graduates having "disagreements" with PTA'S on how they practice (some illegal practices and others...(read more)

Outpatient Physical Therapy and Psychiatric Help

2009-09-10T13:28:00Z

OK, so I just want to start by saying I LOVE MARQUETTE PT AND ALL MY TEACHERS. Just as a clarification. While I was working in an outpatient practice I realized that it was not easy to handle situations where patients needed possible psychology/psychiatric consults. In hospitals and skilled nursing facilities recommending someone for a psych consult seems like nothing more than a quick word and a little paper work. However, in outpatient therapy it is mostly only "appropriate" to discuss information...(read more)

Back To School

2009-09-03T13:42:00Z

Wow--school has started this week! Someone in my class summed up the first few days excellently in her Facebook status: It's only been a few days, but it feels like half a semester. (Sorry if I butchered it!) I am convinced that our classes are even longer than they were in previous semesters. I mean, I love all of my teachers, but after three hours in the morning I'm really not compelled to come back to the same teacher later in the day. The one good thing about this semester is that my classes...(read more)

PT vs. ATC. Is There a Difference?

2009-08-27T18:59:00Z

OK, so today I have a question sparked by a discussion that my roommate, who is currently a third year athletic training student, and I had the other night. Basically, she is battling over whether she wants to go to graduate school (DPT, masters in AT, etc), and I told her that these days you almost have to. Then she proceeded to discuss how she felt as though there wasn't a big difference in what PTs and ATCs did. Now I'll admit (and I think I mentioned this before) I used to feel the same way until...(read more)

Saying Goodbye

2009-08-20T19:45:00Z

As the start of the school year approaches, I have become more excited and worried all at once. This will be my last semester of classes and while part of me is excited, a large part of me will miss being at Marquette. My mom thought it was actually quite hilarious because by my sophomore year as an undergrad, I was ready to say good bye to MU, yet this summer I was at MU every weekend. It's amazing how attached one can become to a place. While it's not so surprising, as I have been at MU for almost...(read more)

The Pressures of Graduating

2009-08-13T15:39:00Z

For some reason, I am having the hardest time choosing my last two clinicals. I know that one has to be an acute care rotation, and at some point one must focus on wound care, but if I choose my wound care and acute care rotation as the same clinical then I am left clueless. Since I have never done an acute care rotation, this is making things even harder. What if I choose acute care for both and HATE it? Then I'll be stuck doing something that I don't like for 16 weeks! I don't know why I am so...(read more)

Ignoring Proper Hygiene

2009-08-10T20:12:00Z

So I have come to realize that although everyone talks about it often, something that is really important but not practiced often is good hygiene. It's something that I have noticed in the past, but it was brought to my attention more recently after having to take an online course for my job. People often times ignore proper hand and instrument hygiene, not because they don't know about it, but because they get too caught up in their daily schedule to think about what they are actually doing. There...(read more)