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The Educator’s Experience – Part 2: Working with Students

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In The Educator’s Experience – Part 1: Patient Education, I talked a little bit about my long-time love of teaching. I also explained more about why I think that patient education is such a critical part of the physical therapy experience. This blog post, Part 2, will discuss the role of physical therapist as a mentor, educator, and guide for the future generations of physical therapists.

Even before I applied for physical therapy school, I’d learned that each school has requirements for observation hours in a variety of physical therapy settings. I was able to spend time with several therapists in very different types of clinics, treating very different types of patients. During this time, I wasn’t really able to participate, but was a fly on the wall, absorbing everything that I was observing. This was the time that I was confirming that this was the profession that I was falling in love with, and that it was, in fact, the path that I was meant to follow.

As a student in a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, the role of other physical therapists was crucial. Not only were they the majority of our faculty in the program, but also acted in a role, much like I do now, as a Lab Assistant or Clinical Instructor. Each class that involved learning hands-on skills provided several assistants per room to wander around, giving feedback, and answering questions. They also helped during testing time for those same courses, grading us on our interactions and skills, while our classmates acted as our mock patients. It was invaluable to get individualized feedback from these professionals, and we had a chance to learn more about the various facets of the profession, based on each assistant’s own professional path and experience.

Clinical rotations were another opportunity to interact with other PTs. When I was in the program, we had nearly a year’s worth of time in the clinic, under the supervision of licensed therapists. This was a chance to work with real patients this time, alongside a PT. We would learn exercises, refine our hands-on skills, and work on clinical reasoning. The PTs that I worked with during my clinical rotations were the true bedrock of my own development as a therapist, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the gifts of education and experience that they each provided to me. Even now, working with my peers as mentors and sounding boards, is an important part of my continued progression as a professional.

students

My past experiences as a student have helped me realize that I now have the opportunity to provide the same kinds of experiences for current students. These students are the future of the physical therapy profession, the future healthcare providers for my friends and family, and my future colleagues and peers. I feel that it is my duty to give back, and I’ve found that I receive so much in return.

As soon as I was able as a new grad PT, I started taking students of all kinds. It started with observation students, the ones who are deciding whether or not a career in physical therapy is truly what they want. It quickly turned into taking students from DPT programs. It was always interesting to watch the students interact with patients, and watch their skills grow. I also loved to set aside time to work one-on-one with my students, practicing some of their techniques, giving them feedback, and discussing cases.

When I was no longer working in positions that would allow me to have a student working with me in the clinic, I took on my role with working at the DPT Program. As described earlier in this post, I work primarily with students in their first year of the program, and get to help them form their basic skills and the beginnings of their clinical reasoning. Working with students gives me the opportunity to stay very up-to-date with the information and evidence, and continue to think at much more specific level, due to the students’ questions and learning processes. I feel like it makes me a stronger clinician because of it. And, of course, I feel so proud when I see the lightbulbs go off, and it makes me excited to think about my students as future colleagues.

All in all, I feel fortunate to be able to be an educator – of all kinds. It’s great to get to work with my patients, like I talked about in Part 1, to enhance their experience during physical therapy sessions. And working with students, both in the clinic and in the classroom, never ceases to be an eye-opening experience that I also gives me so much in return.

Thank you to all of my past teachers, professors, clinical instructors, patients and students, for being the source of inspiration for what I do every day, and for continually shaping me into the therapist and educator that I am today.

 

Article author, Alyssa Arms, PT, DPT, OCS holds a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and later obtained a Board Certification as an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS). She is also the President and Owner of Back in Step Physical Therapy in Centennial, Colorado, and is an instructor at her PT alma mater.

The Educator’s Experience – Part 1: Patient Education

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Teaching has always been in my blood. In fact, in the first grade, my family got called into a meeting with my teacher, Mrs. Johnson, to discuss an interesting dilemma that I was in. We would often get little in-class assignments to work on, whether it was writing, math, or reading. Apparently, I had the tendency to wander around the classroom to help the other students do their assignments, and wouldn’t work on my own until I’d helped the others. When my teacher tried to keep me in from recess as a motivator for me to do what I was supposed to be doing, it didn’t phase me a bit. She didn’t know what to do with me!

By the time I got to 4th or 5th grade, I was taking advantage of becoming a peer mentor at the school, working with younger students to resolve conflicts between one another. In middle school, I became a tutor for other students. Once high school rolled around, I became a swimming instructor and life guard. Fast forward to grad school, and I was teaching weekly dance classes over the lunch hour.

Now, I have multiple opportunities to continue in the practice of education. First, I am a clinical instructor at my alma mater, which means that I assist in lab-based courses as students are learning hands on skills. I also get the occasional chance to teach content, primarily on the topics of the integumentary system and wound care, since I have years of experience in that area. My other opportunity is a daily one – educating my patients as a physical therapist. I find that both of the avenues are incredibly important and rewarding.

Here’s why.

teaching

As a physical therapist, I have the daily opportunity to help change someone’s life. I help one person with pain management, after dealing with the same pain for four years, feeling frustrated that it’s keeping them from some of their favorite activities. I help another after a stroke or brain injury, needing to re-learn seemingly basic things, and celebrating each small victory with them, like when they can put a sock on for themselves for the first time. I help yet another person with preventative treatments, helping to stave off injury as an athlete. Many of the things that achieve these goals are things like hands-on treatments, trigger point dry needling, or exercise, to name a few.

However, I find that one of the most powerful things that I can do for a patient is to teach them something. That “something” is different for everyone. Sometimes, someone wants to know about the anatomy and physiology of what is going on in his or her body. I find that some people put more credence in the exercise program that I give them for home when they understand more about why they’re getting the exercises that I’m prescribing.  If someone has been having pain for a while, or recently had surgery, that person may be fearful of movement, or afraid of re-injury. Educating this person about what to expect, talking about how it is ok to move, or introducing some gentle exercise can be a major breakthrough.

One of the more interesting things that I’ve found as an educational tool is regarding stress management, and can include things like simple meditation or mindfulness tools. I’ve had two profound cases that demonstrate this piece beautifully.

meditation, stress management, mindfulness

The first was a young mother who was in a car accident with her young children in the car. The kids were unharmed, but the mother had significant whiplash. During our initial session together, any time she talked about specifics of the accident, she would start to rock and shake, with obvious signs of high anxiety related to it. The next session was spent entirely on stress and anxiety management, with meditation techniques to use at home. After that, something changed in her. She was able to talk about the accident without the visceral responses, and demonstrated an overall change in her demeanor. She was able to make good progress from there after.

The second was a man who had had a massive shoulder surgery. He was having a lot of pain, and was having difficulty managing it well. At one point, between out of control pain levels and high stress at home, his body was finally rebelling, being sent to the hospital with seizures. We spent a portion of our next session going through some of the same techniques used with my other patient, and encouraged regular use of them. The next time I saw him, he reported significant improvement, and, again, continued to make good and steady progress. All of these are reasons that I believe that education on any number of topics are such an incredibly powerful tool for my patients, and regularly use them in sessions. No matter what exercises I prescribe or the hands-on treatment that I provide, I truly feel that the education piece is often the best gift that I can give to my patients.

In the next blog post, I’ll be talking more about my experiences working with Doctor of Physical Therapy students, and why it’s another area of education that I’m passionate about.

Article author, Alyssa Arms, PT, DPT, OCS holds a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and later obtained a Board Certification as an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS). She is also the President and Owner of Back in Step Physical Therapy in Centennial, Colorado, and is an instructor at her PT alma mater.