On the very first day of my musculoskeletal outpatients placement I was thrown into the deep end with 4 follow up patients to treat. I was to collaborate with my facility supervisor after the subjective and objective to discuss the issues and problems of the pt. My supervisor was not present to view my rx or discuss a better technique. I find this difficult as I was not sure of my technique & whether I am treating the pt appropriately or not. Being only a student and having the expectation to know every technique we have learnt in the last 3 years is a fairly hefty load. How am i to know the best and most efficient technique to apply to each of my pts? On the other hand my supervisor articulates the situation to challeng my judgement and really determine the cause of the presenting problem. There is on offer very good advice and information but the rx is still up to our own decision as students.
As a student I have very little clinical experience and my aim in this placement is to develop my clinical reasoning as well as treatment skills. I do not feel that this is possible if I am to little supervision whilst treating my pts. As this facility supervisor has supervised for years I do not feel fit to challenge this method of teaching. I guess as a student there is a benefit in motivating one to really nut out the problem independantly but there is also the downfall of exacerbating a pts problems that could have been prevented.
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I definitely empathise with the feeling of being thrown into the deep end, as I believe most of us students have at one point or another experienced that. From those experiences, I realized that I had the opportunity to evaluate my techniques and review them from notes taken in class. On occasions when I still wasn’t sure, discussing with the supervisor seemed to have helped me to get a better understanding from a clinical point of view. From there, embracing the learnt techniques seemed much easier. I feel that through many of such occasions, my confidence in my techniques and clinical reasoning skills seemed to have developed more rapidly. This, I hope would be a similar outcome as you would experience, Lkay.
very frustrating. i think the demands on clinical supervisors on certain musculoskeletal clinics are too high. up to 6 students per supervisor is definitely not going to allow adequate supervision and consultation time so that we feel confident treating our patients. i think with smaller student numbers supervisors will be able to give us the time we really need. i hope the placement is improving for you!
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