Hello, my name is Brendan Alex. I am a student of physical therapist at Regis University. Currently I am participating in an 8 week clinical rotation at Back to Motion PT. This is my second clinical rotation and I can honestly say that I am really appreciating my time here! I have been gaining a lot of hands on experience and have had a great time interacting with all of the patients and the entire staff; even though it’s just me and “the girls”. Sheri (my clinical instructor) and the rest of the staff have made me feel very welcome and very much a part of the family.
As a student I ask a lot of questions and I feel as though each member of the staff is very receptive to answering any and all of them. My clinical instructor consistently strives to help me improve my critical reasoning skills in the diagnosis and treatment of our clients.
My most significant insights to date:
Back to Motion has a great staff because they really do care so much about the progress of their clients. My clinical instructor is extremely passionate about helping all of the clients she treats. I see this in the rest of the staff as well and can tell this makes a difference and helps improve outcomes for clients. While this type of care should be consistent at every clinic and care facility, I know through shadowing other therapists that this is not always true.
This clinical experience is helping me to recognize the day to day ups and downs that come with working in a privately owned physical therapy clinic. Without question the most positive aspect of working in this type of clinic is the freedom to really shape how the clinic is organized, to have the control to market and run the clinic in the way that will best serve the patients, and to allow the clinic to grow and be profitable. The negatives to owning a privately owned clinic revolve around the financial aspects of it, specifically dealing with insurance companies to ensure the clinic is sufficiently compensated following patient care. I have now been able to see first hand the realities of what it takes to be a profitable clinic and some of the tough decisions that must be made in order to ensure growth.
My goal is to work in this type of setting and from this experience I have been able to improve not only in my manual skills but also in my interpersonal communication with patients. I have learned there is a great deal of sensitivity in communication that must be taken when providing any kind of health care to ensure that patients truly feel as though they are believing the best care. I believe the staff at Back to Motion has been a great example to me to ensure that I will practice with this same degree of sensitivity and I look forward to taking this into my future clinical practice.
Brendan Alex, Intern/Student