I could use some encouragement RE: P.T. Clinicals

Post Reply New Topic

Thanks so much for all of the support! I had some rough patches on Monday and Tuesday of this week, but they were more struggles that I handled than anything that would have effected my perceived performance. My Wednesday through Friday performance went smoothly, and was probably perceived as very positive. I'll know my grade sometime over the weekend and I'm hoping for commendation in some areas if possible ( I could put it on my resume). We'll see!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you, Aspie Dad

Sorry I've been a stranger. I got my evaluation and I did not get a commendation in any area. I was upset at first, but right now it seems like an insignificant thing. I literally just came back from our graduation celebration/part for the PTA program. I also attended a meeting with recruiters that about 12 or so classmates also attended. Needless to say, I'd have no trouble finding a job in within the city area close to where I live.

Since I'm moving to Jacksonville Florida, I feel like I'll be going into that job market completely blind. That's stressful for me, but the Jacksonville area is the 2nd hottest physical therapy market in the nation (Dallas, Texas is first), and where I am now probably isn't even the 200th best market in the nation, LOL. So, honestly, I think I'm sweating over nothing. I think I'll have an abundance of options.

Anyway, after finishing all of my clinic rotations, I've come to the conclusion that SNF (adult community rehab centers/assisted living, etc) is the place for me. Apparently the student who proceeded my rotation at the same SNF clinic I attended really struggled because I left such a high bar of performance for her to meet. It almost wasn't fair for her. For starters, for me that SNF rotation was my second to last rotation so expectations weren't supposed to be as high. But I performed well above entry level in so many areas because I just excel in that particular setting. So this young lady had to finish her final clinical (where expectations are higher) with a sort of performance bar already set by me. Apparently she really struggled, and the CI gave her a very poor midterm review. While her final review was decent, the comments were not exactly high praise. I felt bad.

Well, I didn't set the bar that high in my outpatient clinic setting so who ever proceeds me there will be fine, LOL. Now my focus is on cleaning the place I live in, throwing a whole bunch of stuff out, and studying for my national exam.

Congratulations You've done really well.

Moving to where I live now was the hardest thing I've ever done, and that was three miles from my Dad's to being on my own. Will you be able to have a say over how many hours you work when you get sorted or are you ok with full time?

That depends. The cool thing is I can do pretty much whatever I want. I can go PRN which means I can take the hours I want. And PRN can mean I get assigned to certain facilities or I bounce around to wherever I’m sent. Or, I can just apply to one facility and work directly for them which would be fultime. Heck, I could work the full time and then do PRN on the side to make some extra cash.

More than likely I’ll work fultime at one facility. I think that’s the best fit for me. And I’ve settled on a SNF setting, outpatient clinics aren’t for me.

Hi AspieSingleDad, if it makes you feel better I recently failed my practical nursing clinicals and have to re-do it in September.

That does not make me feel any better. What happened? Talk to me....

So how did the move go?

I move in August. Right now I'm focusing on studying for my clinicals and reducing the amount of crap I have. I'll definitely let you know how it goes when the time comes up. Last night I attended my graduation party, which was great! But, earlier in the day I was rear ended and now I have to deal with their insurance company, so just another thing on my plate.

You should probably pass, if you’ve taken the whole course.

Take sample/practice exams to see your strengths/weaknesses.

Nobody is hurt and the person who hit me has insurance so hopefully everything will work out.

I already have taken some practice exams and I'm getting about 50 to 55 percent of the questions wrong when to pass I need about 65 percent correct. The obvious goal for me is to get to the point where I'm well over 85 percent for correct questions. I have a collection of about 1,875 questions I'm working through.

I'm not just answering the questions, I'm taking the explanations for the correct answers and building a bunch of flash cards using quizlet. I figure it will take me a month to work through all of these questions and build the flash cards. After that, I plan to go through the questions and flash cards continually.

Everybody says that when you take the test, you aren't sure if you passed or not. You don't walk out knowing for sure that you've passed. My goal is to walk out knowing I've passed. It's the autistic way, to overdo things in order to make sure you get the outcome you desire, and I plan to represent.

This sounds like a good way of learning. If you have any areas of particular concern you might get someone else to ask those questions. I hate to look stupid so if I get a question wrong in front of someone, no way would I not remember how and get it right the next time.

I wish I had somebody who could work with me when I study. The 2018 class I was a part of was a bunch of extremely serious students who each had small groups of friends. It was very cliquey. The class that graduated the year before us, and the current class that will graduate in May 2019 were much closer with each other. And in case I thought it had something to do with *me* and my autism, when I interacted with the 2017 and 2019 class, they were always extremely friendly to me and we could kid around and they'd offer to assist me. I guess I just was a part of a dud class. It's ashame because I was hoping my time studying Physical Therapy would also be a time for some structured socialization.

Anyway, I've been studying quite a bit. I've got through about 275 questions so far, added them into Quizlet, and also broke them down into smaller flash cards so I can learn the material bit by bit. I'm making sure they are all structured under folders and then subtopics so I get that beautiful top down learning system that autistics do so well with. So far, so good.

Oh yeah, I got rear ended last Friday and found out today that my car was totaled. I was hoping to get another 1 or 2 years out of it. They'll give me $4072 and hopefully I'll find a replacement car that will suffice for that same period of time (maybe even longer).

Well done, keep your stamina up and remember to look after yourself and eat well!

I am looking into this top down learning system you have mentioned. Is it like the memory thing where the mind is a palace with many rooms?