Almost a year of relentless hard work and never ending homework after a long day at work, I am finally done with clinical placements! 3 more months then I’ll officially be a physio. Can’t wait for it to happen.
Been chilling these 2 days and it feels really nice I must say. Truth to be told, placements was just a taste of my future life. As a clinician, you must have an undying desire to keep learning. Once you stop learning, you will stagnant and your patients would be not be receiving the best care that they deserve.
Never-ending cycle tbh. The only way to stay alive is to love the craft.
Really love MSK physio. Clinicals made me appreciate this side of physio so much. Think that this is where I would like to eventually specialize.
Time to start focusing on other more important aspects such as repaying my sleep debt. Gn anons.
Man, really feels surreal. Sometimes when I look back at my Y2 days. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was mugging for an upcoming important examination.
Only after going through placement, I realized that things ain’t as beautiful or straightforward as what the textbook says. Everyone is dynamic, so adaptation is key.
6-7 months of this and I will be done for good. That is if I don’t go for masters or doctorate in physio. Which I would love to if given the opportunity.
There’s soooo much to learn in this every specialization that it gets really inundating. I only learnt the importance of specializing when I’m on placement. No one will know everything regardless of how smart you are. There’s a ceiling.
One last placement after this, one last push. Thesis after this and it’ll be done. Can’t wait for the day where it’s all done and dusted.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget the reason why you started in the first place because of how stressful things can get.
You start off passionate, wanting to change the world and make it a better place. Along the way, you realised that things ain’t as perfect as what you imagined it to be.
Sometimes as clinicians, it’s easy to be too fixated with physical impairments that we neglect the psychological aspect of things such as comfort.
Sometimes, the volume of cases you see can be pretty inundating, so at this point of time, you’ll prioritise speed because it allows you to clear as many cases as possible. But in the process of doing, it’s easy to forget that the person in front of you is human too.
This reflection shall serve as a reminder to myself to always remember why I started in the first place.
It’s easy to feel subpar when you’re a student, constantly questioning what you’re doing is right and whether your patient would truly benefit from your service.
Today is the day that I truly feel proud and competent. Was told that my work is truly appreciated as I was able to accurately diagnose and treat the underlying impairment.
It’s days like this that continues to motivate me to be a top notch physio in time to come. Whatever it takes, I’ll get there eventually.
Can’t wait to travel again, been such a long time, need something to look forward to
Moving forward, things would be much more challenging as hospital placement starts soon. Prolly wouldn’t have much time to focus on Crypto but I’ll still try my best to update here if I have pockets of free time.
It is crucial to priorities my learning as of now as I am responsible for the lives of others. I aspire to be a top notch clinician in the far future so gotta put in the work. No excuses. By the time this post is released, I would be 1/4 done with placement. Hoping that it’ll be a positive one!
This tiny space of mine has been gaining quite abit of traction recently. I have received messages from people telling me that they have really benefitted from here. I am happy and humbled to hear that. Appreciate all the support.
Moving forward, macro outlook does not look good be it in tradfi or crypto. Understand that it is painful to see your beloved portfolio get smashed down by -50% or more. But I just wanna reiterate that this correction is completely normal after a crazy parabolic run with SP500 x2 from the Covid lows and BTC going from 4 to 5 figures.
A correction is inevitable. But always remember, with every irritational sell off comes a parabolic run. It will come sooner or later. Remember how bad things looked during the covid crash be it for tradfi or crypto? How people were calling for even lower prices? A wise CT once said “There are many bearish/bullish narratives but there is only one chart”. This statement has resonated in me ever since. He was one of the only few bullish ones during the whole COVID crash and he is currently bullish. So, it really says alot.
Hindsight, it was a beautiful time to accumulate. So, what you do now will make a huge difference in the future. Embrace the pain, it will be worth it.
Ouch, but it happens. I am still DCAing into this because I don’t see why China wouldn’t be able to go head to head with US in the far future. This could very well be next, lets see how it goes.
DCA, FARM and chill. Close to 2am now, time for me to sleep. Gn anons!
Note: By the time this post is out, sentiments might not be bearish anymore. But the same thing applies, buy in fear & sell in euphoria.
Had the opportunity today to talk to a few year one students and realized how far I’ve came when one of them said that they wish that they can skip to Y3. This was the exact same sentiment that I had when I was in Y1, I believe that I shared it somewhere here in this small space of mine that I’ve always wished that I can skip to Y3 when I was in Y1. Now that I am in this position.. it doesn’t feel as surreal as what I initially thought.
To be frank, now that I am in Y3, I actually wish that I can graduate ASAP. Guess that you will never be satisfied regardless of your position. So I would like to take this chance to share a few tips that have helped me and hopefully it will help you too.
Use active recall > there is actual evidence to validate this method of studying instead of the conventional reading style. So, make up some fun questions and align it to your learning objectives! It is crucial for it to be closely related to your learning objectives because that’s how you will be tested during your examinations. *Hint: Use Anki*
Pomodoro > it really helped me alot to instill discipline.
Use One Note > insert print-out > type out whatever relevant stuff your professor is talking about so whenever you read back, you will understand the context of the information. You can even use their transcribed text to formulate questions too! Additionally, you dont waste time reviewing the lectures again! So win-win really.
Classic advice > make a group of friends, come out with question/case studies or discuss case studies together. That’s how you will learn and grow to be an awesome physio in the future! This way you will build your soft skills too which is really important in this profession.
Practice hard!! > Esp for practical exams but please practice smart. Don’t blindly practice, practice within the context of a case study and add curveballs into it!
E.g. Patient A comes in with pain in his posterior thigh > what would you do? > Assess the type of pain > sharp pain? (Could be hamstrings injury?) > do your usual MMT/MLT/Palpation and realize that it all aligns with hamstrings injury as patient has weak hamstrings MMT > But what if he complains of lower back pain too? > could there be sciatic nerve involvement? > then move onto dermatomes/myotomes/reflex if neuro involvement is suspected. (Just an example here)
I guess that’s all the tips I have for now. But before I end it off, I would like to share that I understand how you feel completely! 100% able to relate. Guaranteed this is a tough course and you need to mug alot and prolly sacrifice some social life. But don’t let what others tell you bring you down! Just because a Y2/3/4 Physio student keeps reminding you on how daunting this journey can be, it does not mean that you can’t do it.
I did it (with quite abit of pain and anxiety) but believe me when I say that it will be worth it in the end. I was misdiagnosed with a medical condition for the longest period of time only to be diagnosed by a qualified physio and specialist. It can be quite depressing to be diagnosed with a chronic condition for a young person. So, as cringy as it sounds.. I made a promise to myself and my future patients that they will not go through the same journey that I went through because it was a waste of time, emotions and medical resources.
It is ok if you ain’t good in MSK physio, there is a reason why there are other physio specialty and there will always be another specialization waiting for you. You will find your right place eventually. Be patient. Open your horizons, be a sponge and keep learning.
I still remember thinking about how crazy it would be to be in year 3 (50% completed!!) when I just entered Physio school. Today, I am 1 month away from being Year 3 and I must say that it has been one of the craziest and most intense journeys of my life. To be frank, it wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.
I am sure that things will be more challenging from now on, but it is important for me to grind it out after coming so far. After being exposed to all major specialisation of physiotherapy (Neuro, cardiopulmonary, musculoskeletal), I would say that musculoskeletal still ranks the top for now and something I would be inclined to specialising in the future.
Year 2 trimester 2 has been a less challenging trimester compared to year 2 trimester 1 (this was hellish), but surprisingly I did better in trimester 1 compared to 2. At this point of time, it is important to remind myself that grades don’t define me. This is something that I am slowly working towards, and I must say that it is tough as this is reflection of your efforts. But hey, who would ask me about my GPA and grades when I am working in the future?
Would clinical reasoning be more important? I would say so. So, I am slowly shifting my focus out of grades and into truly honing my skills to be a better clinician for my patients in the future. Going back to Y2T2, Neuro is by far the most intense modules that I have went through, but despite that this is one of the specializations that I enjoyed. But I must go through clinicals first for all the specialization to truly know which one I want. (Still MSK for now!)
Moving on, pathophysiology is something that I enjoyed but also didn’t at the same time. Its hard to go into details on why but I would say that it was fun to learn the drug interactions with the body and how it would react hence it is important to avoid certain food with certain medications. But the nitty gritty details into molecular level certainly isn’t fun.
Lastly, cardiopulmonary rehab was an interesting one yet not something that I truly enjoyed as there were a lot of calculations involved and I am not the best with Math. But this is also one of the coolest specializations in eyes of others as anyone that specializes in this must know how to read a chest X-ray and use a stethoscope with ease.
The rest of the modules were alright and manageable. Going forward, Year 2 trimester 3 was a break for us and I have just been taking this opportunity to rest up and do the things that I want to do before Year 3 starts and from what I have heard. It will be hardest among all. Gotta buckle up and get ready for it.
This is probably the only period where I can spare some time to reflect on my school journey thus far. I vaguely remember the first day of school where challenging content were thrown at you without any “pre-warm up” which was really a shocker and to be honest one of the hardest part in year 1 was having to do physics all over again and additionally the introduction of psychology (which is something that I am weak in) made things even more challenging. Thankfully, anatomy and physiology was something that I understood quickly and I was able to grasp the concept fairly well. It is also worth mentioning that the first practical exam despite it being only 10-15 mins was perfectly capable of striking fear into our poor heart. *OSPE was the toughest exam of all time as you need to identify a certain body part on the cadavers be it muscle, nerves and etc within 45 seconds and one test that I NEVER want to go through again*
Even though trimester 1 was one of the most shocking and challenging trimester, I did pretty decent and I was really quite pleased. Moving on to trimester 2, this trimester was another big hurdle to overcome with the introduction of kinesiology where we have to complement our anatomy knowledge with arthrokinematics which requires quite a fair bit of imagination and memorisation. Additionally, there were over a hundred test for each muscle group and we were expected to perfect it for our practical exams which was one of the toughest practical exams as mentioned by the seniors and I guess that even though it was challenging but it was not as daunting as described. (So the moral of the story is, if you have done your homework and practiced hard enough, you will done fine) A & P 2 was slightly better but it was still challenging to say the least. Overall, trimester 2 was challenging but fulfilling as it brings us one step closer to being a physio. It was rather unfortunate that major changes had to be made due to Covid 19 and luck was not on our side when the lock down happened during the holidays. Having said that, there were some positivity that came out of it too such as more time with my family.
Moving on, trimester 3 begun during lockdown period where lessons are still mainly online and this was the period where I really started to appreciate the change, such as waking up at 8.55am before a class instead of 7.20am for a 9am tutorial which really helps to free up a lot of time to do other things. This was also the trimester where we finally get exposed to one aspect of physiotherapy which is musculoskeletal physiotherapy which includes a lot of exciting stuff such as how to come up with diagnosis, treatment, spotting yellow/red flags and etc. Exercise physiology was something that I thought that I would understand better but unfortunately, it was challenging, and it really caught me off-guard. But overall, for this trimester, it went fine.
Next up in line, Year 2/Tri 1 which was the trimester feared by many due to it’s level of difficulty and it was indeed the toughest trimester that I have gone through thus far due to the immense amount of workload coupled with complex concepts which is clearly one of the worst combination. This trimester really took a toll on my mental health, tested my ability to properly mange my time and also taught me how to survive with 4 hours of sleep on a daily basis. No words can be used to describe how tough this trimester have been, and I am glad that one of the toughest trimester is over. Even though, this trimester has been an absolute nightmare, there were good things that can be drawn out of it such as Cardiopulmonary physiotherapy skills, neurobiology knowledge and so much more valuable knowledge and skills that puts me on the right track to be a good physio in the future to better serve the community. All in all, this trimester has not been ideal as the tremendous amount of effort given was not reflected academically and I do sincerely hope that everything will turn out fine.
I guess that this is all that I have to share for now before embarking on a trimester that is not as hellish as the previous one but still there will be challenges along the way and it is important for myself especially to stay positive and not let the academics bring me down and continue to soldier on.
PhysioKid 