Clinical Contemplation on Christmas

Just killing some time between inpatient visits at the hospital on Christmas afternoon and I began envying my private practice friends who are laying comfortably at home, probably enjoying various broiled meats and season-appropriate nogs. The question popped into my head, "When did I stop caring about working exclusively in outpatient?"

The truths are, it doesn't bother me all that much that I'm in the clinic on Christmas Day, I recently realized that the PT in my head that previously thrived on athletic injuries has found joy in a variety of areas, and my vision of my long term career path may be less clear than ever.

My first job out of school was with a private practice, my bread and butter. I never really assessed whether I would be happy in other practice areas. Private practice was what I always envisioned doing, and ultimately someday, I would work for my own private practice. Then, I started as a traveling PT. Originally I took all outpatient assignments but somewhere along the way I fell into assignments in other settings. Now, I haven't had an exclusively outpatient assignment in over 2 years. Somewhere in those two years I learned a lot about myself, here's a list of things I never expected:

-I like home care. Not necessarily the clinical side of it, but I like the lifestyle, the freedom, and being outdoors during the day.
-Prosthetic training is cool. Many of those people are highly motivated and won't reach their fullest potential without intensive physical therapy.
-Urgent Care is a life-changing experience. You will see stuff happen in an ER that you won't see anywhere else on earth.
-Inpatient has taught me a lot about every aspect of surgery, even if I don't do acute care long term, I've learned a lot from it.

I don't have a conclusion. Maybe I have attention deficit issues and what I really like isn't any one thing, but a constant variety. But, through trying different things, I've broadened my own personal scope of practice. Some day I think I'll have to focus a little and put more effort into one portion of the PT spectrum, but for now I like seeing it all.

Time to head back to the floor. Maybe my patient will get to go home for Christmas night because of what I do this afternoon, that's pretty cool.

James

Congrats to 2 of our own

Recently got a promo for this upcoming exciting course down at Emory U. Congrats to Nate and Ben for being speakers. Who better to discuss the future than two guys who will truly be paving the way along with some of the biggest names in the PT world. Wish I could make it down.

https://secure.www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/EMR/event/showEventForm.jsp?form_id=65281

Specializing

Firstly, obvious congrats to Ben for the nomination and all things moving forward.

Now my question to all of you... why specialize?

I will be taking my OCS exam, Ben will be taking his NCS and I know a few of the other NP's have already taken one of the specialist exams.
As NP's is it too soon or just the right time to etch out a specialty?
The field that we are in is so broad and diverse it can create a jack of all trades and a master of none situation. For me it was a simple choice because ortho/sports is where my passions lie and are so interspersed (plan to do SCS at some point). I am taking it to force me to sharpen my knowledge base and hopefully serve to make me more marketable in an otherwise saturated NYC market.
I am very curious what all your experiences have been. Has it made you more marketable? Did it actually help sharpen your skill set or was it just an affirmation of what you already knew?
The SCS is the only way a PT can legally (to my knowledge, or also having your ATC) cover sporting events on the sideline, has anyone taken advantage of that? Do other specialties provide you with other 'benefits'?
What was your approach for studying (obviously very personalized question, but good info for us in this boat)?

I apologize for just asking a lot of questions but I feel like this is the right group to ask and hopefully this will stimulate some good convo...
GO!

Ambitious Changes for Move It

Greetings NPs and all others! A new post is once again overdue and I apologize. I've been trying to get all of my ducks in a row for some changes to the blog. The reasons are threefold. One, I need to spend more time in the coming months a) preparing for the upcoming election and b) studying my butt off for the NCS exam. Two, my days as a New Professional are numbered and I need to find a mix of newer grads and experienced voices to carry the torch. And three, during the candidacy phase of the election cycle, it is important that Move It not come across as a campaign vehicle.

To that end, I have contacted a dynamic, diverse group of potential co-authors. Each of these individuals has the potential to contribute meaningfully in a vast number of ways. What I hope to see happen is an enriching of the online community for New Professionals. By expanding the scope of potential topics and by increasing the geographic range of word-of-mouth communication, more authors should lead to a better Move It.

Another change is the introduction of monthly themes. Though still under discussion regarding sequence and details, Practice, Training, Involvement, and Research will be the broad categories for the months of December through March. Posts on other subjects and events will very likely be woven in. But each month will have a theme and there will be weekly posts on some aspect or variation of that concept. For instance, Practice may include posts about Wound Care as an NP, Travelling, or how being an ATC or CSCS influences your clinical skills and decisions.

I would love to hear your feedback on this redesign. And I greatly look forward to seeing the concept behind Move It evolve and grow.

Cheers,
Ben

The Big News: New Professional slated for National Office

... and incidentally, it's me.

With the announcement of the slate today, I can finally, officially divulge that I am a candidate for APTA's Nominating Committee. I've been trying to wrap my head around what that really means for the better part of two weeks. So far I've made it just past "Yippee!" or something to that effect that sounds a bit more appropriate coming for a 29 year-old. I'm thrilled for myself, intimidated and nervous too, yes. But most of all I'm excited at the prospect of an NP (New Professional) serving the Association in a significant role during a time of change and growth. If successful, I may get to set a precedent for how dedicated and progressive the NP crowd can be. While happy for me, I'm pumped for us!

I have lots of thoughts on what the process may hold. Recently I've come to see the NomCom's mission as bringing ideas (specifically people with ideas) and skills (specifically people with skills) to the table. Members of APTA then get to decide which combination will best suit the needs of our profession. It's an exciting, though a bit daunting, opportunity to help facilitate this process. Sink or swim, how I perform in the election cycle will have a bearing on the expectations for and the perceived readiness of the New Professionals as a whole. I'm looking forward to representing our demographic well. Please let me know what you think and please considering participating on Move It!

Cheers,
Ben

The Fountain of Youth

Unfortunately, I have nothing new to report on the election front. Stay tuned! But I have been ruminating on a blog for quite some time. You lucky readers, you.

I was reminded of the idea tonight when suggesting a continuing education course about the impact an overweight population has on the practice of physical therapy. By this, I do not mean "bariatric physical therapy". Bariatric PT is a great specialty, or would be, if the APTA made it one. I could easily digress into why it should be a specialty alongside Prevention, Metabolic Regulation, and Community Centered PT, but that is not what's calling me tonight.

Tonight I just wanted to point out the fountain of youth. We've all seen it. It's the short one, the one next to the taller one that we all tend to drink from. So yes, I'm talking about water fountains. Stay with me here and feel free to point out wheelchair accessibility, biomechanical issues, and the vertically challenged, if you absolutely must. But the point I'm trying to make is that, when given a choice between an easy option and a minutely more difficult one, we tend to take the easier of the two.

I won't argue that you burn more calories by stooping for the lower water fountain. But I will say that a conscious, symbolic dedication to a more effortful why of doing things would help lessen our societal waistband. Am I wrong? It's not that people are lazy necessarily. I think it's the same poetic sensibility inherent to our brain's motor planning ability. We don't think about it. We just see, and take, the path of least resistance. A brilliant strategy for the serengeti, less so for a perpetual office safari. Perhaps there is a time to tell our clients, "Work harder not smarter!"

But exerting more effort will only get our society so far. Many people have dealt with weight related musculoskeletal issues so long, their anatomy no longer responds typically to stressors. And then they have their stroke, COPD diagnosed, diabetic event, heart attack, fall, car crash, or come to Jesus moment. That's where we come in. Except, wouldn't it be great to have prevented it all in the first place? To slap the proverbial Big Gulp out of their hand ages ago? To push for the short fountain while the short fountain was still an option? I think so. Where do you stand and where does your state measure up?


Cheers,
Ben

Why "Move It", why read it, and why now?

So, one thing I think this blog suffers from is a lack of context. You would have to dig pretty far back to learn about its origin or to get a feel for the range of topics it has covered. As such, new readers may find it tricky to figure out what to read and where different topics may be found. To put it more and less succinctly, the better blogs get buried and while Memento was a good set up for a movie, reverse sequenced blog story lines are not very readable. Christopher Nolan I am not.

Who I am is a New Professional, or NP as I like to shorten it. Much of the time this blog has been a font for the random thoughts, experiences, and musings I've had at the beginning of my career. The title, Move It, is a play off of the new APTA slogan Move Forward and is meant to evoke a common PT phrase, "Move It or Lose It." But also, at the risk of being un-PC, it is a message directly to New Professionals, "Move your ass!" No one is going to do it for us. And if we don't move our profession forward, then quite certainly, we will lose it.

I'm one of a cohort of past student leaders that, upon leaving my role within APTA's Student Assembly, found myself in the vacuum of general membership. Luckily, the New Professional moniker had just been created and gradually more attention has been given to getting our demographic involved. Many times over, this fortuitous timing has benefited me greatly.

"But what is this blog about?" Despite being a self-affirmed APTA nerd and often blogging about experiences specific to that avenue of professional involvement, Move It has included universal themes for PTs and PTAs trying to find their calling. I've blogged about career indecision, visionary meetings of forward thinking, physical therapy steering and governance, and often times just my own perspective on where PTs and PTAs can and should be going.

I try to be pointed but fair about the problems that I and we face. Sometimes it's interesting... sometimes it's not. But I think it is important that there is a record of the types of things we go through. And more so, that NPs begin to form an empowered sense of self and direction within our profession. Move It is my idea of what might, in some small way, help kick start that process.

The most recent blogs are about my recent nomination for APTA office at the national level. I'm blogging about the process and, eventually, either the excitement or disappointment this amazing experience will afford. My number one goal, as a blogger and as potentially the youngest person ever slated(fingers crossed) for national office, is to inform and bring together new PTs and PTAs. Follow Move It or just wish me luck but spread the word and tell me what we can do to accomplish this goal.

Cheers and look for more additions and functions on the blog soon,


Ben