Getting to know youuuuuu....
Feb. 5th, 2004 04:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ninevirtuesHmm.
My classmates are gradually finding out how much I work out. First I told them that I found the local bicyclists who dragged me all over the countryside for fifty miles. Emphasis on the funny parts and the think-i'm-gonna-die parts of the situation. I don't wanna seem like I'm remote and unapproachable, now.
They were impressed by that. Something about going fifty miles clearly seems excessive to them. ;-) Maybe I should have smiled and explained that my classmate the gymnast who can turn flips as easily as walk down the hallway is impressive to me. Then they noticed that I eat all the time. (Naturally it didn't add up: The food goes in, but I sure don't look like I eat too much. What gives?)To explain why, I told them that I typically workout twice a day.
That fact never seems that weird to me, but maybe it's all context; I'm used to three times a day, and I have been known to work out four times a day on occasion. But to them, they can't imagine where I find the time. (One of the ones who couldn't imagine where I found the time commutes two hours a day. The rest of them watch TV, or go out drinking, or do other stuff that I don't do. Or they get enough sleep, which I try to do but seldom manage. I tried to explain that in a polite and non-judgemental way. I really am human; I have different priorities and a different lifestyle than they do; I did not emerge from my mother and immediately set off on a 50-mile bike ride; it took me a while to get to my current level of fitness. I don't know if that 'took' or not).
Today we also had Clinical Seminar I. It's a 3-hour class that will be our last class before they let us out on Fridays, so naturally we were all giggly. Today's class was on patient interviews. The bottom line for interviewing a patient: You want to find out what's up with them so you can treat them, know what's important to them so you can help them get it, and you also want them to trust you, regard your services as valuable, and do what you tell them so they get better.
So you:
- Ask open ended questions ("What brings you to the clinic today?")
- Never ever ever sound judgemental
- Give the patient your full attention (because if you seem harried, distracted, or disinterested, you come across as uncaring)
- Understand that non-verbal or semi-verbal factors (like body language, tone of voice, rate of speech) speak louder than words. (For example, if you interrupt the patient, spend half the interview leafing through your notes, and seem rushed, you will leave the patient with the impression that he or she is not important to you.)
These are all things that I have experienced as a patient, (or I've experienced the lack of them ;-) but I could not put them into words. I have also seen PTs do these things well, and do them badly. I worked with one woman in particular who had all the charm, empathy, and personality of a live buzzsaw. :-( I know I can do a better job than she can. And she got great reviews from her supervisor, too. Yikes!
My classmates are gradually finding out how much I work out. First I told them that I found the local bicyclists who dragged me all over the countryside for fifty miles. Emphasis on the funny parts and the think-i'm-gonna-die parts of the situation. I don't wanna seem like I'm remote and unapproachable, now.
They were impressed by that. Something about going fifty miles clearly seems excessive to them. ;-) Maybe I should have smiled and explained that my classmate the gymnast who can turn flips as easily as walk down the hallway is impressive to me. Then they noticed that I eat all the time. (Naturally it didn't add up: The food goes in, but I sure don't look like I eat too much. What gives?)To explain why, I told them that I typically workout twice a day.
That fact never seems that weird to me, but maybe it's all context; I'm used to three times a day, and I have been known to work out four times a day on occasion. But to them, they can't imagine where I find the time. (One of the ones who couldn't imagine where I found the time commutes two hours a day. The rest of them watch TV, or go out drinking, or do other stuff that I don't do. Or they get enough sleep, which I try to do but seldom manage. I tried to explain that in a polite and non-judgemental way. I really am human; I have different priorities and a different lifestyle than they do; I did not emerge from my mother and immediately set off on a 50-mile bike ride; it took me a while to get to my current level of fitness. I don't know if that 'took' or not).
Today we also had Clinical Seminar I. It's a 3-hour class that will be our last class before they let us out on Fridays, so naturally we were all giggly. Today's class was on patient interviews. The bottom line for interviewing a patient: You want to find out what's up with them so you can treat them, know what's important to them so you can help them get it, and you also want them to trust you, regard your services as valuable, and do what you tell them so they get better.
So you:
- Ask open ended questions ("What brings you to the clinic today?")
- Never ever ever sound judgemental
- Give the patient your full attention (because if you seem harried, distracted, or disinterested, you come across as uncaring)
- Understand that non-verbal or semi-verbal factors (like body language, tone of voice, rate of speech) speak louder than words. (For example, if you interrupt the patient, spend half the interview leafing through your notes, and seem rushed, you will leave the patient with the impression that he or she is not important to you.)
These are all things that I have experienced as a patient, (or I've experienced the lack of them ;-) but I could not put them into words. I have also seen PTs do these things well, and do them badly. I worked with one woman in particular who had all the charm, empathy, and personality of a live buzzsaw. :-( I know I can do a better job than she can. And she got great reviews from her supervisor, too. Yikes!
