As I was walking out the door of my office one day last week, it caught my attention - the date on my diploma. There it was, the date it all started - May 28, 1988. It hit me with resounding clarity. I laughed and shook my head as I closed the door. Time sure does go by fast.
It's hard to comprehend that I have been a physiotherapist for 25 years today. That's a quarter of a decade. No wonder there are days when I feel tired.
I was once told that a person goes through, on average, five career changes in their lives. I have yet to hit the first one. With all jokes aside, it has been a long journey filled with great experiences, amazing patients, inspiring clinicians, and more challenges than I care to imagine.
After some reflection on the past 25 years, here are 25 thoughts - in no particular order - of some things I have learned along the way.
1. It's all about the patient. Without a doubt, the most important theme on a daily basis. Ensure that they have the necessary tools to self-treat, first and foremost.
2. Understand your skill set. Being a physical therapist gives you a great skill set that encompasses so much of the health continuum. You are only limited by your imagination.
3. Be present to the patient. Better yet, be present to everyone with whom you interact. People want to be heard and have their presence acknowledged. Listening is not the same as hearing - and don't forget it.
4. Be the change. Act with behaviors that reflect the future of the profession, not the past. Don't just talk about it - live it.
5. Have an active voice in the growth of the profession. Paying membership dues for your professional association isn't enough.
6. Follow the money trail. When trying to make sense of a situation, it usually points to the true agenda at stake.
7. Challenge your thinking. Especially when you are most uncomfortable doing so. True learning rarely takes place when you are comfortable.
8. Learn from each and every patient. They have all the answers, and they are your best teachers.
9. Clinical excellence is a journey, not a destination. There are some things in clinical practice that only time and astute observation will give you. Be patient with yourself. Timing is everything.
10. Embrace mentorship. Find a mentor - and a mentee. It is an integral part of life-long learning.
11. Educate daily. It could be with students in the clinic or in the classroom, or with patients during each and every session. One of our greatest professional assets and roles.
12. Exercise is like medicine. Dosage and frequency are critical to success.
13. Don't miss the forest for the trees. Step back and look at the big picture. Take a moment to understand the essence of the problem.
14. Don't sacrifice your personality. Your power is in being you - only you know how to do it. Don’t try to become someone else in the clinic. Just be you.
15. Tools are good, but a toolbox is better. Always refine your clinical reasoning to build a better toolbox. You can always sort out the tools afterwards.
16. Form follows function. Specific adaptation to imposed demands is our professional mantra.
17. Perception is reality. That includes everyone that you interact with, all day, every day.
18. "First, do no harm; second, revere the healing powers of nature" (Hippocrates). Need I say more?
19. Treat patients as you would wish to be treated. The golden rule of clinical practice.
20. Pain isn't the issue - concordant pain is. There is a difference between the two.
21. Collaborate. The sum is almost always greater than the parts.
22. Intensity is your friend. It is a critical parameter in all of the adaptations to exercise.
23. "Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds" (Einstein). Have the courage to stand by your convictions.
24. Find solutions, not just more problems. It will always be easy to write the laundry list of problems in life or in clinical practice - but where are the solutions?
25. A little laughter goes a long way. It could be in the classroom, the clinic, or at home. In the right context, it can open up pathways for rapport and learning.
Perhaps most importantly, I have discovered that it is no easy task to summarize 25 years into 25 thoughts!
Nonetheless, I hope that something on the list resonates with you - as a patient, as a clinician, or as a person on your own journey through this thing called life.
Photo credits: Cappellmeister
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Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.
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