Expert Clinician defined

[Michael McMurray]

Nice job with posts on the Clinical Reasoning article.

Here is another one of my favorites that we will refer to next weekend frequently.

Have a read – great article to do some reflection on you as a practitioner, and what you want to get out of this residency year in your journey toward “Expert Clinician”.

Again – have a read – post some thoughts on how the conclusions from the article can help you be more introspective into what you can improve upon as a clinician caring for patients daily.

Cheers – see ya next weekend

Eric

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[Sarah Bosserman]

I really enjoyed reading this study. I found that many aspects of what makes an “expert clinician” were in alignment with why I chose to apply for residency after working for a few years. I have found that staying up to date on the research can be difficult (in terms of article acquisition outside of JOSPT and finding the most high-impact studies) and look forward to improving my skills in the next year. Furthermore, I have already realized in the past week, that having colleagues willing to discuss cases and broaden my perspectives on patients can facilitate my own personal growth. The last point that really stuck with me was in regards to how experts applied knowledge learned in continuing education. Having strategies for practicing new skills and incorporating it into daily treatments is key. As they pointed out, it is not the acquisition of advanced certification that matters, but making sure you are applying it in a thoughtful way that keeps the patient involved.
My favorite aspect of this article was the constant reinforcement of the importance of patient centered care and education. I think that the most exciting, and challenging, part of being a physical therapist is empowering patients and giving them back control of their pain. I have found that there is always room for improvement in this area, and what works for one patient may not for another.

[Katie Long]

I agree with Sarah about the emphasis on patient-centered care, patient education and empowerment. I like the emphasis in this article on increasing patients’ self-efficacy in order to promote and develop a successful treatment plan. I definitely believe that the more involved a patient is in their care and the problem-solving related to their pain and function, the more adherent and invested they are in their care.

One of the most profound points of this article to me was the point about reflection on practice, especially so soon after reading the SCRIPT-tool article. This is one of the things I desired most out of a residency and one of the things I am most looking forward to gaining through mentorship. As a new grad, I feel that there is so much to learn in the area of self-reflection and it’s role in critical thinking. I want to be able to apply knowledge from previous patient reflection into my future care, and for it to become second-nature in my practice.

[Tyler France]

Katie and Sarah, I agree with all of your points regarding the importance of mentorship and patient-centered care. This article reminded me of a concept that we discussed in physical therapy school regarding the “art” and the “science” of physical therapy. Someone who understands the “science” of physical therapy knows how to find the tissue or biomechanical cause of a patient’s pain and knows how to properly address it. Someone who understands the “art” of physical therapy knows how to properly educate the patient, treat them as an individual, and can empower the patient to take care of their own condition. In the article, the novice clinicians seemed to have a good grasp of the science, but did not understand the art of patient care. In order to be achieve the expert status that we are all striving for, we must learn to incorporate the art and the science of physical therapy into our practice.

[Justin Pretlow]

Everyone has made good points regarding the article.

My thoughts while reading: I’d like to improve my consistency with empowering patients through education. I may do this well at times, but too easily take on more of the responsibility(or feel the responsibility) when they have a setback or experience some challenges over the course of therapy.
I’d like to do a better job with how I explain a concept or give instructions to patients. I tend to get too wordy and over explain.
Lastly, I’d like to manage my time more efficiently during a session so that I can take a couple of minutes for reflection. Whereas, I typically don’t have time to reflect on a situation until the end of the day.

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