First job

Posted: Sun, May 18 2008, 5:13 pm Post subject: first job

I I'm a PT and I've been out of school for about 1 year and now I just started my first job last week, and I have no idea what I'm doing. I mean, I know kinda what I'm doing, but I feel like I'm not doing everything I should and I'm missing things to evaluate with my patients. Anyone else go through this too? Any words of encouragement or advice?

Posted: Sun, May 18 2008, 5:22 pm Post subject: re: first job

Are there other PTs on the staff? Find someone sympathetic and ask them for help/ advice. No one will think badly of you - in fact, it shows your professionalism that you are willing to ask for help when you need it. If there's no one on the staff, try and find someone - friend, family etc who will be willing to mentor you.

Platinum Member Joined: Mar 07 2007 Posts: 10429

As a recent grad no one expects you to know it all. You have questions, ask the senior staff. They were all newbies once upon a time. Better to ask than to not ask and mess up.

Platinum Member Joined: Sep 10 2006 Posts: 6563

I had 3 yrs off between graduation and starting work. While not in PT, I also felt like I was missing a lot and slow to pick up on things and that my problem solving skills were not so strong. It can take a year or two to get back into your professional shoes, esp when there's been a gap between education and a job, or job a and job b.

BH I'm in an environment that encourages continuous learning, so I've had time and opportunities while at work to retrain myself. I was warned by other women who had a gap of some sort that the first year or two even can be hard. Of course, this depends on how long the gap, and what you were doing in that time.

I was working in something totally different and making babies... My head was in a very different place for 3 whole yrs. I've been back to work for about 9 mos, and it's getting a lot better for me. So, IYH for you it will not take so long bc you only had a 1 yr gap.

Hatzlochah!
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