3.16.15

DAY 1

  

A new course, another two weeks of pain or so I thought. Last Monday PT 138’s first session was conducted. The department prepared activities that would open our eyes and hearts on what teaching in the physical therapy world is like. We had a yoga session in the morning followed by a video-critiquing writing activity. In the afternoon, we had a role-playing session.

The yoga session was the only thing I was looking forward to, to be honest! It was my second time to do yoga and I kind of know how it feels like stretching your body to its limits (coming from a very not so flexible girl).  Ma’am Rotor was our instructor and we were the learners. It was kind of refreshing to be the one given instructions to and not the other way around. She exuded poise & grace and at the same time firmness, which I find very comforting.

We watched our PT154 videos and criticized our teaching skills. I admit that I am a very flawed person. The activity made me more mindful of the way I teach and what points I could improve on.

Lastly, we had a role-playing session and this was the time I was able to put into practice all those Star Magic workshops as I was the patient with hearing impairment who needed deep breathing exercises. I find this as the most relevant activity because this showed how complex our profession could be. Given different situations, PTs have to be spontaneous and creative in giving out instructions in every session because real patients aren’t as straightforward as given the cases in class.

This testing-the-waters-kind of day made me realize that proper patient education is very crucial in the practice. All of us have different styles and levels of learning, and that we have to respect that. If you think learning is hard, teaching is harder.