This time last year, I never would've imagined that I'd enjoy a teaching class. For the past seventeen years, I've always been on the learning end of the spectrum. I've conditioned myself to listen and to take notes, to study and to follow instructions. Student work is hard enough. Why take on the gargantuan task of teaching?
To begin with, last Monday's events were not the typical classroom activities. Throughout the course of the day, I stretched my body to its limits in Yoga, cringed at my past self during the video critique, and acted as a standardized patient for a role play. I shared my personal teaching experiences and received constant feedback from professors and peers. Challenging as they were, these activities were meant not only to make us aware of our mental and bodily strengths and limitations, but also to emphasize how vital effective teaching is in the physical therapy setting. In fact, we've unwittingly been practicing this for the past semester!
From Assessment to Therapeutic Exercises III, we were made to clearly and concisely rationalize and instruct testing procedures and exercises to a number of simulated patients. We went through the process of critical appraisal with an end goal of relaying pages of scientific research to a client in simple yet thorough terms. In hindsight, teaching has always been an inevitable part of the PT process. Last Monday’s activities just made it clearer than ever that this is one skill that we must master not just for our own sakes, but for those of our future clients.
At the end of the day, I've come to realize that teaching isn't a linear process of giving information, but a two-way street of communication. It's a huge responsibility, but hey, I've always been up for a good challenge.
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