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How Being an OT Aide Helped Me be a Better PTA
by Kimberly Paine
Like everyone else in the whole entire world, I have a lot of roles in life. I’m a mom, wife, friend, and a hundred other things. But the two roles that take up the majority of my time and attention these days are those of OT aide here at Ortho Rhode Island, Foundry division, and SPTA--that’s Student Physical Therapist Assistant to you--at New England Institute of Technology.
My program at NEIT is extremely intense. It lasts 18 months, broken up into six 10-week quarters, and believe me when I tell you those quarters fly by. With the amount of information we need to digest, process, and demonstrate a working knowledge of in just two and a half months at a time, it can be easy to get laser-focused on memorizing facts while forgetting that we’re learning how to treat real, live patients.
That’s what happened to me. By my second quarter, I was so intent on getting the best grades on all my written exams that when it came time to take a practical exam, in which I’d have to use what I’d learned to treat a pseudo-patient, I performed miserably. I had no experience in patient care, and not a whole lot of experience as a patient myself to know what good healthcare looked like. During my midterm practical for one clas,s I got so nervous and worked up that I stuttered, choked on my words, and ultimately forgot several of the most basic, important elements for keeping my “patient” safe. Forgetting safety elements is an instant fail. I had to take the exam again the next week.
I failed the retake, too. I’d have to take the entire course over again before I could continue the program. My originally-18-month program just turned into two years. I had to watch as all my friends moved on to the next quarter, and then the next, as I got left behind, all because I had no idea how to treat a patient.
The upside to this is that I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands, so, in the months between failing and taking the course again, I got a job in the hand therapy department at Foundry.
It was, hands down, the best thing I have done in my education as an SPTA.
In the last four-and-a-half months, I have learned so much--not just about technical things like how to apply ice or heat or paraffin wax, but about how a clinic flows, what needs to be done, how to approach patients, and all the little things about healthcare that I’ve never experienced before in a work setting, like respecting HIPAA boundaries and working with scheduling, phone calls, and other daily necessities. I’ve learned how all the parts of a patient’s treatment works together to help them get better, from whether they have a positive outlook (and whether we have a positive outlook for them) to whether they’re performing their home exercise program, to how missing one appointment can have a major impact on a patient’s outcomes.
My favorite thing I’ve learned, however, is just how to be, with a patient. How to not be awkward. How to be welcoming. How to be positive. How to relate to them and listen to what they say and what they don’t say, and how this all relates to their treatment.
By the time I started school again--with that class I had to retake and absolutely had to pass--I was feeling much more confident. Without even thinking about it, I had relaxed into my role as an aide in a healthcare setting, and I was excited to bring that relaxed feeling to my practical experience in the classroom. This time, I didn’t just pass the class--I knocked it out onto Landsdowne street, if you know what I’m saying. My professor was so impressed, he told me he looked forward to teaching me again next quarter. I walked out of the last day of that class smiling til my cheeks hurt.
It’s now midway through the following quarter, and that confidence I’ve built up from working as an OT aide is still carrying me through, even now that I have a full course load once again. I walk into practicals knowing not only what to do, but how to do it like I would do it--will do it--in my clinical assignment and eventually in my full-time job. I don’t just know facts and I don’t just do well on written tests (although those things sure do keep me up late for studying)--I know how to be a therapist. I never would have that confidence if it hadn’t been for this job.
So far, my boss and the rest of the department have been nice enough to not rub it in.
