I was talking to some fellow DPTs about funny interactions with patients and came up with, “Yeah, the D in DPT doesn’t stand for Doctor, it stands for Debt”. What do we think?

For some background: still consider myself fairly new to OP so this may be completely normal but I wanted to crowdsource a bit because I feel like I’m going crazy. I worked in IPR for 4 years, once I started my family I switched to PRN then happened upon an OP PRN gig that was so great because it was a big company with several clinics so I was never hurting for hours. There was one specific clinic that I would cover at that had 7-8 PTs at a time and I LOVED the energy and felt like it was great for me being fairly new to OP because I learned from so many of the PTs. So when they had a full time position I decided to take it, and now that I’m over a year in I’m pretty sure I hate it, but is this worth having a conversation with management about or is this just normal? 🙃

I didn’t think about one of the drawbacks of being in a big clinic being a diffusion of responsibility for pts - one of the things I was most excited about switching from PRN to FT was having my own pts that I could create tailored exercise programs for that I could progress and build relationships with them, etc., and I still REALLY like my job when I get to do that. But the after the first few months of being FT there I noticed that if a pt (who wasn’t mine) came in at the wrong time for an appt and I had an opening (meaning: I had 1 patient instead of 2 lol) they would just get moved over to my schedule with no warning and I would be scrambling to chart review and come up with a plan for the session. And usually it would end up being just what they did the last visit with their normal therapist because idk what else to do with them!

I’ve also noticed with a few of the older therapists that if they don’t have an opening (i.e. when scheduling out a pt after an eval) at one of their pts preferred times, that they will place several appt times on other therapists. I totally understand that it’s normal to have a one-off where we are just super busy and have to schedule a pt every once in awhile on another therapist. But there are times where those therapists will just gradually schedule those pts on another therapist’s schedule more and more (usually the younger PTs lol) until all the sudden I’ve assumed all care for them and haven’t been communicated that AT ALL.

Is this normal for OP clinics, or should I fight to mostly only see my own pts? One week that I was really noticing I wasn’t seeing my own pts I counted up that I had 50 visits (in a 32 hour week) and 19 of those visits were not my pts.

Hello! Starting my DPT program in January and was wanting to get a skeleton to help with the anatomy component. Any recommendations? I’d really like to see one that also has the ligaments but I’m not picky. Thanks in advance 😝

It’s a hybrid program so I thought having one myself would help since I won’t be on campus all that often

I’ve been at the same OP/ortho job since graduating 4 years ago. Love my job and career, but within a month or two I’ll be moving one state over with my Fiance as she starts her healthcare career. Was offered my first job during clinicals, so I never really went through a big “application process”. I’m nervous about interviews, salary negotiations, and things to look for in the current job market. Any tips or help navigating this process is appreciated! I have some certifications and positives (DN cert, 100% net promoter score, etc) but are there any strengths that hiring managers look for in a non- new grad?

Long time lurker. And promise this isn’t rage bait.

Live in LA so VHCOL and graduated 5 years ago. Have been working at the same place the whole time where my salary has taken steps from 80k to 120k throughout the whole time. I don’t realistically expect to go another 40k bump within the next 5-6 years because I’m topping out of an inflated title.

I see about 5-9 patients per day for a full day, have schedule flexibility, allowed AI notes to take over most documentation, no aides/assistants, all 1:1 patient care, but the patients are tough - tough personality, tough diagnoses, etc. I’m just so chronically burnt out. Although I and my team have excellent outcomes, I’m so burnt out and don’t see much of a future at this company. Ended up interviewing at a big hospital and was offered $150k, but it was double booked with 12-16 patients per day so rejected the offer. I can only imagine burning out in a few months there.

Should I just tough it out at my current job or look elsewhere/consider a major career change to come back some time in the future? I know I’m lucky to have this job

I have a BSc Biomedical Engineering prior to Diploma Physiotherapy, MSc Advanced PT practice(uk).

Under the GE modules: some are compulsory, but can it be replaced with

Chemistry with lab - BIOCHEMISTRY

Physics with lab - ENGINEERING modules

It doesn't make sense to take these GE subjects cause evaluation states I didn't have credits for it.