Image: Kaufman SF. The Martial artist’s Book of Five Rings: The Definitive Interpretation of Miyamoto Musashi’s Classic Book of Strategy
I have had many students over the course of my career as a PT.
It is not hidden that I practice with a base of MDT (Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy). This is the base from which I begin every new patient evaluation. It allows me to keep information in an order that makes sense to me and keeps me thinking systematically.
When I take students, I don’t dictate how they practice. I want for them to learn about what is their passion within this profession.
Everyone has to follow his/her own dreams and goals.
I frequently get students that ask me how did I get to where I am at in this profession.
I tell them about reading textbooks, thousands of pages, two to three times in order to understand the words. The students go from feeling great about the energy that I bring and the mentoring and teaching that I have done through the clinical to telling me that they don’t think they can do it.
I DON’T CARE!
You do you. Don’t try to do the things I’ve done in my career. Becoming better at anything takes work. I can feed you my information and this can put you a little further in your quest for information, but you will never own the information in the same way that I own the information. It takes time and work to own the topics.
I only hope that the students can take from me an inspiration that this profession has a lot to offer. Each professional could be great at any one niche AND there would still be enough information, topics, niches for everyone to be great at something.
In the end, the responsibility is on the person…the student.
It is not on the teacher, for the teacher has already paved his/her own way.
The student must choose the path and forge forward.
What path have you taken as a student…professional?