3 Key Attributes to Success

"Based on the compound law of improvement, if everyday we commit to become 2% better than yesterday, our performance will be more than 1,000 times better one year later."

Being a PT is rewarding and promising. We are able to help people get better and return to doing things they enjoy just with our brains and hands, and we don’t rely on medications, expensive machines or scalpels. Our professional knowledge enables us to do amazing things. However, becoming a PT is no doubt a grind. As a PT who just finished school fairly recently, I would like to talk about three attributes that I think are the most important to succeed in school and become an effective therapist.

1. Be Open-minded: Lifelong Learning

We all know that learning continuously is important, and it’s important to establish the
habit of learning inside and out of the classroom. Acquiring PT-related knowledge helps
us treat our patients better. Also, continuing education is always required in every state,
territory and country to fulfill the professional development requirements for our PT
license renewal. For example, I took the E2 seminar at the University of St. Augustine for
Health Sciences in Florida. I learned a technique that helped me identify that one of my
patients with lower back pain actually had a shoulder problem, instead of a spine
problem.

On the other hand, personal development is equally important to develop skills that
make us outstanding therapists but are not usually taught in school. Communication,
leadership, time management, and other skills will make us more effective in treating
our patients and more successful in our professional careers.

2. Be Sociable: Networking

Networking is key to become successful in the PT journey. Most people would agree
that the main difference between seasoned and novice PTs is not performance in the
classroom, but clinical experience. Reaching out to faculty and practicing therapists is
thus the most effective way to obtain those clinical pearls and become an excellent
therapist.

Volunteering is often a good way to build up connections with practicing therapists.
Collecting clinical observation hours, studying in PT school, going out on an internship,
just graduated from PT school, or wherever you are, always take the initiatives to help
with events such as a community out-reach or a research project. Whether or not you
see a notice, sometimes you just need to ask, and the opportunity will be yours. I
completed one of my internships at Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville, and I had an
opportunity to help the clinic with their open-house event to educate the public about
shoulder disorders. This opportunity opened a door for me, and prompted me to
eventually launch my own website and build up a platform for online consultation.

3. Be Patient: Perseverance

PT school is like a marathon, and the winners are those who persevere and push
through the end. There are ups and downs in all walks of life, and going through PT
school is no exception. Frustration and challenges may be in the way throughout PT
school: failing a practical exam, a treatment session not going well, not passing the
internship, just to name a few. However, remember that the passing scores won’t make
you a good PT, but the spirit of not giving up will.

Even though some of the goals and dreams may look really far away, we can surely
accomplish them as long as we persevere and keep pushing for excellence. Based on the compound law of improvement, if everyday we commit to become 2% better than yesterday, our performance will be more than 1,000 times better one year later. In my first year of PT school, I decided to present a poster at a professional conference one day when seeing people doing it at the WCPT Conference in Singapore. I was speaking quite limited English, I was afraid of public speaking, and I didn’t even know what a case report is during that time. Nonetheless, 3 years later, I just did a poster presentation of my case report at APTA’s NEXT Conference in Orlando, FL. No goal is too high as long as you commit to aim it everyday.

Keep these in mind so that you can develop your character as a pre-PT student, obtain
some vibes and motivation while grinding through PT school, and always remember
your passion to become a PT.

- Andy Chin-Hueng Tseng

Thank You For Your Attention!

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