In message <[log in to unmask]>, DAVID PERRY <[log in to unmask]> writes
>I am a third year physio student and have done two clinical
>placements. I would just like to share my opinion regarding
>treatment visits, because this is the exact thing that makes
>me question my career choice. During my clinical
>placement last year, I worked in the sports therapy clinic of
>an established gym. The patient turnover was incredible,
>the physio managed at least 6 patients at a time, and I was
>the "aid" who performed all of the ultrasounds, and removed
>the machines (may I never touch another one of those
>machines for the rest of my life...) A patient coming in with
>patello-femoral syndrome was told to come back three
>times a week for the next 6 months, and this seemed a bit
>long to me. I was working there for two months, and not once
>did the physiotherapist discharge a patient.
>
>Is this what all clinics are like? The issues taught in class
>seem to be indirectly teaching us to keep our patients for as
>long as we can squeeze money out of them. If this is the
>case, I'm not sure I'm really interested in this type of career.
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>I think that the idea of keeping patients on as long as possible for
treatment is not only clearly poor ethical practice but not even
financially advantageous. In my short experience, having recently
started my own practice, it seems that being as effective and efficient
as possible creates a client base who are the best word-of-mouth
salespeople for my clinic.
Clients pick-up very quickly when they are being neglected or exploited
and are unlikely to refer friend and colleagues on to a clinic where
they were treated in this way, especially if the did not get any better!
I monitor how new clients hear about me and more and more the emphasis
is switching from Yellow Pages and leaflets to word-of-mouth. It would
be very rewarding to eventually have a practice which had no dependence
on anything else than these type of reerrals. A clinic such as the one
you describe above must spend an awful amount of money and effort just
generating new referrals, presumably lacking word-of-mouth referrals.
In addition, it must be so boring and exhausting treating so many people
at once - is it even physiotherapy? However, it does raise the question
of what is happening to NHS physio as treatment times are reduced from
30mins to 20 mins to 15 mins and in one GP surgery (with an NHS contract
here in the NW) a 10 minute appt time. How are clinicians going to
develop their skills and clinical reasoning if this continues. OK so
Tony Blair is able to pronounce that 'the NHS treats more people now
than at any time previously'- but what SORT of treatment?
--
john spencer
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