101 Things You Wish You Knew Before Starting Medical School
November 5, 2008 
23 Comments
Found a funny, yet accurate, list of the top 101 things you wish you knew before starting medical school. I could apply almost all of it to PT/ATC school as well! I will warn you that it may be a bit on the lewd side at times, somewhere between PG-13 and R. Just wanted to warn some of you ahead of time!
Photo by Striatic
Some of my favorites:
- 43. Any really bad procedures will be done by you. The residents don’t want to do them, and you’re the low man on the totem pole. This includes rectal examinations and digital disimpactions.
- 47. Anatomy sucks. All of the bone names sound the same.
- 55. You’ll meet a lot of cool people, many new friends, and maybe your husband or wife. (I did…)
- 61. At the beginning of first year, everyone will talk about how cool it’s going to be to help patients. At the end of third year, everybody will talk about how cool it’s going to be to make a lot of money.
- 74. Many of your friends will go onto great jobs and fantastic lifestyles. You’ll be faced with 4 more years of debt and then at least 3 years of residency before you’ll see any real earning potential.
- 86. Hospitals smell bad.
Here are a few of my additions for PT/ATC school:
- If you are not a “people person,” this isn’t the job for you. Your patients will annoy you and it will seem like you either love or hate everyone on your schedule. It’s cyclical.
- Don’t plan on ever going to lunch or leaving work on time. Someone will always be late and will cut into your personal time. You’ll never be late to the dentist again.
- Get used to the fact that you will often need to work on patient notes at home on the couch while watching TV. After awhile of doing this you’ll be amazed at how poorly your documentation becomes
What would you add to our own list of 101 things you wish you knew before starting PT or ATC school? Please comment on this post and share.
I would add:
I wish I knew:
–That physicians have an incredibly poor understanding of rehabilitation…yet, many think they know what treatments should work best.
–That Clinton’s balanced budget act was going to wreck the profession and it would take about 10 years for it to recover
–That when I entered my BS PT program that it was going to go MS the year after, but they weren’t getting anymore classes than we were already taking and that it was going to be spread out over three years instead of two!
–that BCBS of MN was going to stop paying for manual therapy
–that half the stuff I learned would be wrong, but we wouldn’t know which half (old saying about med school)
–Someone will always come in at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon with an order for crutch training for outpatient surgery the next day. They will be 300 pounds, have 12 stairs and be non-weightbearing…and of course they can’t do it.
–You find your patient really needs a mobilization or manipulation and have all the signs pointing to its benefit…but they will have osteoporosis
–Just when you think you’ve got a cancellation and can catch up on notes, the schedulers will have made a mistake and forgot to put someone on the schedule who suddenly comes in the door. You will have never seen that person before and they will be 280 pounds with a AKA and a history of old CVA on the sound side
–and the reassessment is due on that day for the patient above
Christie
Fantastic additions Christie, the “4:30 PM Friday crutch training” was my favorite.
Anyone else? Lets keep adding to this list over the next week or so and I will put them all together and repost as a new list. Anonymous is fine but leave your name if you would like, I want to give everyone credit! Leave me your full name, credentials, and city (you too Christie!). For example:
Mike Reinold, PT, DPT, ATC, CSCS, Boston, MA
Thanks!
-that “I have a really high pain tolerance” means they are going to tap out quick.
-that after PT school you will never ever watch someone walk the same way again
-that every other person you treat will call you a “physical torturer” or “physical terrorist” or a “sadist” and laugh like they are telling you a joke you have never heard before. subsequently, i wish I knew i would have to laugh and pretend like it was the first time every time I hear it!
-that so many people will have no problem paying $40 dollars for nails, or $50 for hair, or $100 for dinner, but will complain left and right about a $10 PT co-payment
Thanks Mike…I have to figure out how to create an AIM ID or something like that…right now I’m stuck posting anonymously. But my credentials:
Christie Downing, PT, DPT, cert. MDT, ICLM certified
…pefect point trevor about the $40 for nails….Elk Grove Village, IL
oops, move my town to my credtial line, not the $40 for nails (probably much more expensive in Elk Grove Village, IL)
…and if you liked the 4:30 on a Friday evening comment, you’ll like:
That sometimes crutch training won’t be done until AFTER surgery and the patient will be 6 months pregnant and not able to take anything except Tylenol (ie, in tremendous amounts of pain)she HAS to go home that day, and I’ll have my arm in a cast, and she’ll have two flights of stairs…and be NWB
…yeah, that really happened to me….
Christie
Ha, good ones, I am enjoying this! Christie (and others). From the comments button below, click the “Name/URL” option rather than anonymous and you can just type in your name like Trevor did (you don’t need a URL). Keep them coming!
- that your patient will hate you today but will love you tomorrow.
Andre,PT, Bethesda,MD
Phrases you will try to refute, but why bother.
“It’s the rotator cup”
“I wasn’t broke just fractured”
Another phrase: “No! It was a RUPTURED disc!”
Or the ever present patient who’s at a 10/10 pain and complain that “everything” makes it hurt and “nothing” makes it feel better who goes on “vacation” the following week.
Bonnie PT, Texas
every patient will say their doctor said their injury/surgery was “the worst he has ever seen”
In addition to Trevor’s lastest addition:
every patient will say their doctor said their injury/surgery was “the worst he has ever seen” but that “I am ahead of schedule!”
Cases they showed us in class (this could never happen to somebody) then going to the clinic and looking at a patient’s record (jaw drops). Prevention is KEY yet insurance and reimbursement is absolutely ridiculous.
One of my favs. is when a pt. reports max shoulder pn but yet they play golf and tennis 8 times a week. “I don’t know why I’m not getting any better?”
That Medicare/Medicaid rules change like the wind and are a slap in the face of our professional judgment
Something I always wanted to do. A little too late now.
Cost = Huge.
commitment
admirable
Worth it.
Muchos Dinero
The cost.