It can be strange in the year after completing an MSc. All the information that you crammed in your head to pass exams- which is also part and parcel of your job, if it isn’t used, just leaks out of your ears. The semesters were very much distinct in focus, with a section based around a foundation level of knowledge, the upper limb and spine, and the lower limb and spine- each was very much a section in it’s own right with exams and presentations. They meshed together very well but were also taught in very different styles.
Revisiting my studies to really get it into my brain
So I now have a mountain of notes from different aspects of the course which I literally knew verbatim for the oral exams. When I look at them now, I remember as I read them, but if you’d have asked me about it 3 minutes beforehand, I might have only been able to burble out a vague approximation of what I could trot out quite happily this time last year.
The mountain of paperwork is also taking up a decent size space on my desk as well- and it just wasn’t getting used. The answer? I’m going through it all, typing it all up and creating my own little database of as much as I can find. That way, I’m revisiting a whole world of useful information, passing it through my brain again and giving myself the chance to recall and relearn a lot of this information again.
Physiotherapy is, of course, a constantly changing landscape. What we knew as truth 15 years ago is very much being questioned now- and what we know as truth now may well be questioned again further down the line, so keeping abreast of new ideas and thoughts about physiology and rehabilitation, without getting bogged down in fads and pseudoscience is definitely a part of the game. I always enjoyed getting down in the weeds with research papers and looking at the whys and the wherefores, so having to spend more time getting to grips with how and why physio works, physically and psychologically is a great way to spend my time- and benefits anyone who comes through the door as a patient.
Information is power- but only if you can communicate it effectively.