First off, you can do difficult things. That is why you were accepted into a doctoral program. Your school went through hundreds of applications and decided that you were among the top of the applicants. You have been preparing for this rotation since your undergraduate studies. On top of that, you have most likely spent hours as a PT tech or shadowed with a PT. So you know more information and skills than you may think you know. Now you have to combine all your knowledge into an applicable skill for patients. (Side note: Many programs will have the first clinical at different points through the program, these are general tips email me: c1wendroth@gmail.com with more questions)

Tip #1: Practice talking about skills in a simple way that anyone can understand. You may be a straight A student and can use all the medical terms but a majority of your patients won't even know that the quads and hamstrings are muscles let alone in the thigh. So the key is spending time with friends or family that are not in medical school, explaining anatomy and physiology to them to be prepared for all patients. 

Tip #2: Go through anatomy and physiology. Your CI will ask questions to test your knowledge and get an idea of how much you have retained from class. Knowing anatomy will help you diagnosis, treat, and educate your patient on their body. You have to know the fundamentals in order to use clinical thinking and pick exercises that will target the specific structures you want. 

Tip #3: Practice patient management. This goes along with the first two tips and the next couple. Soft skills like empathy, problem-solving, and communication are often not learned in school or books. Patients are much more likely to participate in treatment if they feel like you listen and care about what they are going through. I believe soft skills are the most important for patient retention in most settings. 

Tip #4: Utilize a student led clinic. I think that all prospect students should look to see if the schools they are interested in have a student led clinic. You get to practice all the skills you learn in class and practice the soft skills with real patients. If you feel really uncomfortable treating, pair up with an upper classman to see how they treat and work with patients. Getting repetitions is one of the most important things you can do to develope as a clinician. 

Tip #5: Reach out to your clinic/CI. They will be able to answer questions specific to what you will see at your first rotation. Every site will see different patients, by reaching out you will get an idea of what to focus on and prep for. It's also very important to know the expectations of your CI, dress code, hours at the clinic, and where to go on your first day. This is where professionalism begins and allows you to start on a good note with your clinic. 

Tip #6: Use social media as a tool. There are tons of PT accounts that have really good information to help students from Podcasts, Instagram, and Youtube. Even if you don't agree with them, keep an open mind and try to see where they are coming. What works for one population of patients will not always transfer to others and there are more than one way to treat many diagnosis. Do the research and decide for yourself. As Physical therapists, we are students for life and need to use critical thinking in our life. 

Tip #7: Exercise progression/regression. As important it is to be able to identify what is the issue, being able to prescribe the appropriate exercise for that specific patient trumps diagnosing. You could found the best research to treat a diagnosis but that will not always work with your patients. Research is used to guide treatments, but research is only one of  the three pillars of health care, your own expertise and skills and the patients values/experience are very important too. Your patients will like you more and still see great results even if its not considered the optimal program. 

Remember, your first clinical is to get your feet wet and practice some of the skills you have learned. You will not know everything and neither will your CI even if it feels like they do. Physical therapy can be made very complicated and you will see posts on social media with very different points of views on how to treat a diagnosis. Don't get down on yourself, you are a student learning what works best for you and the patients you work with. This rotation is short and will be over before you know it. Try to be a sponge, absorbing as much as you can to become a better clinician and student if you have more classes to complete.