Somehow, someway during my initial years of schooling I developed this idea that the profession of athletic training needed to compete heavily with other professions. I used to think that I needed to boycott the teachings of other professions like physical therapists, strength and conditioning specialists and person trainers. I also had an urge to compete against others within my own profession and try to be most intelligent or most competent clinician/academic. Finishing school and starting my professional career has definitely changed my thought processes.
While some level of competitiveness is necessary in a world
where multiple professions compete for patients or clients from the same pool
of people due to similar skill sets. However, I have begun to realize that this
previous thought process hurt three groups of people. Thinking and behaving the
way I did disadvantaged myself (the clinician), potential patients, and the
different professions.
Recently, I have worked to open myself up to the ideas of
others and other professions. Just think, where would human intelligence even
be now without the collective body of knowledge that is shared between
individuals? We might be able to think the same but the accumulation of
knowledge that is passed around and down through time is what makes it special.
Specifically, I have found that everyone has the potential
to teach me something. Even if I do not agree with most things that somebody
thinks I have found that there may be one thing that I can learn from them.
Even if the lesson is learning what NOT to do. Every case, every history, every
colleague, every injury and every research article has a teaching point.
Sharing knowledge between myself, classmates, colleagues and
other professions has had many benefits. There are advantages for:
Myself – I have been able to continuously refine and enhance my clinical decision-making and skill set. I feel like I can take a look back every couple of months right now and see real definable growth and change in the way that I do things.
Myself – I have been able to continuously refine and enhance my clinical decision-making and skill set. I feel like I can take a look back every couple of months right now and see real definable growth and change in the way that I do things.
The Patients – Sharing ideas with others and learning from
others has the potential to benefit more people than I would ever be able to on
my own. One of the main reasons that I love my profession is because I love
helping people. By opening up communication and idea-sharing with others the
collective body of knowledge grows even stronger!
My Profession – Learning from other professions has the
advantage of advancing my own profession’s skill set and body of
knowledge. By opening myself up to
the ideas of other professions it can influence my future students,
as well as other acquaintances and colleagues of mine. More importantly, it
sets a precedent for others to be more open to the ideas of others.
Other Professions – Different professions have different
educational backgrounds, patient loads, points of view and experiences in
general. The ability to share and be open with others and less secretive allows
for more competent professionals, better continuance and streamlined health
care system, and improved patient outcomes.
The age of social media has provided a golden opportunity
for us to share. It is a very exciting time to be a health care provider and I
find myself learning from many others. I do not want to be able to look back in
20 years from now and find myself with the same point of view and the same
clinical skills. I used to think I needed to burn bridges and set myself apart from other clinicians and other professions like physical therapists. I realize now that the true way and most beneficial way to set myself apart will be to build up bridges between others and myself.
The major take home point here is to be open-minded
and be dedicated to intellectual curiosity. Never stop learning is a great motto to live by and to spread
to others. We as individuals do not have time to read ALL of the research
literature, experience every unique experience or treat every type of patient. However,
by sharing information and knowledge with each we will be much more prepared.
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