# 3 Internship helped me identify niche specialties that reflect my personality: adolescent practice and vocational rehabilitation. At the Independent Living Learning Centre (ILLC), I helped a patient find work and guided him through the job interview process. During my community-based rotation, I taught a teenage patient how to sew beads on slippers as part of prevocational training. I also contributed to the job coaching protocol for adolescents that the Clinic for Therapy Services developed. Then we did trial runs of that program. At the psychiatric ward of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), I helped a patient find an alternative to his physically demanding work that was no longer a good fit for him. When I went back to the ward a few days before graduation, I walked into that patient’s mom because she came to PGH for some paperwork. She thanked me for helping her son thrive in his new life role after discharge.
Just like many pediatric therapists, I enjoy handling patients for early intervention. Moreover, I love helping kids do well in school. But I pursued certifications in occupational health because adolescent practice and vocational rehabilitation were so fun during internship.
# 2 I wish we interns had 24-hour shifts at the PGH instead of being sent home late in the afternoon or late at night --- only to report for duty very early the next morning. Much of the learning during internship occurred not just during patient handling, but also during case conferences, feedback with clinical supervisors, lectures, and preparations for treatment sessions. I felt like we didn’t maximize those experiences because of the limited time that we had after therapy. Besides, staying overnight at the hospital could have helped us finish our reports. Instead, we went back home daily...and lied awake as we contemplated suicide.
# 1 Internship shattered many of my delusions. Working in the clinics as an intern gave me heavy doses of reality:
I’m a jerk myself.
The Philippine healthcare system is too regressive to make room for many of the groundbreaking ideas that I read in textbooks.
A lot of people will fight to preserve that regressive system because it benefits them.
Many practices that are popular among clinicians have weak scientific evidence. Some of them don’t work at all.
Occupational therapists (OTs) themselves are causing confusion about their role’s distinctives.
There weren’t enough toys in the pediatric clinics. The kids were probably throwing tantrums because they hated the worn out toys that we’re giving them.
Wisdom is necessary in individualizing assessment and treatment approaches...which is why we interns were so incompetent at applying our generic book knowledge.
All those realizations helped me manage my expectations of myself and the world of work. When I was experiencing failures and encountering horrible people as a junior OT, I remembered that what helped me survive internship was the truth that I must endure the humbling process to become a better person. I would acquire specialized skills for helping others, including my family, only if I would accept the hardships that would reveal my weaknesses. So as a newly licensed therapist, I focused on self-improvement instead of trying to change what’s beyond my control.
That mindset paid off! Despite the ups and downs, I’m one happy clinician. I hope that many interns will be too. You will have a better impact on the community when your work reflects your joy.
Need some motivational talks to face the real world? Check out the links below.
Choose Your Sacrifice by Jordan Peterson, PhD, clinical psychologist (video by After Skool)
It’s Not Okay to Be Weak by Jordan Peterson, PhD, clinical psychologist (video by After Skool)
Never Give Up by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America (video by America First America Forever)
Ultimate Advice for Students & College Grads by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX (video by Motivation2Study)
Spanx CEO Sara Blakely offers advice to redefine failure by Business Insider
A Man and His Isawan, the story of Larry Condencido, Jr., owner of Mang Larry’s Isawan (written by Andrea Tubig)
(Photo by Vladimir Fedotov)
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