Sharpening your clinical skills: Before they turn dull
The medical SLP has many hats and many responsibilities. We have a lot to do and a lot to think about. What specifically you ask? Risk of aspiration pneumonia, choking, weight loss, feeding tube candidacy, impaired cognition, and functional communication just to name a few. This makes it all the more important to build our skills correctly from the beginning, keep em sharp, and prevent them from wearing down over time.
Impostor syndrome
Most SLPs arrive in the medical field with some sense of impostor syndrome. It’s a real thing and can have real effects on your ability to function as a professional. The first step towards combating impostor syndrome is to acknowledge it and accept it. You’re not alone and it’s not your fault. You weren’t prepared for the medical field in the same way most other medical professionals are. It’s a fast-paced and often overwhelming climate to work in. But it can be incredibly rewarding and totally worth the journey if you’re up for it. Be patient. Find your passion. Learn something new every day. And let your skills strengthen over time. Lastly, remember that the things you don’t know can be a strength. Your ignorance can allow you to see things from a unique perspective which allows you to come up with creative solutions that the more experienced medical professionals may miss.
Know your stuff (Even when you don’t)
We have the world’s knowledge sitting inside our pocket. Use it. The best way to learn is to review research and resources when it’s relevant to the patient sitting in front of you. Once you can do this, you can confidently work in almost any setting and gain the experience needed to truly become an expert. And there tons of ways to gain access to this experience today (see next section). This is how we acquire true knowledge and understanding of the complex topics encapsulating our field.
Be flexible
You may not land your dream job right off of the bat. And that’s OK. If you are strategic and persistent, good things will come. For now, be flexible. You may not enjoy every part of your current position, but are there ways to focus more on the aspects you do care about? How can you get experience in the setting of your choice (PRN, part-time, travel, weekends, volunteer, contract, etc.).
Stay sharp
After you have acquired adequate experience and you are considered an expert in your chosen field, the next challenge becomes staying sharp (which can be just as challenging as the sharpening itself). Continuing education, ongoing training, in-depth discussions and debates with colleagues (i.e. medical rounds, case studies, journal club, etc.), and use of systems and procedures should do the job. Have a checklist for all of the things that you need to do for a given procedure in order to keep skills consistent and to make sure you don’t start skipping important steps accidentally. Document your decision process in an organized way through thought experiments and decision journals in order to better control for biases and track the outcomes of your decisions over time. These steps will not only make you a better clinician, but will they will also provide better outcomes for your patients.
Cutting through barriers
Whether you’re a new SLP just coming out of the gate or an experienced pro with many laps around the track, there’s always something that can be done to get better. The only thing worse than not knowing anything is being complacent with what you already know. We are a young and relatively small field. Nobody is going to figure this out for us. We can only cut through the barriers with our own ambitions. So let’s stay sharp and make the cutting that much easier.
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