CLINICAL REASONING SKILLS

The Development of Clinical Reasoning Skills as a Physiotherapist

The Development of Clinical Reasoning Skills as a Physiotherapist

Section 1: Personal Reflection

Clinical reasoning uses a mixture of analytical and principle-based processes, as well as use of pattern recognition, intuitive methods, and situational mental representations. It involves determining what information or data are needed; interpreting that data; generating, testing, and verifying hypotheses; and assessing both the benefits and risks of potential actions to achieve positive outcomes. In this paper, for the purpose of reflecting on the factors which prompted my development of clinical reasoning skills as a physiotherapist, I would make use of the Gibbs reflective cycle, which provides an effective approach for understanding such aspects.

Description

Two years back, my sister met with a serious accident, because of which she had to remain admitted in the hospital for about two whole months for her physiotherapy.

Feelings

Ever since my childhood I have been inspired by the anatomy of the human body. The manner in which each and every structure and muscle of the body works together to enable a person to move around has always appeared to me in the form of a feat that not even engineers have been able to replicate, in that exact manner.

Evaluation

I used to feel extremely bad for my sister's sufferings however, I do acknowledge that it was those two months which helped me finalize my career plans. Before this incident, I had always been confused and unable to make this critical decision.

Analysis

The observation of my sister's gradual improvements and the dedication which my her physiotherapist would deal her made me realize that the role of a physiotherapist is not that easy and it requires efficient problem solving and investigative competencies which for this profession are termed as clinical reasoning skills.

Conclusion

The incident made me acknowledge the broader role that a physiotherapist plays, which involves helping people in need. Additionally, my stay my ultimately helped in extended my understanding as well as knowledge of the field, which made me realize how problems would arise when an anatomical structure becomes misaligned. From that time onwards, I too began to acknowledge how it is a physiotherapist's role to identify the prime factors which lead to such problems as well as to endow the affected person with appropriate solutions, which aid in overcoming and ameliorate the identified causes. Furthermore, since then, I realized that to gain valued expertise in the field a person needs to possess strong anatomical knowledge coupled with remarkable clinical reasoning skills for the purpose of reaching to the right decision in a timely manner.

Action Plan

During my school years, I would spend hours in my search for figuring out what the purpose of each structure is and how does each of these fits together so perfectly. As time passed, my interest in the field of anatomy grew and persevered. It did not take long before I recognized that I have always had a longing to pursue physiotherapy as my career, so that I become able ...