Today was quite a big day for me, because all the patients who I’d seen for the first time were coming back for their followup visits. I am particularly worried about the private paying patients, rather than the Medicare or WorkCover patients, as these clients are paying out of their own pockets. So all I want to ensure is that these guys are getting their money’s worth, of course.
And I think they are! My first real private paying client has just started to book in long consultations with me, because she has been so impressed with the progress she’s made after turning up for her first visit in a wheelchair, that she now wants me to work on her other joints!
And my other private paying clients are happy with their progress too. It’s feeding my ego just a little as today, one said, “It was soo painful yesterday, but today, my arm is completely free and I can move it pain-free!” I couldn’t help myself to saying, “Okay that’s great, cya later now!” Yes and then I was modestly serious for the rest of the treatment.
I’m indeed very interested in the psychology of my interactions and relationships with patients. I was analysing a heavy introvert, most likely an INFJ, and she was talking to me about her hobbies and interests, as I asked what she had planned for the year. She told me she was very much a “jack of all trades, and not really very good at one particular thing”. In my past I have thought this and told some people this exact line, and it rung true very much for me. But uncanny as I felt, I had to say, “Yeah, being a jack of all trades is quite handy, but unfortunately, in society, it leaves you being the middle man in most things, as you can understand two sides to something. However, technology is reducing the need for middle men, and well, therefore… that’s why you’re in IT/systems I guess…” This drew wry laughter from my client. In later reflection I found it amusing that she was nearly double my age, yet I felt as though we’d been on the same page from the beginning.
I’m slowly becoming less daunted by treating people who are obviously older than I. I’m starting to feel the respect I command just being a healthcare professional in a one-on-one treatment room, and how a patient clings on to every word you say. It’s humbling and I suppose this makes me respect who I am more.
I’m enjoying work I think. I’m getting my head around the various bits of paperwork slowly; it is such a hassle. Today a receptionist had a go at me because she was telling me something and I didn’t know what a PMP was, and she stopped and said, “Are you serious?” To which I replied, “Well yes, they don’t teach us much about paperwork at uni, and certainly hardly at all about WorkCover.” It is small battles like these which I know I will lose for now – I already said to my clinic manager last week that paperwork was in fact the thing I was most afraid of – but I’m quietly sure that I’ll be winning many down the track. But the main thing for now is that I like what I’m doing in the room with clients.
I look forward to going to work 
