Idk if I can articulate this in a way that makes sense, but I feel like going from “oh, thank God, people are easily impressed” to “oh no, a lot of people are wayyy too easily impressed” is an important milestone in terms of personal ethics and maturity.
Like, when I was nineteen or twenty and getting observation hours to apply to PT school, people were impressed with me for being on time, friendly, and not on my phone. (They were also probably being nice to me because I looked like I was twelve, lol). And to little anxiety-filled, barely adult me, that was a huge relief.
Fast-forward to now. I’m in my last year of a DPT program. I’ve learned about things like racial bias in healthcare, what the standard of follow-up care and patient education should look like for common procedures, and some of the science of how psychology affects pain. I’m also very aware that I’m still the student in the room, with hardly any experience. And sometimes patients are impressed with me for... listening to them? Being respectful of their identity? Taking their symptoms seriously and getting a thorough history? When people are impressed with the bare minimum, it usually says something about their past experiences, and pretty often that shows up as poor continuity of care, a judgmental tone in their referral, or really terrible stories. Now when people are impressed with me, I feel extra pressure to be the person who’s ready to advocate for them, or catch problems that could have been overlooked.
It’s just weird how a similar experience can evoke completely different emotions at different times in your life. I guess it’s the difference between needing to prove you’re responsible, and actually experiencing responsibility.
