Initial Entry (third rotation)

My third rotation is at Fremantle Hospital, musculoskeletal outpatients. After reading through the clinical mixes I expect to be predominatly working with patients 65 years and older. I expect to see a wide variety of presenting complaints including ankle sprains, shoulder dislocations, lower back pain and post joint replacements. I believe conducting a concise and structured subjective and objective assessment will be critical in this placement as this will form a diagnosis and subsequent treatment plan. Specifically, I expect assessment items such as goniometry, muscle length and joint testing to be used repeatedly throughout the placement. I expect to see 6-8 patients per day, with initial consultations lasting 40-60 minutes, and follow-ups lasting 30 minutes.
I expect to be given more independence at an earlier stage in this placement, so that I have an independent caseload from my third or fourth day. Although I expect to be working independently from a very early stage, I am confident I will be in a very supportive environment and will be able to seek assistance where necessary. Unlike my last placement at Joondalup hospital, I do not expect a strong multidisciplinary emphasis at this placement, mainly because it is an outpatient setting.
I am very nervous and anxious prior to beginning at Fremantle because apart from practical classes and exams at university I have no experience in musculoskeletal physiotherapy. Further, although I have done more study and preparation for this placement then any of my previous placements, I still feel under-prepared and constantly remind myself of areas that I have not revised. I am also a little intimidated of the prospect of patients presenting specifically to see me for a diagnosis and treatment, rather then in an inpatient setting where the priority is on medical managment and physiotherapy augments the medical management. In this inpatient setting patients have already received a diagnosis, whereas in the outpatient setting the patients will be presenting in order to receive a diagnosis and this makes me extremely nervous. My final concern relates to time management as on this placement patients will have scheduled appointments and I will have to ensure I keep a tight schedule so that patients are not left waiting for long periods, as this is something that annoys me when I have doctor/physiotherapy appointment.