Preparing for work and life?

Starting work in less than four weeks is to me a very daunting task, and one that will flash by without a moments thought. With this new responsibility, time load and case load I have had to think a little bit about myself. Over the year of placements I have had to struggle with the usual stress of being on placement, not being familiar with the place/people/supervisors, but also with my personal battle with arthritis. I remember days in agony that I went to prac, so as I didn’t appear to be slacking off, but really couldn’t perform to my potential because of it. With this in mind and my current pain level 3/10 sitting here writing this, I had a decision to make as to where my professional life would lead. Given the amount of emphasis placed on how much we will learn in the first year out puts some stress on choosing the right position. When reading over contracts I had to consider whether there was an appropriate emphasis on my future learning rather than target patient numbers/month, continuing education, insurance and last of all the type of physio treatments accessible and appropriate for myself. Due to my condition and possible longevity with the profession, it was important for me to analyse what environment would be able to accommodate my needs and help me treat the when and how I can- to me hydro and gerontology will hopefully be an integral part of my client base, mainly due to my interest in both areas but that I can physically handle them in large doses. Then looking into the future, being diagnosed within the first year of my physio degree and the progression being faster than I’d have anticipated, the unfortunate task is thinking about future studies that I may need to complete to continue working. No drastic decisions to make now, but just food for thought- I guess I may just add to those statistics of people who only hang around in the profession for 5-10 years!!