Feeling like placement is going terrible
Hi everyone, I’m on my second placement (I’m Canadian and in a Canadian school, not sure what the equivalent is in US). It’s 10 weeks and I’m in an in patient setting. I don’t want to include too many details to the point it’s identifiable.
I’m on my fourth week and we have seen two clients total. My preceptor seems to be going through some outside personal things which is completely understandable, life happens. We just haven’t got any consults or anything either. My preceptor has been placing me with other OTs and clinicians for shadowing but a lot of this isn’t OT related, and most of the time when they ask me questions I have no idea what they are talking about and feel so stupid. It is exhausting learning a new role and trying to grasp what that is in this setting and then not seeing the clinician again and repeating this with a new person. My preceptor has also given me things to research (conditions, treatments etc) which has been helpful but some days it is all I do. Somedays I get the impression that I am kind of just an annoyance to my preceptor but this could also be my anxiety lol.
I just feel lost. I’m worried for my midterm evaluation in a week because I don’t even know what will be discussed there. My preceptor has stated they feel terrible about my experience so far but I don’t know how to approach this or if there is anything I can even do. Another student in my cohort is at the same location with another OT and they are busy, and this student even asked “are you even with your preceptor at all”. So that was a bit disheartening lol. My first placement was amazing and my preceptor had a plethora of things for me to do and learn, so maybe I am just not used to this setting and this is the norm?
I have asked for things I can do etc but that has not changed the situation.
Any advice or insight would be appreciated on this.