Feedback is essential in education. Without it, it’s impossible to know if you’re achieving what you’ve set out to achieve.

I was delighted to run a 2 day Know Pain course with Helen Preston from Preston’s Health in Peterborough recently. I was equally delighted to receive Helen’s feedback and course review. Many thanks Helen.

My thoughts on the Know Pain course by Helen Preston@prestonshealth

Thanks Mike for giving your time and energy to educate us all at Prestons Health.

I can highly recommend the course to all therapists who treat persistent pain.

It is remarkable to think an average of 1% of undergraduate time in physiotherapy education is given to pain science. It dawned on me that all therapists treat pain in some shape or form and the absence of this as a core subject in undergraduate therapy education institutions is quite remarkable. However, this course goes a way in bridging that gap, whether you are a new grad or an old timer like me!

A real strength of this course is its multidimensional nature and just how practical it is in its application to clinical practice. What makes it different from pain courses I have been to before (and i have been in a few!) is how it focuses on the therapist as an educator. Hand on heart, I never considered myself primarily as a teacher before. This course changed that for me. The course provided insight into adult learning theory, which was extremely enlightening as to why my therapeutic approach had worked with some and not with others. I genuinely now approach every clinical interaction with a different hat, much more aware of my role as an educator and the patients learning styles.

Mike has become famous in the physio world for his use of metaphors and he draws on these throughout the course. I am now picking up and utilising patient generated metaphors in treatment planning for my patients. My patients had been handing me clues into how to tap into their potential before and I hadn’t even noticed. Now I do!

I particularly enjoyed the second day when Mike explored lots of different ways to approach pain education. Song lyric analysis. Chinese fingertraps (my patients love these) PHODA. Too many to mention them all!

In summary, Mike’s approach to teaching us as teachers was refreshing and full of insight. There were lots of opportunities for us to synthesise our learning with group activities and case studies at the end. I have to also mention the simply fabulous learning material for the course too. The handouts and file are very well thought out and having our very own Know Pain USB card with the presentations will help ensure the vast amount of information is not forgotten.

All in all, a course well worth investing in. And thoroughly enjoyable. Highly recommended.

 

Helen Preston BSc (Hons)

Director

Chartered Physiotherapist

Prestons Health

www.prestonshealth.co.uk