Action plans

SWOT analysis: 

Strengths –

–        Confident within the clinical environment

–        Strong and efficient communication skills

–        Organisation skills

–        Knowledge of different types of injuries and treatments

–        Physiology knowledge

–        Managing change

–        Writing style/ note keeping

–        IT skills

–        Dedicated and committed individual

–        Confident in making decisions

–        Ability to work within a team efficiently and confidently

 

 Weaknesses –

–        Anatomy knowledge

–        Referencing

–        Bad time management

–        Lack of experience

–        First aid

–        Flexibility/ multi-tasking

–        The use of initiative
Opportunities –

–        Confidence within the clinical environment will enable me to work and communicate with a variety of clients, as well as work within a team environment and different individuals throughout my career. Having confidence will also, encourage me to take every opportunity which is presented to me, developing my skills and knowledge.

–        Strong communication skills will ensure that I am able to work with a verity of different people (including clients and other therapists), work within a team environment and make good connections and relationships which may benefit my career in the future.

–        Good physiology knowledge will ensure that I am able to provide support to all clients, therefore providing them with a comfortable experience, meaning that clients are more likely to put trust into me as a therapist and follow my advice.

–        Being able to adapt to new environments will benefit me within the future as it will provide me with a wide range of work opportunities in different places and environments. This will also expose opportunities which require the flexibility and adaptability to work in different environments regularly such as, with a sports team.

–        The ability to make decisions confidently is essential when working within sports therapy as I will have to provide injury assessments and treatments to injured patients and refer patients to further care when appropriate. With good decision making it will enable me to make these decisions efficiently and effectively.

–        With the ability to work within a team efficiently, it will enable me to become open to more job opportunities, including working with sports teams as this requires working with players, coaches and other medical members.

–        With the strength of good IT skills and note keeping, it will enable me to efficiently complete accurate electronic medical notes which is essential when treating and providing care to patients. In addition, it will allow me to collect data on injuries to understand the trends and factors with incidence rates and injury burdens which will help expand my knowledge and understanding.

 Threats –

–        The market within sports therapy is very saturated, which means there is a high number of qualified sports therapists and rehabilitators which means the amount of competition is higher when applying for jobs. Therefore, gaining more experience is essential and not having this will decrease the chance of getting accepted for a job.

–        Lack of anatomy knowledge will hold me back and prevent me from progressing within the future, therefore, this needs to be worked on.

–        Bad time management could cause room for error when working with different clients in the future such as missing out important or details and not being on time for appointments. This could also affect my flexibility, due to the fact that if tasks are not completed then this will reduce the time available, reducing my flexibility.

–        Weak multi-tasking skills and poor flexibility could reduce the number of opportunities available to me in the future as flexibility and the ability to meet the demands and needs of the clients and the job is very important and essential for successful consultations.

–        Without using my initiative and relying on my own knowledge and understanding to make decisions it could affect the overall productivity of my work environment, due to the fact that it would take unnecessary time to consult with others, rather than just relying on my own opinions and using my initiative to make a decision. This is also essential as I need to use my initiative in order to provide patients with the right treatments and diagnose injuries without hesitation, especially within a fast pace work environment.

–        A first aid qualification is a necessity as it is a requirement or desirable characteristic which most jobs within sports therapy look for, therefore without this qualification it could reduce my capability and desirability for certain jobs.

 

 

Based on these strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, I am able to create a series of action plans in order to achieve my goals.

Action plan 1:

A weakness of mine is my lack of experience in a clinical environment, therefore, I have created an action plan in order to enhance my experience within a clinical setting and gain more experience.

Steps –

  1. Complete at least an hour of soft tissue massage each week, either on family members or flat mates
  2. Complete all required clinical hours
  3. Work with a variety of people during practical’s sessions (when able to) to gain more confidence in dealing with different people.
  4. Complete external clinical hours at Hatfield practice. This will provide me with experience within a professional clinical setting.
  5. Continue to research and better my knowledge and understanding of different injuries and the best possibly treatment for these injuries.
  6. Gain relevant work experience within the next three years in order to develop my confidence further, become more familiarized with the work environment and further improve my skills, understanding and knowledge.

Action plan 2: 

Another weakness of mine is the inability to use my initiative to come to decisions within a work place. Therefore, an action is needed in order to improve this.

Steps –

  1. Apply the use of direct decision making throughout day to day life in order to improve this skill.
  2. Prevent consulting others when making a decision in and out of clinic. This will allow me to become more confident and sure in my own decisions, improving my initiative.
  3. Put myself in a position that require me to make difficult decisions and use my initiative to overcome problems.
  4. Gaining more clinical experience will provide me with further confidence in making deceive decisions and using my own initiative.