Post prac post

I can't believe we're done. I actually had so much fun and feel like I've learnt more than I could have ever imagined. Our supervisor really pushed us to to perform to the best of our abilities and question why we did everything. I feel as though what we've learnt makes sense now and I can finally understand how to implement it. Our supervisor believed in hands on learning and I think that was great for me! I feel really lucky to have been able to go to Bentley. I feel much more confident in myself and like I've chosen the right career path!

week 5 reflection 3

My last day!! Was feeling so excited but worried about the shoulder patient. My supervisor and I did come up with a good plan....not to mention the word posture and try was she was referred for and thought would be her cure, ultrasound. When I saw her she was very glad that i had come around to trying ultrasound! She also obviously does not do any of her prescribed exercises as she came in with the exact same posture, such rounded shoulders, protracted scapula's and a resultant, ginormous thoracic kyphosis!! Anyway, my not mentioning posture and trying ultrasound actually did get her on-side, she didn't yell or roll her eyes once. After that she was more receptive to my ideas and I pointed out the three most important exercises for her to do! I highly highly doubt that she will do them but at least she left in a better place than she has before. (Although she did say she had more pain after the US....... she also found pain relieving positions etc painful so im not sure) I just feel terrible for the girl I handed her over to... The rest of our day was fantastic as well!! The staff threw us a good bye lunch (we have definitely chosen the correct profession...food is big on their list!) We had a mexican themed arvo and taco, buritos and nachos for lunch! It was great and I have to say I was a little sad to go!

week 5 reflection 2

My horrible shoulder patient was due to come in today. I had spoken to my supervisor about how to cope with the situation. (He knew she wasn't so nice as he, and all the other physios, heard her yelling at me last week during the lunch break...she was half an hour late so i had to give up lunch!) He basically told me that i should not take it personally, that he would have done the exact same things as me as the cause of her problem is poor posture...leading to her impingement. She just doesn't want to be the one to take control of the problem, she would like completely passive treatment. Our supervisor also doesn't believe in treating pain and symptoms, because it will have absolutely no effect when she goes home, her posture hasn't changed and so neither will the problem. He suggested however that we should try Ultrasound as a last resort as it was on her referral (which was for frozen shoulder anyway and not correct) . It was what she believed she needed. That way, when she is sent back to the doctor we can at least say we tried the doctors suggestion. She will most probably then have a surgery and be sent back to physio with the same problems anyway as she will still have poor posture!! Anyway...she cancelled her appointment, what a weight lifted off my shoulders. But re-shedualed for my very last day! I definitely don't want a negative spin put on my entire experience so i need a good plan!

week 5 reflection 1

The start of our last week! Its fantastic! Starting from today our supervisor has suggested we do the subjective, objective assessment and treatment by ourselves and then speak to him and tell him what we chose and why! It was a really scary idea at first and i felt a little nervous but i think i handled it quite well. If after the subjective and objective, i needed some time to gather my thought i just said i was going out to speak to supervisor. Once away from the patient i would just quickly jot down a problem list and then my treatment would become clear. If it was a straight forward case though i would stay i with the patient for the whole time. i think that was a good way for me to dal with the situations i was resented with as i could really get my head around what i needed to do and make sure i was doing the right thing.

week 4 reflection 3

I had a patient today with bilateral patello-femoral pain. Her knees sat so laterally...to the point where, on a lateral glide, her patella clunked over the trochlea and essentially dislocates....and her medial glide was nil. We decided that the cause of her problem was insanely tight lateral quads and ITB and under active VMO. Part of my treatment included trigger point release of the lateral quads and DTM of ITB. Her trigger points were so big and tender that they made her cry. I found it quite difficult at that moment. She obviously wanted me to keep going as she found it gave her up to a months relief from her knee pain...but it was horrible. Looking back, i definitely don't think I pushed as hard a I could have because I didn't want to hurt her...but in the long run, that's not going to be as helpful for her. After the treatment her patella's did sit more centrally so I did help her problem to some degree. The rest of the week was the quietest yet....it's amazing how many people re-schedule when it's raining:)

week 4 reflection 2

Today I saw a patient 6 weeks post a R ACL recon and medial menisectomy. I have one other patient who had an ACL recon and she was 8 weeks post so i thought i knew what I'd be in for. My 8 week-er came in with a limp, 1 crutch and nowhere near full range. The 6 week post boy i had today came in with no crutches and walked as if he had never even had surgery! I couldn't believe it!! He was super fit previous to his accident though which clearly makes a huge difference! It just gos to show you can never really assume you know whats coming! Looking back over my treatment I think I did a good Job of educating him. Because his knee felt amazing he wasn't really sticking to the guidelines. I made sure I educated him that his graft was coming up to its weakest phase and that he probably had to be more careful now than ever. He was only 19 though so maybe I was a bit too casual as he is close to my age... perhaps i needed to drum it in a bit more. I also felt that I could have given him a few more exciting exercises as he said he didn't really do his HEP as it was a bit easy and boring.

week 4 reflection 1

week four has started in super busy way... I had my first day of 5 patients and it was insanely scary, but great to know that I could do it. I think it really helped that I had prepared well prior to seeing the patients. I had made a plan for my objective assessment and then changed it accordingly depending on what I saw during any quick tests. For example, one lady I saw had hip pain...but watching her gait i noticed she had absolutely no DF and so then quickly included ankle assessment into my plan. I think that my time management has also significantly improved...i saw 2 patients in an hour...that big for me and my usual 1 hour plus!! I think that now I really need to work on giving good explanations on tests im doing or why im performing certain treatments and how I expect it to help them. Hope you all win money tomorrow!!