Clin Ed V... wait, what?

So, today when I got home, I had some pretty exciting mail. I had a letter from my fifth clinical instructor! I don't start my last clinical until October, so it is a little far out, but I was excited to open the letter. My future CI sent me a little note just saying hello and just some very basic paperwork on what is appropriate dress, expectations, how things will work, etc. Really awesome!

The reason why I'm so excited about this particular placement is because it is in a setting that I didn't think I'd be able to get a chance to experience... early intervention. For those who may be reading that don't know early intervention services are started prior to preschool for those children who are having developmental delays or other types of delays. In the state that I reside, children are eligible for physical therapy early intervention if they have at least a 25% delay in gross motor development or they have a medical diagnosis that can lead to gross motor developmental delays (such as Down Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy). Now, most of you may know, especially if you will take a look at the banner on the top of this blog, that I used to be a teacher.

Obviously, pediatric physical therapy is something that I have toyed with and thought about, since I do have a little bit of a background in children. However, this semester I have learned that pediatric physical therapy is definitely something more than what my skills as an educator were, and I expected that; what I didn't expect was how much I'd love thinking about pediatric PT, almost as much as I loved thinking about my teaching days. (I do have fond memories, it's just some things aren't meant to be...)

So, given that I've had some years dealing with children and teaching, I really wanted to get into pediatrics with an age group and a setting that I didn't have any exposure to and EI was that opportunity. So, of course when I found out that I did get the placement, I was so excited. And, today, getting that letter made me realize how much I am looking forward to rounding out my PT school days with that clinical.

It seems like so far away, and in just a couple of weeks I'll be heading off to Clin Ed II at the hospital, so I have a ways to go before I can really start dreaming about my days with the kids... But, it was a great surprise in the midst of finals week to see that there is hope that I will make it to the end of this year and will FINALLY graduate. :)

Great resource for free, legal music AND it can help patients with Parkinson's Disease!

We've been learning about Parkinson's Disease in Neuro this semester and have done a little bit of learning on Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS).

I'm sure there aren't too many people that don't know, or at least have heard of, Parkinson's disease.  But, if I may be brief, here' s a very simplistic explanation... Parkinson's disease (PD) is a disease where the body's dopamine levels are compromised. For some reason, there is degeneration (or break down) of the substania nigra (which is within the basal ganglia of the brain, which in turn helps us to plan and execute movement) and it results in less dopamine release. Dopamine is a neurotranmitter that is essential for executing movement. This is why Parkinson's Disease has manifestations in movement dysfunction such as tremors, inability to initiate movement and trouble with walking.

The great thing about research is, they discover things that can help people with different issues. PD research is working hard on a cure, although there isn't one yet. And physical therapists are prime healthcare providers that may be requested to work with this patient population, either directly or indirectly when seeing a patient for another reason who may also have PD. Thus, it's important for us PTs to know about PD and what we can do to help it. Which, brings me to the main point of this journal entry- RAS and even more fun, a free, legal music source!

So, I've mentioned RAS, but I haven't explained it. RAS is using a fixed-tempo to assist those with PD (and maybe other diagnoses) to walk easier, more efficiently, and most important, safely. By giving these patients a beat to walk to, it helps to bypass the basal ganglia and use other parts of their brains to execute movement. I'm sure none of us are totally immune to a great beat, and research has shown that RAS can be really helpful in improving gait patterns.

So, that brings me to the website, steady130.


www.steady130.com (opens in new window) is an amaaaaazing music resource, not only potentially for patients but for yourself as well! It features remixes of current, as well as "older" music, set to specific beats. You can browse by speed, genre, artist, etc. and you're sure to find something perfect. I use this resource A LOT for my own workouts and also when I am teaching cycling classes. And, the best part is that this resource is completely FREE of use for listening online or downloading the tracks, and it is 100% legal.

So, I hope you find this source valuable, whether it is for physical therapy treatment or for your own personal use.

Last Day :(

I can't believe it has been 10 weeks. Today was my last day at my first clinical! :( I think back about how scared I was with day one and how nervous I was to start and now I am so sad it's over. I feel like I learned SO MUCH from my CI and the clinic I was placed in was absoutely perfect for me! I would honestly recommend where I went to any of my classmates/students because it was that awesome. Everyone was great to work with and having the extra worker's compensation piece was super interesting. I feel like I definitely utilized my #1 lottery pick well without even really knowing it. (Thank God!)

It was hard to say goodbye to my patients, but I know they are in good hands. I will really miss them! So many wished me good luck at school and how I will be a great PT some day. It was so validating even though it was bittersweet. I know Monday will be hard when I am sitting in class and not treating patients.

I am so proud to say, "I did it!", though. :) Now, to keep the momentum going...

Halfway through ClinEd I!

I can't believe I am halfway through my first clinical! Time is flying. Yesterday and today were my official midterm reviews. Yesterday, my clinical director came to talk to me and my CI. I felt like my meeting went very well... other then I kept saying "like" a lot! It was nice to get some feedback and it is reassuring to know I am on the right track.

Today I had my official meeting with my CI, but we always talk back and forth so there weren't any surprises, thank goodness. I suppose I was a little surprised on my ratings because my CI is always very position so I felt like she rated me a little lower than what she says verbally. I asked her about it though and she said I was right where I needed to be, so I felt better. I think it's just the perfectionist in me that can't let it go. But, besides that, everything went well.

I can't wait to see how much I grow in the next five weeks, because I feel like I have learned so much already!

Did I really just finish my first week of my first clinical?!

I survived my first week! :) I am already really glad I chose the site I did because I can tell I am going to learn SO much. Every day I get new responsibilities, so it's been a nice transition. My CI is really great about reviewing things and teaching when we have the opportunity. I even got to teach her a special test for the shoulder that she didn't know about. I'm also getting great feedback at the end of every day. We are really working well together so far. My goals for this upcoming week are to continue treating patients who are already established, doing the documentation and starting to do some evaluations. I'm really excited to keep practicing what I've learned and really working on my skills. I've been surprised at the amount of crush injuries that I've seen, although thankfully no broken bones yet. I think it is going to be very interesting to be working in a clinic that is for worker's compensation. I'm also amazed at how acute some of the patients are- we get patients who come in only a couple HOURS post-injury! Pretty neat to see how quickly we can start with people.

First Day of my First Clinical

Today was my first day at my first clinical experience! I was so nervous I could barely eat my breakfast before I was out the door to start at 7am. I had met my CI briefly before so I had an idea of what my clinic looked like, which helped calm me down (although not by much). I'm very excited about my placement after my first day, so hopefully my first impression is right.

When I arrived my CI and another PT student (from a different school) were already there. I have since gained access to the code to come in the side door so I don't have to wait for the main doors to be unlocked. My CI greeted me and gave me a quick tour around the facility. I am interning at a clinic that is attached to a larger, urgent care setting. I got to meet the head physician and some other support staff along the way. My CI warned me that the day was going to be very busy so there wouldn't be much "us" time in the form of orienting and talking. Lucky for me my placement had an on boarding system full of information and paperwork that I had worked through before starting, so I feel like I got a great orientation through that and then the tour pretty much summed it up.

I spent most of my day observing, trying to get comfortable with how everything worked, but my CI kept me very involved with overseeing patients exercises and simple tx (hot packs, e-stim, etc).

During our quick lunch, my CI laid out some expectations she had of me and we had a little bit of time to chat, which was nice. Most of what she expected hasn't been anything I haven't at least heard of, so I felt really good about how my school has prepared me for this first experience.

My CI says she will be working with me to see what I know and then eventually I will get my own patients. That is scary but also exciting! As she would see pts throughout the day she would ask me questions about different muscles, special tests, goniometry landmarks, etc. I was able to answer just about all of the questions she asked me, so that was a good confidence booster.

My CI asked what joint I was most comfortable with, to which I feel I've been equally prepared for all of them, so she told me to review foot/ankle and knee for tomorrow. Yikes! I haven't looked at ankle/foot and knee since around May!!

I also got a little orientation and observed my CI using their electronic documentation system. It is pretty user friendly and I will get to put my hands on it to document pts and there is also some online training that I can do to help me orient myself to the system better. I'm very excited to work on my documentation skills.

So, that was pretty much my first day! I liked it! I have a lot to look at for tomorrow, but I can do it! :) I'm looking forward to the experience.

Where has the time gone?

The last time I posted it was in January!! It's July! I can't believe it. Time has been going by so quickly and obviously school has kept me really, really busy.

My spring semester ran from January-April and I had a large course load with my first PBL experience. It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed my small group and I thought that we worked really well together and I learned a lot. I also had Neuroscience which was a big challenge, but it was really rewarding to understand everything (thank goodness we had our amazing physiology professor to teach us Neuro as well!). We also spent a lot of time in the lab learning all kinds of things like modalities and e-stim and a bunch of other things that I can't even think back far enough to remember!

Today I'm taking my last final of my third semester and the end of my first year. I can't believe it!! We took an 11 credit course all about musculoskeletal dysfunction. Needless to say, it was a LOT and I am so glad that I passed all my tests and have been deemed "ready" to go to my first clinical experience.

I'll talk more about that in another post, because I've got to get my study guide finished for my last final!