“Tell me and I forget.
Teach me and I remember.
Involve me and I learn. ”— Chinese Proverb
The topic for this week is “From theory into practice” but before I start, I would like to give the readers an idea of the setting. I have been placed at a private physical rehabilitation facility for the semester. The well-oiled multidisciplinary team is made up of occupational therapists, gym assistants, physiotherapists, speech therapists, social workers, nurses and doctors. It was truly amazing to see how each team member plays such a vital role in the patient’s recovery. Patients admitted to the facility generally have a lengthy stay, the turn over rate is low. The atmosphere and staff at the facility as well as our supervisor are all friendly and willing to help which really calmed the nerves I was feeling on the first day.
Now back to the topic ! Up till now I have been attending lectures where slide upon slide is thrown your way providing the proper foundation to help guide students on how treatment should be done. However, it is one thing reading of slides and a completely different situation when you have a real living person in front of you expecting treatment. I felt very excited about treating patients for the first time as it finally the point where we can start helping patients.
During the first day I performed various assessments on the two patients that’s were assigned to me. The assessments included informal methods such as observations as well as the interview. The formal assessments conducted we chosen specifically to the patients condition, for example the patient experienced a CVA (stroke) one of the main aspects you would assess is tone. The supervisor performed an assessment session with a patient. This session was very informative and it helped give us an idea of where to start with assessing and what important observations need to be made.
While I was planning my treatment sessions for the patients I realized the importance of being able to interpret assessment findings as well as gathering correct assessment findings. It is vital to get that right in order to provide the patient with the best possible treatment. For my first treatment session I had planned to be bed mobility and reality orientation. The session went well and I was excited to use the NDT preparation techniques we have learnt at campus as a warm up. I learnt the importance of having the appropriate down grades for the activity.
The feedback session with my supervisor was very informative. She was able to point out the areas where I needed to improve in both assessing and treating. During the session she provided me with helpful tips on how to improve handling skills and different techniques on how to assess reality orientation. She also helped me with prioritizing what should be assessed next.
I am very excited for the following sessions as they will provide me with the opportunity to improve my skills in both assessing and treating.
Inside the mind of a 4th year OT student 