Saturday, January 31, 2015

January Extra Post

This month has been kinda hectic considering we had the second lesson presentations. I didn't procrastinate on my lesson as hard as I did last time, and it turned out a bit better because of that. I also practiced presenting with a stopwatch at home, which helped me on the timing. Last time I hadn't practiced beforehand, and I ended up having to really rush towards the end of the ten minutes. This time I was able to set the pace more comfortably.

The research I've been doing regarding my second and third EQ answers has gained momentum, and I'm starting to find the sweet spot when it comes to picking helpful articles. The only problem is that my possible answers may be too specific, and a lot of the journals and articles I'm finding are telling me the same things. I may have to change my approach a little bit so I have room to explore the answers more in depth, or I may have to come up with new answers. But regardless of all that, I'm sort of settling into the groove of senior project. I nailed my Lesson 2 presentation, and I know the final senior presentation will be a cakewalk.

One complication came up with my mentorship; my mentor is changing her hours, and soon she won't work on Saturdays anymore, which means it'll be harder for me to do mentorship considering the only other day I can go is on Thursdays. I may have to find another mentor to supplement this future loss of mentorship opportunity.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Blog 13: Lesson 2 Reflection

1. I'm most proud of that fact that I delivered over 15 minutes of solid research content, and it didn't even feel like very long. It came really easily to me, and I'm kind of stoked on how much information I've actually absorbed over the past couple months.

2.a I'd give myself a P.
2.b I turned everything in on time and I hit every bullet on the far right rubric column pretty much on the dot.

3. I think my presenting style works well with my topic. By that I mean, a lot very technical topics like medicine or engineering are pretty boring to hear about in a presentation, but since I present in a more active and conversational manner, it's good for capturing the audience's attention.

In my PowerPoint presentation, I had more topics than I had time to cover, so once I realized this, I decided to ask the room what they wanted to hear about instead of just carrying on with the planned slides. This gave my lesson a more interactive feel, and also freed up more time for my activity and conclusion. It was a good move in hindsight.

4. I would've scrapped some of my slides If I could go back, or at the very least planned out how I was going to present them a bit better. I found myself sort of rambling at some parts and in my mind I was thinking "dude stop talking about boring old ACL injuries," but it was too late to stop mid explanation. Next time I'll rehearse run my presentation a couple more times at home to work out more of the kinks.

5. Possible answers:
  • "collaborative care"
    • A strong healthcare team 
    • putting the healthcare consumer at center of focus  
  • prevention/prehabilitation

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Blog #12: Mentorship 10 Hours CHeck

1. I'm currently doing my mentorship at Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation

2.  My contact is Andrea Haston DPT, ATC

3. I've done a total of 16 hours.

4.  I do a lot of observing at Casa Colina. I watch my mentor treat patients and listen while she explains anatomy and PT concepts to me. I also talk to the patients quite a bit. I learn about what they're going through and what exercises my mentor has prescribed them to help them get better. I help out in maintaining the PT ward as well; I throw dirty linens in the laundry basket and replace them with clean ones, wipe down tables, and make ice packs when one of the PT's/PTAs needs them.


Monday, January 5, 2015

Blog 11: Holiday Project Update

1. Over the break, I did some more hours with my mentor. It was pretty slow since I went in a few days before Christmas, but hey, hours are hours right? I also did a little catching up on research checks. I went back and finished notating sources I hadn't completed.

2. The most important thing I learned from the hours I did was that physical therapy can be very physically and emotionally draining for the patients. I was observing my mentor work with a woman who had shoulder pain for the past year, and all of a sudden the woman sort of broke down, like not really crying, but not really not crying, you know? Regardless, she appeared to be very distressed. I overheard her say how she was just tired. Tired of the pain, tired of not being able to handle simple motor function, and tired of being tired of all that stuff. Sometimes the marginal improvements from weeks of physical therapy can be underwhelming at best. I know from personal experience how frustrating it is when you feel like you're not recovering, or not recovering fast enough. That's just something that really stuck with me from this mentor ship experience. The emotional toll can be severe, and it's something you don't really stop and think about 'till it's staring you in the face.

3. If I could interview my mentor, Andrea Haston, again, I'd definitely interview her for this 10 question. She's very knowledgeable and passionate about her work. If that's not an option, I'd have to go with her co-worker Manny. Manny is a PTA, so he works directly under my mentor. He gives off this vibe of wisdom, which I think is rad. He's definitely someone I'd be down to interview.