1. Positive: I'm most proud of the fact the I pretty much talked for 90 minutes non-stop. I had a bunch of content and I feel that I definitely kept the energy up the entire time. I think I spoke well and gave an entertaining and informative presentation. I also think it's really cool that I talked passionately about a topic I have zero passion for. It's boosted my confidence in my presenting skills and it feels good to know that I could easily do it again if I had to.
2.a I'd give my block presentation a P+. I think I hit all the necessary points pretty well and I easily reached a full hour of pure content so that's where the + comes in.
b. I'd give myself a P. I did what I was expected to and I did it effectively.
3. During my senior project I really hated my topic so I think I did a bang-up job setting that aside and grinding it out to deliver a quality presentation in the end. It worked out well that I presented the first day because I've been ready to finish senior project since day one.
4. If I had to go back in time and change something I'd change my topic entirely. Probably something about music because then I could research something I'm actually passionate about and for my independent components I could've done some recording like I've always wanted to.
5. Senior project has definitely made me confident in my ability to hunker down and deliver solid work when I'm required to. I think I budgeted my time better than I did in past years, and I've gotten so used to the stress of long term deadlines that at this point I'm not even worried about college or anything. My senior project definitely helped me narrow down my career options. I know for a fact now that I will never want to be a physical therapist, but I also know that I could really thrive in a medical career if I decided to pursue one. This project has made me realize I have the interpersonal skills and intellectual capacity to talk fluently to pretty much anyone and also digest monumental amounts of information. Even though I went through the process kicking and screaming I feel that senior project has actually changed me for the better and helped me hone skills that were on the back burner for a while.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Blog 22: Mentorship
Literal:
Hours log - See link on blog
Contact name and place of mentorship - Robbie Faustino, PT aide, Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation.
Interpretive:
The most important thing I learned during my time at Casa Colina was probably the flow of hospitals. I watched so many evaluations and saw so many plans of treatment play out that towards the end it became easy to predict the way things would turn out. One of the most interesting things I've taken from my senior project is how the human body is a machine like any other, and can be treated as such in physical therapy. There are treatments with such high rates of proven clinical effectiveness that once the PT gets that eval out of the way, the finish line is already in sight. Even though patients will come in presenting very different problems to the PT, the treatment flows the same way for the most part. The first portion of treatment always begins with tentativeness and anxiety on the patient's part, but later on treatment goes more smoothly as the patient gets more and more comfortable, falling into the routine of performing their prescribed exercises. This kind of thing is good to know and gives insight on why hospitals do things the way they do.
Applied:
The 50+ hours I put in at Casa Colina gave me a lot of insight on how exactly the healthcare system works, and what we need to do to improve it. PTs like Annie, Dave, and Manny have been working in physical therapy for a long time and gave me their views on streamlining medical records and improving patient education in hospitals. Cinnamon and Robbie, PT Aides who did more of the hands on stuff with the patients, showed me how to effectively treat and maintain the body in the event of injury/disease. I talked with a lot of patients about what they thought of their experiences in Casa Colina, which as cool, but a lot of the time I could tell what they thought just based on body language alone. A lot of the first time patients gave off incredible vibes of anxiety and fear, and I think the hectic nature of a physical therapy ward is not very conducive to stress-free treatment. More than one patient also told me that they wished they could have consistency with their physicians, and that having PTs constantly changing in and out with their schedules was tiresome. All this combined with my research on healthcare policy improvements made it clear to me that patient centered care was probably the best answer to my EQ. This care model addressed everything I had learned regarding patient needs and the required conditions for effective care. If I just did research using online sources and print resources, I doubt I would've arrived at the same answer. The PTs and PTAs at Casa Colina were very helpful in nudging my research in the right direction.
Hours log - See link on blog
Contact name and place of mentorship - Robbie Faustino, PT aide, Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation.
Interpretive:
The most important thing I learned during my time at Casa Colina was probably the flow of hospitals. I watched so many evaluations and saw so many plans of treatment play out that towards the end it became easy to predict the way things would turn out. One of the most interesting things I've taken from my senior project is how the human body is a machine like any other, and can be treated as such in physical therapy. There are treatments with such high rates of proven clinical effectiveness that once the PT gets that eval out of the way, the finish line is already in sight. Even though patients will come in presenting very different problems to the PT, the treatment flows the same way for the most part. The first portion of treatment always begins with tentativeness and anxiety on the patient's part, but later on treatment goes more smoothly as the patient gets more and more comfortable, falling into the routine of performing their prescribed exercises. This kind of thing is good to know and gives insight on why hospitals do things the way they do.
Applied:
The 50+ hours I put in at Casa Colina gave me a lot of insight on how exactly the healthcare system works, and what we need to do to improve it. PTs like Annie, Dave, and Manny have been working in physical therapy for a long time and gave me their views on streamlining medical records and improving patient education in hospitals. Cinnamon and Robbie, PT Aides who did more of the hands on stuff with the patients, showed me how to effectively treat and maintain the body in the event of injury/disease. I talked with a lot of patients about what they thought of their experiences in Casa Colina, which as cool, but a lot of the time I could tell what they thought just based on body language alone. A lot of the first time patients gave off incredible vibes of anxiety and fear, and I think the hectic nature of a physical therapy ward is not very conducive to stress-free treatment. More than one patient also told me that they wished they could have consistency with their physicians, and that having PTs constantly changing in and out with their schedules was tiresome. All this combined with my research on healthcare policy improvements made it clear to me that patient centered care was probably the best answer to my EQ. This care model addressed everything I had learned regarding patient needs and the required conditions for effective care. If I just did research using online sources and print resources, I doubt I would've arrived at the same answer. The PTs and PTAs at Casa Colina were very helpful in nudging my research in the right direction.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Exit Interview
1.) My EQ is "How can a physical therapist best ensure a patient is effectively cared for in an outpatient physical therapy setting?" My first answer was a thorough initial evaluation, my second answer, proper patient education, and my third, patient-centered care. It was fairly obvious even before I got to my third answer that patient-centered care would be my best answer.It’s easy to see why patient-centered care would be the biggest asset to outpatient physical therapy. PCC brings some of the most important aspects of very effective care models and condenses them into one package. There’s no bells and whistles, and no filler. Every component of patient-centered care has a purpose, and all parts are designed to aid in providing the most effective care possible. The comprehensive care model is tailored to human nature and accounts for medical interventions, access to information and education, environment of care, family involvement, and patient preferences and education. Much like the human body it is working to repair, patient-centered care functions as a well oiled machine, precise in its movements towards effective care and greater than the sum of its parts.
2.) It dawned on me about halfway through my research that patient-centered care actually includes many of the care philosophies related to my other findings. For example, while studying techniques for patient evaluations, I learned that communication is a critical factor to consider while performing a systems review. In the 2006 NIHCM Meeting Brief, the foundation proposed to increase their focus on healthcare-consumer education in order to yield more effective care in medical practices. Their goal was to combine better patient education with consumer-engagement techniques to ensure patients had every opportunity to make well-informed decisions regarding their health. By looking at the entire picture instead of isolating specific parts of my research, it becomes very clear just how comprehensive patient-centered care is. It feels as though every article I read in the last eight months was leading me right to PCC as the best answer to my essential question. It is without a doubt the best way to effectively provide care for outpatient physical therapy patients.
3.) There weren't too many problems I faced while arriving at my best answer. Like I said, I felt as though the whole research process was sort of leading me to some sort of conclusion. I had this thought like "there's an exact answer to my EQ out there somewhere," and I knew just as soon as I had read the words "patient-centered-care" that that was the one. It became real clear to me almost instantly, and then after that I spent a lot of time researching that one answer. There was plenty of articles on the subject as well so it wasn't too difficult.
4.) The Picker Institute's Practical Approaches for Building a Patient Centered Culture
and Donald M. Berwick's article "What Patient Centered Should Mean" were my most valuable sources. These helped me confirm that patient-centered care was my best answer and provided a lot of other helpful articles/literature in their works cited that helped me expand my knowledge on the topic of PCC and physical therapy in general. Practical Approaches gave me a lot of information on the necessary conditions for PCC to be effective, which makes up a good portion of my paper. Berwick's article gave doctor's opinions on PCC and explored it's strengths and weaknesses, which was helpful in deciding if it was my best answer or not.
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