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Saturday, April 30, 2011
Relaxing
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
A little good luck...
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Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Represent.
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Sunday, April 17, 2011
Three More Weeks.
Two more of class, plus finals week. Then it's on to my level II fieldwork in Houston, TX. It really is amazing how fast these two years have gone by.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement
Today I had the opportunity to watch a shoulder replacement surgery. Good news: I managed keep my cool! I didn't get dizzy, feel sick, or anything! I heard I'm lucky I have no sense of smell, but that's neither here nor there.
The operation was a reverse total shoulder replacement. Now, shoulders are built pretty crappy. Four measly muscles support
the joint. Together they are called the rotator cuff, and they consist of the following muscles: supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor. These muscles can be damaged relatively easily, which can lead to any number of problems including pain, disuse, muscle atrophy, etc. These problems, when severe enough, warrant replacement of the joint.
Typical shoulder replacement prostheses are modeled after
normal shoulder anatomy (ball and socket joint). The head of the humerus (the upper arm bone) is shaped like a sphere, and the scapula (the shoulder blade) has a spherical socket called the glenohumoral fossa.
However, because of the damage to the rotator cuff, the deltoid muscle (located over top of the rotator cuff on the shoulder, now serve the purpose of stabilizing the joint. Because of the angles of pull, the deltoid doesn't do a very good job naturally at producing the complex movements of the shoulder.
So what's the solution? Flip it around. Hence, REVERSE total shoulder replacement. Now the deltoid has a mechanical advantage. Pictured below are the prostheses used for the operation.
The surgery was pretty cool to watch. I also had the opportunity to watch a knee arthroscopy and a carpal tunnel release surgery. More to come on those I'm sure, as I am finding ANY reason right now to put off my homework.
The operation was a reverse total shoulder replacement. Now, shoulders are built pretty crappy. Four measly muscles support
the joint. Together they are called the rotator cuff, and they consist of the following muscles: supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor. These muscles can be damaged relatively easily, which can lead to any number of problems including pain, disuse, muscle atrophy, etc. These problems, when severe enough, warrant replacement of the joint.Typical shoulder replacement prostheses are modeled after
normal shoulder anatomy (ball and socket joint). The head of the humerus (the upper arm bone) is shaped like a sphere, and the scapula (the shoulder blade) has a spherical socket called the glenohumoral fossa.However, because of the damage to the rotator cuff, the deltoid muscle (located over top of the rotator cuff on the shoulder, now serve the purpose of stabilizing the joint. Because of the angles of pull, the deltoid doesn't do a very good job naturally at producing the complex movements of the shoulder.
So what's the solution? Flip it around. Hence, REVERSE total shoulder replacement. Now the deltoid has a mechanical advantage. Pictured below are the prostheses used for the operation.
The surgery was pretty cool to watch. I also had the opportunity to watch a knee arthroscopy and a carpal tunnel release surgery. More to come on those I'm sure, as I am finding ANY reason right now to put off my homework.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Houston VA
I got my first fieldwork assignment! From early May to early August, I will be working at the VA hospital in Houston, TX. Click the title of this entry to see their website!
Oh, and spring break starts Thursday. Today was a good day.
Oh, and spring break starts Thursday. Today was a good day.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Nashville or Bust!
Got some good news today! I am going to be doing my second level 2 fieldwork rotation in the Nashville Public School system. They have 35 occupational and physical therapy staff people and serve over 1400 children. My professor seemed to think that was a lot, which means I will hopefully be seeing a wide variety of cases. Still waiting on my first assignment, but it's good to know at least one. And it's in a city I love! Yipeee!!!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Level 1 Fieldwork
Today was my first day of Level 1 Fieldwork at Southern Ohio Medical Center (SOMC). I am stationed in the Medical Surgery department, following the occupational and physical therapists at the facility. I saw 7 patients. Two threw up. Two nearly passed out. One thought the president of the US was Kennedy; one thought he had a white beard and wore a straw hat. Those 7 patients presented a wide range of diagnoses including total hip replacements, total knee replacements, ascites, distention, bipolar disorder, subacute stroke, dimentia, alcoholism, depression, neuropathy, and more. For class, I was required to journal about my experience. Rather than type it again, I will paste it here:
My first day at the SOMC Med Surg Unit was an amazing experience. First, I was able to experience a setting that was foreign to me. I have never shadowed OT in a hospital, so it was exciting to see something new. Second, I got to experience a variety of diagnoses first hand, rather than in a text book. Seeing the presenting symptoms first hand was extremely valuable to my education.
My impression of the setting – it is SOOOOO fast paced. I was overwhelmed at first, and struggled to keep up with the lingo, abbreviations, and patient chart information. Not only was the whole day fast paced, but the time frame between evaluation and discharge of each patient is also fast. Most patients only stay for 3-5 days. The OT typically only sees each patient for evaluation and discharge, and her assistant treats them daily until they leave. This seems to have both advantages and disadvantages. Because the patients turnover so quickly in this unit, the OT has to do several evaluations each day, leaving her no time to treat the patients. Her OTA is able to help with this, spreading the workload and putting less stress on both workers. However, this turnover also limits the therapist-patient relationship, allowing little to no time for rapport to develop.
I'm not sure this is a setting that I would want to work in everyday, due to the lack of therapist-patient relationship. That being said, I learned a lot today, thanks to my supervising OT. She challenged me from the beginning. She required me to review charts, come up with treatment plans, write sample goals, and I even performed an evaluation. I enjoyed the challenge, and I am looking forward to learning more each week. Everyone always said that everything you learn in the classroom pulls together and makes sense once you see it in the clinic. It seems as though, after one day, they were right.
My first day at the SOMC Med Surg Unit was an amazing experience. First, I was able to experience a setting that was foreign to me. I have never shadowed OT in a hospital, so it was exciting to see something new. Second, I got to experience a variety of diagnoses first hand, rather than in a text book. Seeing the presenting symptoms first hand was extremely valuable to my education.
My impression of the setting – it is SOOOOO fast paced. I was overwhelmed at first, and struggled to keep up with the lingo, abbreviations, and patient chart information. Not only was the whole day fast paced, but the time frame between evaluation and discharge of each patient is also fast. Most patients only stay for 3-5 days. The OT typically only sees each patient for evaluation and discharge, and her assistant treats them daily until they leave. This seems to have both advantages and disadvantages. Because the patients turnover so quickly in this unit, the OT has to do several evaluations each day, leaving her no time to treat the patients. Her OTA is able to help with this, spreading the workload and putting less stress on both workers. However, this turnover also limits the therapist-patient relationship, allowing little to no time for rapport to develop.
I'm not sure this is a setting that I would want to work in everyday, due to the lack of therapist-patient relationship. That being said, I learned a lot today, thanks to my supervising OT. She challenged me from the beginning. She required me to review charts, come up with treatment plans, write sample goals, and I even performed an evaluation. I enjoyed the challenge, and I am looking forward to learning more each week. Everyone always said that everything you learn in the classroom pulls together and makes sense once you see it in the clinic. It seems as though, after one day, they were right.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
LAST SEMESTER!!!
This week marks the beginning of my last semester of classes ever! Words can not explain how much excitement this brings me. I am beyond ready to be done with school. However, some of the things to look forward to in the nearer future are:
Grant Writing/Program Development Class - I'm thinking about trying to write a grant to create an art therapy room at a live in facility for children who are wards of the state of West Virginia. More to come on that...
Fieldwork Level I - I'm assigned to the Southern Ohio Medical Center's medical surgery, inpatient occupational therapy department. This will take place every Tuesday of the semester starting in February. Hopefully that will give me some interesting material to write about.
Research Defense - My research team successfully completed our 12-week aquatic therapy study, and will be writing up our results and defending our thesis by the end of the semester. That's approximately 6 months earlier than required!
Class Trip - We aren't sure where we are going yet, but several of us will be taking a trip to celebrate the end of our last semester. Woooooohooooo!!!!
Still no word on Fieldwork Level II. I requested to be assigned to The Institute of Rehabilitation and Research in Houston, TX and a school or residential adult home in Nashville, TN. As soon as my locations are confirmed, I will be posting to let everyone know where I'm headed in May.
Grant Writing/Program Development Class - I'm thinking about trying to write a grant to create an art therapy room at a live in facility for children who are wards of the state of West Virginia. More to come on that...
Fieldwork Level I - I'm assigned to the Southern Ohio Medical Center's medical surgery, inpatient occupational therapy department. This will take place every Tuesday of the semester starting in February. Hopefully that will give me some interesting material to write about.
Research Defense - My research team successfully completed our 12-week aquatic therapy study, and will be writing up our results and defending our thesis by the end of the semester. That's approximately 6 months earlier than required!
Class Trip - We aren't sure where we are going yet, but several of us will be taking a trip to celebrate the end of our last semester. Woooooohooooo!!!!
Still no word on Fieldwork Level II. I requested to be assigned to The Institute of Rehabilitation and Research in Houston, TX and a school or residential adult home in Nashville, TN. As soon as my locations are confirmed, I will be posting to let everyone know where I'm headed in May.
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