Another Eventful Week

Wooooohoooooo!!! Guess what day it is? That’s right, it’s a Friday and I’m spending my Friday night eating ice cream and writing my week 3 blog post for you guys (I know right, I’m a wild one). It really seemed like you guys enjoyed Bruin more than anything else I wrote about in last week’s post as almost every comment I read mentioned him. I’ll try and bring more Bruin pictures for you guys (that way you have more of an incentive to tune in every week :-P).

As the weeks have gone by, things have progressively been getting juicier and juicier (for lack of a better word). We’ve analyzed patients of many different ages with many different injuries. In doing so, we questioned them on their experiences with physical therapy and even worked to stretch them out/exercise them. See, many of the patients at this clinic understand the aggressive approach it takes, and while they may struggle and fatigue, the long term implications are what makes it worth it. One particular patient described this form of therapy as painful, but necessary. To put this in perspective, I'll hearken back to the senior quote I made: “Obstacles and struggles are just fuel to the fire that makes you stronger.” Trust me, I did not plan this, but turns out it ended up working out pretty well. Anyways, the main point is that everyone needs a little push to get to the other side; and here at Synergy, everyone is aware of that and embraces it (otherwise they’d be at some other clinic right?) But without further ado, let’s get into this week...

As I mentioned in last week’s post, today is the last day for Joe and Lori :(. From here, they will go on to continue their journey in becoming a registered PT and PTA respectively. And just as an FYI, PT’s are mainly concerned with diagnosing patients and prescribing rehabilitation programs while PTA’s prioritize preparing patients to be diagnosed and aiding patients in executing their rehabilitation programs. But anyways, a big thank you to Joe and Lori! I remember telling Joe I want a beard like his because the problem with mine is that it doesn’t connect and his does perfectly. So, if you have any suggestions to fix that, PLEASE comment down below, it’s really been bothering me lately.

In addition to the departure of Joe and Lori, there was also the arrival of a new student, Kirsten. She is currently on a quest to become a PTA and simply trying to familiarize herself within the clinic’s setting and working to hone the requisite skills of a PTA. Though Kirsten will only be here for two weeks, I am really excited to work with her as her outgoing personality seems to comfort every patient and allow them to build trust in her, something I’m working to develop during my time here. As far as my work in clinic this week, it was more of the same routine. I began filling out subjective sheets, which are essentially documents individualized for each patient, holding information on what therapeutic exercises/activates were performed during the visit and notes on how the patient was feeling coming into the visit. These records allow us to analyze any progress the patients are making and which exercises work and which ones don’t. From there, we may adjust the treatment regimens to what caters to the long term benefits of the patients. I also will be discussing with Dr. Vincent about some more in-depth analysis for my research and will work to bring in new concepts such as surveys into next week’s post for you all. But other than that, I think that’ll do it for this post. As always, thank you for tuning this week and I hope to see you next week for more exciting experiences and discoveries!

A Hands On Experience

Aaahh, looks like it’s that time of the week again! As soon as I finished my required hours for this week, my hands have been rapidly churning to type up my experiences for you guys, so I hope you enjoy and find what I do as something interesting and appealing to you :). So just sit back, relax, maybe grab some popcorn, and enjoy!

First off, if you tuned in last week, I introduced some of the team members I work with. But looking back at it, I seemed to have forgotten to mention a very important member of the Synergy family, Bruin. Bruin is the clinic’s therapy dog. Generally speaking, he roams around the office and approaches patients who look in pain. From there, he usually licks their faces or wags his tail out excitement just as a way of brightening their day. See, some of these patients who come in carry deformities, old age, and other limiting factors, which often impedes them from always having a positive outlook on life. Bruin’s main job is to provide some type of spark, big or small, to help these patients with their already tough lives and motivate them to get better. I know you all must be waiting to see what he looks like, so here’s a picture of him below:

Now that that’s over with, let’s get into what exactly I did this week.

I walked into the clinic, hoping to take on a bigger role and possibly work with some patients on my own (as opposed to the shadowing I did last week). And sure enough, my prayers were answered. Dr. Vincent extended my leash in a sense and allowed me to perform three basic hamstring stretches and certain corrective exercises on a few patients. Anatomically speaking, there are three hamstring muscles: the semitendinosus, the semimembranosus, and the biceps femoris. So basically, I was tasked with isolating these muscles individually through a series of stretches that work to eliminate any tightness and provide extended rage of movement. Now, each patient is different and has a different tolerance level. Therefore, as a therapist, it is important to feel for the patients and always ask them if the stretch is too much or too little, so they can maximize the full effects of the stretch. However, it is also important, as Dr. Vincent and the clinic instruct, to push patients somewhat beyond their limits in order to increase muscle strength and expedite the recovery process. Yet, this philosophy may be considered completely incorrect at other offices, which just goes to show that every clinic has its own methods. But when talking to many of the patients about this sort of aggressive approach, they all seemed to value it, claiming that even though a burning sensation may arise, it has proved to transformed their lives and make them stronger.

Unfortunately, for this post we may have to end things a little sentimental. This week, I found out the other four students I had just met last week won’t be working with us for the entire duration of my project. In fact, Jordan and Nicole’s last day was today, and Joe and Laurie’s last day will be next Friday. From here, they will take the next step in their PT journey as they return back to school and possibly conduct further research at other clinics. Even though their departure may open up more opportunities for me to work and connect with patients, these four have taught me so much in such a short time that they will truly be missed. So I'm throwing out a big thank you to them and to all of you who made it to the end of this post. I’ll be back with more eventful experiences next week. Enjoy the long weekend!

Just Warming Up...

Guess who’s back??? First off, I want to thank you all for your patience since my first blog post, I know you guys have been eagerly waiting for my next one :-P. But, let’s not keep you waiting any longer and get right down to it.

I had an amazing first week at the Synergy PT clinic! As soon as I walked through the doors on my first, I was greeted with the most welcoming smile from Kathy, the receptionist at the front desk, which immediately soothed all the nervous tension I had entered the office with. Soon enough, I was introduced into the clinic where I met the man himself, Dr. Vincent Peries (my on-site mentor). After casual salutations, the first thing he told me to do was to correct my posture. “Back straight, eyes up, squeeze those glutes,” he said with such conviction. Throughout the week, Dr. Vincent introduced me to several nuances in what humans consider simple everyday tasks such as standing, walking, and sitting. For instance, he had me practice my walking to experience what the patients go through. He mentions it’s important to have this so that we know how to perform these exercises before blindly instructing the patients how to do so. Therefore, as I was walking on a treadmill, he had me execute intricate heal-to-toe conversions, terminal knee extensions, and once again, severely tightened glutes in order to push off from one leg to another (You won’t believe how much my glutes have been worked just during my first week!).

Aside from making me continually sore, Dr. Vincent introduced me to several of his patients and allowed me to form deep connections with this really diverse group of people. I met individuals of many different ages, backgrounds and injuries. With each patient, I was able to hold a steady conversation, mostly on the basis of why I’m working at the clinic and what I hope to discover with my research. Starting next week, Dr. Vincent said I’ll be working with some of my own patients and will take on a much bigger role in the clinic so I’m super excited for that as these hands are super eager to help!

Now, as far as the team goes, I’ve only introduced you to two members, Kathy and Dr. Vincent. I was also work with several PT (Physical Therapist) and PTA (Physical Therapist Assistant) students from different schools from all over Arizona along with additional synergy staff. First, let’s start off with Jordan, the first student I met and had the pleasure to work with. Jordan has what I like to call a very “chill” personality in that he is always welcoming and easy to talk to. Next up, we have Joe. Joe has one amazing beard, one I aspire to grow one day, but that’s beside the point. His compassionate personality and willingness to do whatever to help each patient really proved to be eye-opening for me. There’s also Laurie. Every time I see Laurie, she’s always smiling and that smile seems to brighten up the clinic every single day. Next, we have Nicole. Whenever Nicole speaks to patients, you can tell they have the absolute trust in her because of her everlasting care no matter the circumstances, something I aspire to gain once I start to work with patients. The Last of the PTs is Drew. When I first worked alongside Drew, he welcomed me with such open arms and taught me the importance of adjusting your therapy style to the comfort of the patient, something that is especially important for strengthening that patient-therapist relationship. And finally, there’s the office manager, Emily, the main reason I’m working at the clinic in the first place as she was completely flexible in working me in with Vincent and for that, I am extremely grateful. Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a greater group of people to work with day in and day out throughout my research project!

And that pretty much sums up my first week at Synergy PT! I’m so excited to return next week and pick up where I left off. Be sure to stay tuned as I’ll have another blog post around this time next week and thanks so much for reading until the end. Have a great weekend!