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!