Friday, February 10, 2017

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.

Justin Garbett, Reactions Editor dance friday the office that friday feeling


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!).

treadmill

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!

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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!

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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!


SpongeBob SquarePants music dance dancing party

23 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great first week! Did you start your patient-compliance analysis with Dr. Vincent's patients, or are you waiting for the patients that you will work with more closely in the coming weeks? I can't wait to read about you getting in-depth next week!

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    1. Hey Trey! As far as my patient-compliance analysis goes, I am still familiarizing myself with each of the patients and getting to know them on a personal level. My analysis will come soon stay tuned!

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  2. I think your memes add significantly to the learning experience so keep it up. Joe sounds like a pretty cool guy, how does his beard compare to that of James Harden. Are you going to be teaching some of the techniques that Dr. Peries taught you to your patients, or will you be focusing on different types of injuries?

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    1. Hey Joey! No, Joe's beard isn't as profound as James Harden's. I don't think anyone's is actually. But yes, I will be teaching some of the techniques Dr. Peries taught me to the patients. Thank you!

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  3. Ameya,
    This sounds like a lot of fun! Do you think that your experience of doing some of the exercises will help you understand the patients? Sounds like you have your hands full with the people you work with!
    Audrey

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    1. Hey Audrey! The whole point of me doing the exercises is to experience what the patients go through on a regular PT session. So, yes, I do believe it will help me understand the patients more in that perspective :).

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  4. Hi Ameya,
    Wow this sounds like an amazing first week. The environment sounds so friendly and accepting. In the future, do you think you will pursue a career in physical therapy or something similar?
    Thanks,
    Shiza

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    1. Hey Shiza! In the future, I do hope to pursue some form of medicine (I'm not exactly sure what that is yet but I'll figure it out soon, perhaps surgery is what I'm thinking now).

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  5. Hey Ameya,
    Your first week at the Synergy Pt clinic sounds like a lot of fun. Your team over at the clinic seem awesome. I hope your second week there will be as cool as this week.

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    1. Hey Nishant! Thanks again for tuning in this week. I'm glad you take interest in my project and I hope you are able to get something out of it :).

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  6. Hey Ameya! It definitely sounds like your first week was awesome, and your descriptions of the team at the clinic makes me feel like I've talked to them. Just going off of my experience, I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement, especially because a lot of the information that I'm going to be working with is sensitive. Did you have to do something like that, and to what extent (if you did) do you think it'll affect your research? Hope you have an even awesomer second week!

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    1. Hi Tanmyaa! No, I did not have to sign any non-disclosure agreement thus far. But I will definitely let you know if something like that comes about in the coming weeks. Thank you!

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  7. Hi Ameya, thanks for your percipient blog post. As a member of the basketball team, were there any special exercises that you have learned that have helped your agility on the basketball court? Are there any treatments that have helped you recover from any minor injuries? It sounds like you are having a great experience. Have fun!

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    1. Hey Armaan! For me, I have done several conditioning exercises in preparation for basketball such as suicides, ladders, etc. And for my injuries, I just work to strengthen the affected area through certain corrective exercises. For example, if I injured my quads, I may have them stretched out at first to relieve tension and then perform a series of squat jumps to strengthen the afflicted muscle.

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  8. Ameya, I'm glad to see you are exercising your body as well as your mind (im sorry ill stop). What kind of interactions will you be having with the patients?

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    1. Hey Mimi! I interact with patients by talking with them and helping them recover quickly through a series of exercises and stretches :).

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  9. Sounds like you're working with a great group of people! I'd love to see a staff photo! Do the PTs work with patients based upon factors like the symptoms that they are experiencing, age demographics, etc? Or, are they more randomly assigned based on scheduling availability?

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    1. Hey Ms Mitrovich! The PTs don't really work with their patients based on those factors. I guess you could say it is more randomly assigned as the PTs are trained to essentially help correct any problems that arise physically. Thank you!

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  10. Hey again, Ameya. It does sound like you're having a lot of fun during your first week, and I am glad that you're getting the opportunity to work with an amazing crew. Keep up the good work!
    -Adarsh

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    1. Hey Adarsh!Thank you for your kind feedback I really appreciate it. Be sure to stay tuned for the coming weeks :).

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  11. Hey Ameya! I really love how you emphasized the importance of patient interactions, something I think researchers can often miss out on. I'm also a little curious--what role do you think you'll be having as far as directly interacting with patients?

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    1. Hey Grady! As far as my role and my interaction with the patients, I will be always checking and diagnosing their pain levels and walking them through certain corrective exercises that will speed up their recovery. I am told to be very vocal in the clinic and make sure patients can always come to me or any of the other PTs with questions or concerns they may have. Thank you!

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  12. Hello Ameya! Sorry about being a little behind on commenting, but i'll make sure to keep up and get everything back on track! I love how lively the clinic seems to be and it sounds like the first week is fun and tiring! Hope for more quality memes and great blogs!
    - Anirudh

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