Reflection: 19/4/2021  

Reflection: 19/4/2021                            hours: 4

What happened:

 Today I had my first day in clinic in the Masters’ group where I am the only undergraduate. I shadowed one therapist whose patient who was building back up their strength training following an MCL injury. It was very interesting to see them progress the weights (by 1.5kg each time), to improve confidence, overcome psychological barriers and protect the injury. I also learnt a lot about how to ‘spot’ an athlete when they are lifting heavy weights. I noticed that encouragement is very important when helping an athlete return to lifting weights as psychology plays a big role in their rehabilitation.

The second patient I saw was a male who initially experienced hamstring pain and is now (2 weeks on) feeling the pain in his knee. He is doing couch to 5k and feels no pain during the first two runs each week, but the third run of the week is painful. We discussed the option of replacing the third run with a bike session to allow him to keep progressing his cardiovascular fitness but reduce the load through his knee.

Finally, I worked with a Masters’ student who has been focusing on improving an patients’ strength however when I watched the patient, I noticed that she had poor proprioception and neuromuscular control. I recommended that they regressed the weight and added in a Bosu ball to create instability and challenge these elements (Chaitow, 2011), opposed to continuing to progress the weight while she was presenting with these deficits.

What I was thinking and feeling and what was good or bad:

I was very excited to start working alongside the Masters’ students in clinic as I hoped I would learn lots from them and progress my knowledge.

I look forward to seeing the patients progress as she introduced proprioception and neuromuscular control into her exercise routine.

What else I could have done/areas for improvement:

Be more confident at challenging other therapists’ ideas if you think you can help.

 Action plan:

Be more confident with strength training, practice coaching strength training and spotting an individual.

 References:

Chaitow, L. (2011). Modern Neuromuscular Techniques (third). Elseveir.

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