Day 2

So, it’s day 2 of my placement and I have been sat with one of our patient’s and evaluating their needs.

I have been evaluating what treatment and physiotherapy we can offer, with the Senior Therapist for a person with a mid-back problem.

Here is an outline of my day:

7:45 a.m.
I arrive at the Fictitious Sports Centre to meet the Senior Therapist and we are the first members of staff to arrive.  It’s my job to then make sure that the rooms are tidy and clean ready for patients.

8:30 a.m. 
The first patient arrived and has a back issue, so we sat down and asked questions to try and find out about whether they had an accident, or if the issue is related to work-stress or another factor.  We then provided some soft tissue work to work the muscles and improve the tissue elasticity.  We also conducted a scan, using ultrasound to help identify any other issues to provide better and more effective massage treatment.  As part of the physiotherapy program of recuperation we instructed the patient to follow a series of home-based exercises to help improve their mobility and relieve some of the symptoms and stiffness they were feeling.  We also reviewed some of the conditioning activities for the patient.

9:25 a.m.
We had a rugby player come in and he’d been having issues with his neck, with pain and discomfort.  He’d been told to stop playing Rugby for two weeks, but had decided to try and play over the weekend and unfortunately the issue had become worse.  I reviewed his exercise program and made a couple of modifications with the help of the Senior Therapist.  I did some soft tissue work on the patient and some stretching exercises, to stretch his upper back and neck.

10:00 a.m.
We didn’t have any patients for the next hour as one person cancelled at the last minute and another didn’t turn up.

11:00 a.m.
The next patient had been having pain in her achilles tendon for the last few months and we sat down to evaluate her condition.  We could tell, just by examining the tendon that she had a small tear in the noninsertional area of the tendon.  The patient is a frequent tennis player and aged 38.  It’s likely that frequent use over a long period of time has caused the tear.  We proposed that the patient should seek advice from her doctor to get an x-ray or ultrasound to see how badly damaged the tendon could be.  In the meantime, we devised a plan of eccentric exercises for the patient to follow, involving x3 sets morning and night to help strengthen the tendon.  We suggested light exercise and having a break from tennis.

12:00 p.m. 
We had several patients, who had minor injuries that were scheduled for massage treatment.

13:00 p.m.
I went out to get lunch for myself and the Senior Therapist and have a break.

2:00 p.m.
In the afternoon the Senior Therapist sat down with me to run through the morning and provide feedback on my performance and how I was getting on.  We covered a lot of work around patient care and she explained to me the most common types of injuries and treatments at the practice.  We also looked at their online system for tracking and administering patient care and progress.  I then had to sit down and go through the eLearning materials to cover the basics of how the system works.

4:00 p.m.
I assisted the Senior Therapist with patients and continued to shadow her and assist her when required.

5:00 p.m.
Home time!  See you tomorrow folks!  Had a great day and felt like I’d made real progress, really enjoying my work here!

Here’s a video of some of my experiences today.

The above video, is just an example of a video that could be a reflective experience