Blog 20: Exit Interview

Content:

(1) What is your essential question and answers? What is your best answer and why?

My essential question is, "How can a physical therapist best help a patient with a leg injury recover." My first answer is that the exercises chosen by the physical therapist should strengthen weakened muscles. My second answer is in order for the physical therapist to help a patient recover from a leg injury is by using modalities to promote healing. My third answer is that there should be constant assessments and documentation of the progress. My best answer is that physical therapist should choose the appropriate exercises to strength weakened muscles. According to Jennifer E Stevens-Lapsley and fellow researchers, in an article called “Early Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation to Improve Quadriceps Muscle Strength after Total Knee Arthoplasty” saw that in one month after total knee replacement there is a 50% to 60% quadriceps muscle strength decrease. After every sort of injury patients lose muscle strength and have to regain it in order to accomplish full recovery. My mentor, Emily Sevilla, a physical therapist for thirty years told me that the muscles have to regain their strength or else it could lead to even more problems since all the muscles in our body work together to complete an action. My second answer wasn't my best answer because if a physical therapist is only using modailities to promote healing but not doing any exercises after there wouldn't be any improvement. My third answer wasn't my best answer because if the physical therapist is taking constant documentation and assessments of the patients treatments and progress but not doing the appropriate exercises there wouldn't be any improvement.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

To arrive to my best answer I did my mentorship at Emeritus Senior Living with Emily Sevilla, a physical therapist for 30 years. I observed her work with her patients for the first couple of weeks when I began in August, since I couldn’t work hands on with the patients because I had no experience and Emily didn’t know whether I was trust worthy to work with patients. Within the first two months, I began to notice that she would have most of the patients do the same exercises for different types of injuries, so I began to research the benefits from the exercises the patients were doing. I found through my research that each exercise had a certain target group of muscles and saw patients improve throughout the duration of their treatment. Once I knew what muscles were being worked on I researched the purpose and function of that specific muscle. After four months of attending mentorship, Emily began allowing me to work hands on with the patients I have seen her work with. I would choose the exercises that the patient should do and she would ask me what the purpose for choosing that exercise was and what it working on. By May, I began to see the results that the exercises had on the patients. Patients that had trouble moving their legs on their own were walking and with little hesitation.  

(3) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?

The first problem I came across was finding a place to do my mentorship. At the end of junior year I thought about doing my mentorship at the physical therapy facility I attended during my injury. I called and asked if it were possible to do my mentorship there and they told me they didn't let people volunteer since they are a small facility. I then began to look online for physical therapy facilities around my area and I had no luck with any of those locations. So I asked Mrs.Pittman if she knew any place I could do my mentorship and she connected me with Emily Sevilla from Emeritus Senior Living. Another problem I came across was finding quality research. At the beginning I found myself doing research on the occupation itself, which only consisted of the education needed to become a physical therapist and work space. I began to find better quality research by looking into exercises and muscles that were being worked on with patients at Emeritus. I also began to look on the Cal Poly database and PubMed which Ashley told me about.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

One significant source I used was a book by R G Cassens called Muscle Biology which helped me understand muscle contractions and how muscles work together. Another significant source that I used to answer my essential question was my mentor Emily Sevilla. Being able to observe her work with her patients and ask questions on what she was doing gave me a better understanding on how the body works and directed me in a better direction on what I should be researching.