Blog 10: Senior Project: The Holiday

Content:
1. Is it important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school. What did you do over the break with your senior project?
Over winter break I took advantage of all the free time I had available by going to my mentorship as much as I could. My mentor only works at the facility, Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I was only able to go 4 days during winter break. I got 15 hours done during winter break, completing the 50 required mentorship hours but I will continue to attend because it has been a great experience for me.

2. What was the most important thing you learned from what you did and why? What was the source of what you learned?
The most important thing I learned from going into mentorship for a longer period of time, was that in order to increase the participation of patients was by keeping them engaged in the activity/exercise. If the patient is put to do an activity/exercise for an extensive amount of time, they become bored of it and stop working to their full potential. Having little breaks during activities/exercises, having a small conversation with the patient, or explaining to the patient how the activity/exercise is helping them made them participate to their full potential and participate. The source of what I learned was from my mentor Emily Sevilla and the hands on time I had to work with the patients.

3. If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers of your EQ, who would you talk to and why?
I would talk to Anna, who is the supervisor of all the physical therapist at the facility and is a physical therapist. She has worked at that facility for several years and works with patients on the daily bases.

Benefits from Exercising to Fatigue

When a patient is trying to regain strength in their legs or arms, they benefit more from exercising until the muscle is fatigued. The muscle of the patient isn't being pushed to its limit unless it reaches fatigue. When the muscle becomes fatigued, it means that the patient has worked as hard as they could on the muscle and makes room for improvement because of the extra push. The muscle is working to its fullest and blood circulation increases as well. Every time the muscle becomes fatigued it has done a small amount of improvement on its strength and eventually well get to its normal strength.

The Use of Heat

On a patient in physical therapy there is a lot of stretching for strengthening that has to be done. When a physical therapist stretches a patient it enhances muscle extensibility, but sometimes a physical therapist has to use heat on the area to get the muscles to loosen up more. When recovering from an injury, patients usually go a long time without moving the injured area, for say a leg, because it causes too much pain. Keeping the leg straight or bend for an extensive amount of time the muscles tighten up and make it difficult to bend or straighten the leg all the way.

             As I've seen with my mentor, Emily Sevilla, when she has a patient who isn't able to straighten or bend the leg all the way, she applies heat. Applying heat to the muscle that has been stiff allows it to relax and loosen up. The heat is usually left on the leg for roughly around 10 to 15 minutes to really have an effect on the muscle. Once the heat is removed and she begins to bend or straighten the patients leg and there is less pain and more flexibility.   

An example of a heating pad

Blog 9: EQ

Content
1. "I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ."

2. a.  "What is the most important factor in healthy weight loss?"
              -This EQ does not meet the rule of 3 because it's not specific on what body type, age, height, or gender. Having a healthy weight loss is different from a child to an adult so being specific on who is trying to loss the weight is important.
    b. "What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?"
              -This EQ also does not meet the rule of 3 because conviction is too broad. It can be narrowed down to a specific type of conviction and it would help have a more firm framework for research.
    c.  "What is most important in creating a hairstyle that best satisfies a customer?"
              -Customer can be narrowed down to age and gender for more depth in research. As well as hairstyle can depend on the occasion, such as a wedding, birthday, etc.
     d. "How can an Anesthesiologist best treat chronic pain?"
              - Knowing who is treating the pain gives great depth to the research but chronic pain can be narrowed down to a specific part of the body to have a better framework for studies.

3. What is the best way a physical therapist can decide what treatment method to use on a teenage patient recovering from a fractured leg bone?

Hand Pedal

The Hand Pedal exerciser is a great piece of equipment that allows the patient to work out either their legs or their arms. It is a very simple piece of equipment any person of any age can use. They place their hands or feet on the pedals and simple pedal, either forward or backward depending on what muscles they are trying to strengthen. The nob on the top gives the physical therapist the ability to change the resistance of the pedals; the more resistance works out the muscles more because the patient has to apply more force in order to pedal. The patients that are put to use the hand pedals are trying to regain their strength in their arms or legs either because they are loosing mobility or are recovering from an injury or surgery.  

Hand Pedal Exerciser 

Blog 8: Research and Working EQ

Content:
1. What is your working EQ?
What is the best way for a Physical Therapist to decide what treatment method to use on a leg injury?

2. What is a possible answer to your working EQ?

• Evaluate the patient by knowing their health history, doing tests and measurements, and know the diagnosis.

3. What is the most important source you have used that has helped you come up with an answer to your EQ?
The most important source that has helped me come up with this answer to my EQ was a chapter in a book called "Opportunities in Physical Therapy Careers" by Bernice R. Krumhansel. It explained the process done by a physical therapist during an evaluation. The evaluation is the most critical step on deciding what treatment method the patient will be placed in because the physical therapist gets to know the patient and see where they need the most help on.

4. Who is your mentor, or where are you volunteering, and how does what you are doing relate to your working EQ?
My mentor is Emily Sevilla, she is a physical therapist assistant at  Emeritus in San Dimas. By observing Emily work with her patients, I learn how to tell if the exercises you are having them do is actually helping them out. Knowing that the exercises are helping the patients means that the evaluation and treatment method you decided for them is having affect.

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.
For my 30 hours I plan on going into my mentorship to observe and work with patients. Try to have a more hands on experience with the patients and have a feel of the day to day environment that this occupation has. I will go to mentorship twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1pm to 5pm, to have a longer experience in the facility.

2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.
I will keep my mentorship log up to date with the amount of hours I completed each day and a summary of what I did on the day I volunteered.

3. And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.
This will give me an idea on what physical therapist have to treat and how physical therapy is playing a part in the development/restrengthening of the muscles by observing more patients being treated and being there to see the progress of each patient.