Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Reflection #8
Stephanie Ortega
3/25/09
Reflection #8
Internship
Today when I walked in, there was patients already exercising and stuff. Usually when I come there isn’t much people there until around 9a.m., but there are times when I come in that there are patients there and getting attended. I guess every week is different. There were the same usual patients that come in, there were probably like three that I don’t or haven’t seen often. One of the office workers name Brian wasn’t there today, Sydney worked for him until around 1p.m. Brian came in, and so they must have changed schedules. I walked around and followed Mark around like every Wednesday I come and learn about what’s getting done on them and what problem they have and what caused it and the anatomy of it. I find the anatomy part the most boring part of physical therapy. But to be a physical therapist you have to take anatomy and learn about all the bones in the body, and some of the names are hard to remember and hard to remember where are their location in the body. I also helped a little and I folded towels. There were no new patients so I don’t have much to discuss in my reflection. One thing that I spent most of my time doing was working on my project. I got on the computer and spent most of the time translating the home exercise plans. I did the sheets, which is pretty good and I’m almost done with translating all the sheets in Portuguese. I only have left like two or three sheets which I’m happy, but after I’m done with the translations I have to put it together on a special program that my site has to make home exercise plans and add the images as well; and that will create a new home exercise plan in Portuguese, for the Portuguese speaking people. I spent and dedicated like two hours on my project because we weren’t much busy today. I was happy I got to work on my project because April is coming soon and I want to finish my whole project before April ends, so that means I will work on at home as well so I can get it done as soon as possible. Another reason is because I don’t like to leave things for last minute and it was already hard enough to think of a project for physical therapy. At first I wanted to come up with an exercises but I couldn’t do it because I don’t have a degree and I can get sewed because the patients can get injured and then it’s on me. Then I wanted to come up with a project that mostly focused on people not attending their appointments and not practicing their exercises at home. Since I couldn’t come up with a new system I decided to improve a system. My improvement is going to be more people will do their exercises because it’s in the language they speak and there are no excuses for not doing them. I wanted to make phone calls to the patients that have an appointment a day before, I thought that was a good idea and that’s suppose to remind people that we care for them and we want to see them and maybe will improve the attendance of the patients coming in all the time. But what I noticed is that I’m not going to have enough time so I decided to focus on one project. Internship gets boring sometimes at first I was very happy that I didn’t have to go to school on Wednesdays. But physical therapy is a little bit boring and it makes me sleepy, and it’s a little too cold in there. The part that is mostly boring is when I’m sitting down and there are no patients because there is nothing to do. But I was happy that I can do my project there and that keeps me a little bit entertained and not bored, during the times that there aren’t any patients.
3/25/09
Reflection #8
Internship
Today when I walked in, there was patients already exercising and stuff. Usually when I come there isn’t much people there until around 9a.m., but there are times when I come in that there are patients there and getting attended. I guess every week is different. There were the same usual patients that come in, there were probably like three that I don’t or haven’t seen often. One of the office workers name Brian wasn’t there today, Sydney worked for him until around 1p.m. Brian came in, and so they must have changed schedules. I walked around and followed Mark around like every Wednesday I come and learn about what’s getting done on them and what problem they have and what caused it and the anatomy of it. I find the anatomy part the most boring part of physical therapy. But to be a physical therapist you have to take anatomy and learn about all the bones in the body, and some of the names are hard to remember and hard to remember where are their location in the body. I also helped a little and I folded towels. There were no new patients so I don’t have much to discuss in my reflection. One thing that I spent most of my time doing was working on my project. I got on the computer and spent most of the time translating the home exercise plans. I did the sheets, which is pretty good and I’m almost done with translating all the sheets in Portuguese. I only have left like two or three sheets which I’m happy, but after I’m done with the translations I have to put it together on a special program that my site has to make home exercise plans and add the images as well; and that will create a new home exercise plan in Portuguese, for the Portuguese speaking people. I spent and dedicated like two hours on my project because we weren’t much busy today. I was happy I got to work on my project because April is coming soon and I want to finish my whole project before April ends, so that means I will work on at home as well so I can get it done as soon as possible. Another reason is because I don’t like to leave things for last minute and it was already hard enough to think of a project for physical therapy. At first I wanted to come up with an exercises but I couldn’t do it because I don’t have a degree and I can get sewed because the patients can get injured and then it’s on me. Then I wanted to come up with a project that mostly focused on people not attending their appointments and not practicing their exercises at home. Since I couldn’t come up with a new system I decided to improve a system. My improvement is going to be more people will do their exercises because it’s in the language they speak and there are no excuses for not doing them. I wanted to make phone calls to the patients that have an appointment a day before, I thought that was a good idea and that’s suppose to remind people that we care for them and we want to see them and maybe will improve the attendance of the patients coming in all the time. But what I noticed is that I’m not going to have enough time so I decided to focus on one project. Internship gets boring sometimes at first I was very happy that I didn’t have to go to school on Wednesdays. But physical therapy is a little bit boring and it makes me sleepy, and it’s a little too cold in there. The part that is mostly boring is when I’m sitting down and there are no patients because there is nothing to do. But I was happy that I can do my project there and that keeps me a little bit entertained and not bored, during the times that there aren’t any patients.
Reflection #7
Stephanie Ortega
3/18/09
Reflection #7
Internship
Today when I went to internship and I started working on my project. When I got there, the other girl that does her internship was there before me. She will be going there every Wednesday from 7a.m. to 12p.m. First Mark gave me all the sheets that I will translate in Portuguese for the patients. My project is going to be, translating the home exercise plans for the patients in Portuguese, the reason is because a lot of the patients don’t do their exercises and a lot of them are Portuguese speaking people. So maybe if I translate them in Portuguese and they can have a sheet of their own, they will probably understand it better and apply their self to do the exercises. This project that I’m doing is an improvement for the system, and now the patients will have a choice of getting the exercise plan in English or Portuguese and everything that the physical therapist has to do is prints it out because it will be saved on their computer. A lot of the patients don’t understand, what is the concept of the physical therapist giving them these sheets; the physical therapists just want them to get better and practice the exercises at home so they can improve. The physical therapist is here to help them but if the patient don’t help their self there isn’t much a physical therapist can do, because they cant do all the work for the patients. The physical therapist is like a coach or a teacher, you do some work with the therapist but then when you get home you have to do homework as well, so that way, the next time you come in for your next appointment and the therapist tells you to do the same exercises you was suppose to practice at home, you can show the physical therapist that you do know how to do them. I know some words in Portuguese but I went to a website that translates English into Portuguese. I was working on that until 9a.m., because that was the time the patients started to come in. like every other Wednesday I was here following the physical therapists around. Helping them put the equipments, helping the patients do the exercises, watching, or cleaning up. There was a new patient today, but Mark said that he’s running out of time that the evaluation was going to be quick and to stay watching the other therapists because I might get bored in the evaluation room. What I find very boring about watching a physical therapist is massaging or exercising and stretching the patient’s body. Because I either stand or sit there and watch and it’s very boring because I’m not in motion or active doing anything. I like folding towels, setting the activities up, or getting the stuff for the physical therapist. If I just sit there and watch, I get really bored and sleepy which is not a good impression in my internship site, because it will show them that I don’t want to be there. Even though I try my best to stay awake for seven hours. Another thing that is very boring about my internship is when there are no patients, because what is their to do, well I know from now on when there is no patients I’m just going to do my reflection of the day or I’m going to keep working on my project. After lunch, I worked a little on my project because during 1p.m., it’s dead because that’s usually the time the physical therapist’s take turns going on their breaks. I was on the computer for 30 minutes. After that, Brian gave me a job to do and that was filing papers. I kind of like filing papers because it keeps me entertained and it doesn’t get boring to me because I usually don’t do this and I’ve never worked at an office. I left at 3p.m.
3/18/09
Reflection #7
Internship
Today when I went to internship and I started working on my project. When I got there, the other girl that does her internship was there before me. She will be going there every Wednesday from 7a.m. to 12p.m. First Mark gave me all the sheets that I will translate in Portuguese for the patients. My project is going to be, translating the home exercise plans for the patients in Portuguese, the reason is because a lot of the patients don’t do their exercises and a lot of them are Portuguese speaking people. So maybe if I translate them in Portuguese and they can have a sheet of their own, they will probably understand it better and apply their self to do the exercises. This project that I’m doing is an improvement for the system, and now the patients will have a choice of getting the exercise plan in English or Portuguese and everything that the physical therapist has to do is prints it out because it will be saved on their computer. A lot of the patients don’t understand, what is the concept of the physical therapist giving them these sheets; the physical therapists just want them to get better and practice the exercises at home so they can improve. The physical therapist is here to help them but if the patient don’t help their self there isn’t much a physical therapist can do, because they cant do all the work for the patients. The physical therapist is like a coach or a teacher, you do some work with the therapist but then when you get home you have to do homework as well, so that way, the next time you come in for your next appointment and the therapist tells you to do the same exercises you was suppose to practice at home, you can show the physical therapist that you do know how to do them. I know some words in Portuguese but I went to a website that translates English into Portuguese. I was working on that until 9a.m., because that was the time the patients started to come in. like every other Wednesday I was here following the physical therapists around. Helping them put the equipments, helping the patients do the exercises, watching, or cleaning up. There was a new patient today, but Mark said that he’s running out of time that the evaluation was going to be quick and to stay watching the other therapists because I might get bored in the evaluation room. What I find very boring about watching a physical therapist is massaging or exercising and stretching the patient’s body. Because I either stand or sit there and watch and it’s very boring because I’m not in motion or active doing anything. I like folding towels, setting the activities up, or getting the stuff for the physical therapist. If I just sit there and watch, I get really bored and sleepy which is not a good impression in my internship site, because it will show them that I don’t want to be there. Even though I try my best to stay awake for seven hours. Another thing that is very boring about my internship is when there are no patients, because what is their to do, well I know from now on when there is no patients I’m just going to do my reflection of the day or I’m going to keep working on my project. After lunch, I worked a little on my project because during 1p.m., it’s dead because that’s usually the time the physical therapist’s take turns going on their breaks. I was on the computer for 30 minutes. After that, Brian gave me a job to do and that was filing papers. I kind of like filing papers because it keeps me entertained and it doesn’t get boring to me because I usually don’t do this and I’ve never worked at an office. I left at 3p.m.
Reflection #6
Stephanie Ortega
3-11-09
Reflection #6
Internship
Today when I went to internship, I saw a student who’s doing her internship there as well on Wednesdays. She told me she goes to Bayview, which is an all girls high school and how she has to go to internship every Wednesday from 7 to 12p.m., then when she gets home she just has to do a reflection that is only a paragraph long. I also asked her if she has to do an exhibition and she told me she doesn’t, that all she has to do is keep coming to internship until the first week of May, and then all the reflections she wrote each week just do a portfolio and that’s it she graduates. When she told me this I told her that she is very lucky, because we have to do ninety hours of internship, write a one page reflection single spaced, and come up with a project and perform our 30 minute exhibition. She was surprised and she thought it was a lot of work as well. She had to work wit one of the physical therapists name David. There were three new patients; I had to be in the evaluation room for two hours straight, because there was one after another of the new patients. The first person was a guy; he had problems in his back and knees. The first thing Mark did was ask him questions and find out as much information as he could, and see if he has any health issues so there wouldn’t be a problem when he is doing the exercises. Then after that he had to do a few exercises so Mark can see in what condition he is in and what do they need to work on. After the man, it was a woman. Before Mark meet her he looked at the sheet that she filled out, she kind of exaggerated on everything. She put that she was unable to walk and a lot of the other things she put she was unable to do, so right there Mark knew this lady was over exaggerating and he wondered if walking is something hard for her to do then how did she get in here. I think she should have put that she has difficulty walking. When she got up and was walking to the evaluation room, that’s when I noticed that she wasn’t walking right, she was walking kind of twisted. When she was in the evaluation room, I noticed she had some type of problem by the way she was talking and she would be moving her mouth around. I also found it weird how she has a buttock problem. It’s a very rare problem, and she is the first patient that comes in for that problem. When Mark was making her do exercises it seemed like standing up and sitting down wasn’t much of a problem for her, it was mostly when she presses that part of her buttock onto a chair or on something for a long time that gives her pain. Mark thinks the problem she has is a stiff muscle and he will make her do exercises that will separate that muscle so it won’t be stiff. After she left I was watching Mark massage and watch the patients exercise. Mark and Dave also helped me come up with a project for my exhibition. It is that I can translate the home exercise plan in Portuguese, because a lot of people don’t do their exercises and most of the patients that go there are either English speaking Americans or Portuguese people. My other half of the project would be to call the patients a day before their appointment so that can see that we are reminding them to come in and want them to get better. There are some patients that miss out their appointments, and we don’t really know the reasons why, but we assume it’s because they don’t do their exercises, lazy, they forget about their next appointment, or they feel that they don’t get individual attention. Before I left I had to fold towels, it’s kind of fun in a way because I like folding stuff.
3-11-09
Reflection #6
Internship
Today when I went to internship, I saw a student who’s doing her internship there as well on Wednesdays. She told me she goes to Bayview, which is an all girls high school and how she has to go to internship every Wednesday from 7 to 12p.m., then when she gets home she just has to do a reflection that is only a paragraph long. I also asked her if she has to do an exhibition and she told me she doesn’t, that all she has to do is keep coming to internship until the first week of May, and then all the reflections she wrote each week just do a portfolio and that’s it she graduates. When she told me this I told her that she is very lucky, because we have to do ninety hours of internship, write a one page reflection single spaced, and come up with a project and perform our 30 minute exhibition. She was surprised and she thought it was a lot of work as well. She had to work wit one of the physical therapists name David. There were three new patients; I had to be in the evaluation room for two hours straight, because there was one after another of the new patients. The first person was a guy; he had problems in his back and knees. The first thing Mark did was ask him questions and find out as much information as he could, and see if he has any health issues so there wouldn’t be a problem when he is doing the exercises. Then after that he had to do a few exercises so Mark can see in what condition he is in and what do they need to work on. After the man, it was a woman. Before Mark meet her he looked at the sheet that she filled out, she kind of exaggerated on everything. She put that she was unable to walk and a lot of the other things she put she was unable to do, so right there Mark knew this lady was over exaggerating and he wondered if walking is something hard for her to do then how did she get in here. I think she should have put that she has difficulty walking. When she got up and was walking to the evaluation room, that’s when I noticed that she wasn’t walking right, she was walking kind of twisted. When she was in the evaluation room, I noticed she had some type of problem by the way she was talking and she would be moving her mouth around. I also found it weird how she has a buttock problem. It’s a very rare problem, and she is the first patient that comes in for that problem. When Mark was making her do exercises it seemed like standing up and sitting down wasn’t much of a problem for her, it was mostly when she presses that part of her buttock onto a chair or on something for a long time that gives her pain. Mark thinks the problem she has is a stiff muscle and he will make her do exercises that will separate that muscle so it won’t be stiff. After she left I was watching Mark massage and watch the patients exercise. Mark and Dave also helped me come up with a project for my exhibition. It is that I can translate the home exercise plan in Portuguese, because a lot of people don’t do their exercises and most of the patients that go there are either English speaking Americans or Portuguese people. My other half of the project would be to call the patients a day before their appointment so that can see that we are reminding them to come in and want them to get better. There are some patients that miss out their appointments, and we don’t really know the reasons why, but we assume it’s because they don’t do their exercises, lazy, they forget about their next appointment, or they feel that they don’t get individual attention. Before I left I had to fold towels, it’s kind of fun in a way because I like folding stuff.
Reflection #5
Stephanie Ortega
3-4-09
Reflection #5
Internship
Today was like a typical regular day, I seen most of the patients I usually see every other Wednesday. But the first patient Mark was taking care of was new to me, because I haven’t seen her before. She had got into a car accident a while ago and now she has pain her body. So Mark massages her, puts hot and cold packs, and puts the electrical stimulator. The electrical stimulator is placed on your skin and it kind of vibrates or stings on your skin, but it does something to the pain in your body. After she left there was more patients that came in, it was a busy day. There was like at least three patients I’ve never seen before. Lillian didn’t come in today, I was expecting to see her but I guess she came a different day or didn’t feel good. The lady that is a secretary, who is always typing and has a problem on her wrist from typing all day long; she came in today, she knew what to do because her left wrist had been damaged before and she had to get physical therapy before. This lady is cool and is very friendly, I like sitting around her. What she had to was like move things with her hand using her fingers, like moving something from the bottom and putting it on the top; and after she did the exercises they put a cold pack. The physical therapists usually put a hot pack or a cold pack before and after they do the exercises, I wonder why they do it before and after. I think it’s like a warm up before starting the activities and they put it after so they can relax or for them to feel less pain. After her there were the regular patients that usually come in and do their exercises by their selves. There was a new patient today, and we had to examine her and ask her questions in the evaluation room. Mark de her do a few exercises like turning left or right and he showed me her spinal cord and how it’s not straight. By him examining her he would plan what exercises she would have to do. Her problem was that she works in a hospital and she does transportation, she and another woman had to pick up a heavy lady that weighed 300 pounds and she forced herself to pick this lady so she pulled a muscle and now she has to take therapy. I had always been told to not carry heavy things because it’s going to give pain in my body and I might stretch a muscle which will cause pain for a very long time. I remember how I use to carry heavy books, like math books and history books in my book bag and carry it on my back. Now I feel a lot of pain in my back and sometimes I have to sleep with a hot pack on my back because I would feel uncomfortable and pain on my back. I also carry heavy things at work or lift heavy things and I think that caused the pain I have on my back. Another thing I’ve learned is, if you don’t sit straight up or keep your back straight when your standing that can give pain on your back and when you get older you will have a hunchback, which is not good or pretty. There are three patients that go to my internship site that have that problem, but they are elder women. There are many things we do and don’t realize that it’s not the proper way of doing it. The majority of the Americans don’t pay attention to none of that but when we get older and feel all the pain, that’s when we open our eyes and realize all the mistakes we’ve done before. I also had to start planning out my project and start finding the ten sources, but since Mark was very busy today, he couldn’t help me so I started jotting down ideas and hopefully next week he can help me and I can start on it.
3-4-09
Reflection #5
Internship
Today was like a typical regular day, I seen most of the patients I usually see every other Wednesday. But the first patient Mark was taking care of was new to me, because I haven’t seen her before. She had got into a car accident a while ago and now she has pain her body. So Mark massages her, puts hot and cold packs, and puts the electrical stimulator. The electrical stimulator is placed on your skin and it kind of vibrates or stings on your skin, but it does something to the pain in your body. After she left there was more patients that came in, it was a busy day. There was like at least three patients I’ve never seen before. Lillian didn’t come in today, I was expecting to see her but I guess she came a different day or didn’t feel good. The lady that is a secretary, who is always typing and has a problem on her wrist from typing all day long; she came in today, she knew what to do because her left wrist had been damaged before and she had to get physical therapy before. This lady is cool and is very friendly, I like sitting around her. What she had to was like move things with her hand using her fingers, like moving something from the bottom and putting it on the top; and after she did the exercises they put a cold pack. The physical therapists usually put a hot pack or a cold pack before and after they do the exercises, I wonder why they do it before and after. I think it’s like a warm up before starting the activities and they put it after so they can relax or for them to feel less pain. After her there were the regular patients that usually come in and do their exercises by their selves. There was a new patient today, and we had to examine her and ask her questions in the evaluation room. Mark de her do a few exercises like turning left or right and he showed me her spinal cord and how it’s not straight. By him examining her he would plan what exercises she would have to do. Her problem was that she works in a hospital and she does transportation, she and another woman had to pick up a heavy lady that weighed 300 pounds and she forced herself to pick this lady so she pulled a muscle and now she has to take therapy. I had always been told to not carry heavy things because it’s going to give pain in my body and I might stretch a muscle which will cause pain for a very long time. I remember how I use to carry heavy books, like math books and history books in my book bag and carry it on my back. Now I feel a lot of pain in my back and sometimes I have to sleep with a hot pack on my back because I would feel uncomfortable and pain on my back. I also carry heavy things at work or lift heavy things and I think that caused the pain I have on my back. Another thing I’ve learned is, if you don’t sit straight up or keep your back straight when your standing that can give pain on your back and when you get older you will have a hunchback, which is not good or pretty. There are three patients that go to my internship site that have that problem, but they are elder women. There are many things we do and don’t realize that it’s not the proper way of doing it. The majority of the Americans don’t pay attention to none of that but when we get older and feel all the pain, that’s when we open our eyes and realize all the mistakes we’ve done before. I also had to start planning out my project and start finding the ten sources, but since Mark was very busy today, he couldn’t help me so I started jotting down ideas and hopefully next week he can help me and I can start on it.
Reflection #4
Stephanie Ortega
2-25-09
Reflection #4
Internship
Today was a normal day at Action Physical therapy but a little bit different today. When I got there I sat down in a chair, like most of the time. Or I would follow Mark, physical therapist, around. I got to see these two elderly patients that I usually see on Wednesdays and was very happy to see them. There names are Lucia and Lillian. Lillian has a knee problem and Lucia has a balance problem. I got to set up the foam on the floor so Lucia can walk over them and I got to take different stuff and make an obstacle path for Lucia, like I used cones, foams, and mats. I like to participate in the activities because I learn more and feel part of it as well. Friday was going to be Lucia’s last visit to the physical therapy, I was kind of sad for the fact that I’m use to helping her and I’m use to her and she’s very friendly. I also played soccer and catch with Lucia which is my favorite part of what I do there. I think Lucia is very strong and in good shape for a ninety year old woman. There are times that she gets dizzy and they have to check her blood pressure and it’s very high; that has happened like two times that I’ve been there. But she is an elderly woman and not a lot of people can make it to her age and be in the good condition she is. Lillian is also an elderly woman, even though she gets tired very easily and is a little lazy; she does the activities and is always happy. Another thing that I would do is, anytime a patient is timed to be on a bike, I would either set up the time or stop it when their time is up. Mark had a patient today that has a problem in her carpals which is near her hands where the two small bones are located. She is a secretary, and she’s been one since she was sixteen and now she’s fifty five, so it’s a pretty long time she’s been a typer. During lunch, there was an in service; the in service was about the health life, like the guy, who is a pharmacist, explained that all pills have side effects and how to live a healthy life. And he sells natural medicine that are made from all natural things and don’t have any side effects. He was also explaining how people take pills for every little pain and don’t know that it is also affecting the body as well. He said something that I never knew about in my life, he said that milk does not give calcium, when I heard that I was very surprised, because I was raised with the wrong information that milk has calcium. Even the physicians say that milk is the best source of calcium, I wonder why would doctors tell everyone to drink milk, because it has calcium, are they trying to make the milk company make money off of us by telling us the wrong information. He explained how the cows have calcium but it’s because they eat grass. So is it that all the green vegetables contain calcium? This is an interesting topic I would like to research and know about. After lunch, Mark was kind of busy so I worked with the other physical therapist, Dave, he was with a young teenager patient who plays football and he has a problem with his foot; his feet is very stiff and who could barely move it. He was also with another patient, he was a teenager too. This other boy has a knee problem, before he got to do his activities Dave taped his knee caps and that helps it pull it together or spread it out, not really sure but something like that, it’s suppose to help him do the exercises better. I also followed Brian around with the patients, he works in the office but he helps out the patients do their exercises and he watches them and makes sure they are doing the correct exercise.
2-25-09
Reflection #4
Internship
Today was a normal day at Action Physical therapy but a little bit different today. When I got there I sat down in a chair, like most of the time. Or I would follow Mark, physical therapist, around. I got to see these two elderly patients that I usually see on Wednesdays and was very happy to see them. There names are Lucia and Lillian. Lillian has a knee problem and Lucia has a balance problem. I got to set up the foam on the floor so Lucia can walk over them and I got to take different stuff and make an obstacle path for Lucia, like I used cones, foams, and mats. I like to participate in the activities because I learn more and feel part of it as well. Friday was going to be Lucia’s last visit to the physical therapy, I was kind of sad for the fact that I’m use to helping her and I’m use to her and she’s very friendly. I also played soccer and catch with Lucia which is my favorite part of what I do there. I think Lucia is very strong and in good shape for a ninety year old woman. There are times that she gets dizzy and they have to check her blood pressure and it’s very high; that has happened like two times that I’ve been there. But she is an elderly woman and not a lot of people can make it to her age and be in the good condition she is. Lillian is also an elderly woman, even though she gets tired very easily and is a little lazy; she does the activities and is always happy. Another thing that I would do is, anytime a patient is timed to be on a bike, I would either set up the time or stop it when their time is up. Mark had a patient today that has a problem in her carpals which is near her hands where the two small bones are located. She is a secretary, and she’s been one since she was sixteen and now she’s fifty five, so it’s a pretty long time she’s been a typer. During lunch, there was an in service; the in service was about the health life, like the guy, who is a pharmacist, explained that all pills have side effects and how to live a healthy life. And he sells natural medicine that are made from all natural things and don’t have any side effects. He was also explaining how people take pills for every little pain and don’t know that it is also affecting the body as well. He said something that I never knew about in my life, he said that milk does not give calcium, when I heard that I was very surprised, because I was raised with the wrong information that milk has calcium. Even the physicians say that milk is the best source of calcium, I wonder why would doctors tell everyone to drink milk, because it has calcium, are they trying to make the milk company make money off of us by telling us the wrong information. He explained how the cows have calcium but it’s because they eat grass. So is it that all the green vegetables contain calcium? This is an interesting topic I would like to research and know about. After lunch, Mark was kind of busy so I worked with the other physical therapist, Dave, he was with a young teenager patient who plays football and he has a problem with his foot; his feet is very stiff and who could barely move it. He was also with another patient, he was a teenager too. This other boy has a knee problem, before he got to do his activities Dave taped his knee caps and that helps it pull it together or spread it out, not really sure but something like that, it’s suppose to help him do the exercises better. I also followed Brian around with the patients, he works in the office but he helps out the patients do their exercises and he watches them and makes sure they are doing the correct exercise.
Reflection #3
Stephanie Ortega
2-16-09
Reflection #3
Internship
I decided today on a Monday to go to my internship, because I want to complete my hours and because I have to work on Wednesday. I am also trying to get very familiar with my internship and seeing what every patient has and familiar with what they do so I can have an idea about what to do for my exhibition and think of a project to present as well. Today I went in at 9a.m. instead of 8:30a.m., when I got there it was a little busy there was patients already there. So that got me a little excited, for that fact that I didn’t have to sit down and wait for them to come in. There was one patient that I remember that comes in every morning and didn’t come in today, her name is Lillian, she’s an elderly lady that usually comes in around 9 or 10a.m., she has a problem sitting down and walking because she doesn’t do much exercising so her body hurts. I also remember the exercises the physical therapists make her do. So I’m kind of getting use to everything and what each equipment is used for. What I did mostly today was follow the physical therapist around, and watch them massage, do an ultrasound, or practice the activities with the patients. It was like another regular day just watching. I got the chance to play catch with one of the patients that has a balance problem. Well this lady that I played catch with, she is an elderly woman named Lucia. There was a patient I got to work with him individually, like Mark gave me his sheet of the things the patient had to do, I felt happy because I feel like a physical therapist helping this guy out. This patient, I see him all the times I come in and he’s one of those patients that don’t complain about anything, he just does it. I didn’t understand much the list but I remembered everything he has to do and he also does it because he’s use to it. All I had to do was set up the activity that he was going to do, which wasn’t hard at all. The problem that this patient has is that a car crashed one of his arms and I think he has some type of metal inside there too. But he’s very strong and does everything without complaining. The first time I came here, I remembered a woman that has a balance problem and her eyes kind of dance. I had asked Mark, one of the physical therapists that I mostly follow around, about that lady and he said that she comes in at 2:30p.m. So I was happy that she comes in today because I was planning to do my project on her. Like I wanted to research the problem she has and maybe interview her and make something out of it as my project for my exhibition. When she came in, I started to follow her around and see if she has been progressing with the problem she has. I noticed that she has been doing better and her eyes didn’t dance. The physical therapist, Mark, was also explaining to her and me that her eyes haven’t been moving around and that her balance problem has become better. She was also talking about how she feels better and that therapy and the activities she does have been helping her a lot. I watched her walk around the room like two or three times and she did fine and when she was laying down and Mark told her to look up, down, left, and right, she did well, there was no problems when she was doing it. I also remembered like two weeks ago when she came in she had a little trouble, but now it feels like she’s doing very well. Now I don’t know if I should still do my project on her, because she has been getting better and I’ve only been here three times. I’m still a little bit undecided.
2-16-09
Reflection #3
Internship
I decided today on a Monday to go to my internship, because I want to complete my hours and because I have to work on Wednesday. I am also trying to get very familiar with my internship and seeing what every patient has and familiar with what they do so I can have an idea about what to do for my exhibition and think of a project to present as well. Today I went in at 9a.m. instead of 8:30a.m., when I got there it was a little busy there was patients already there. So that got me a little excited, for that fact that I didn’t have to sit down and wait for them to come in. There was one patient that I remember that comes in every morning and didn’t come in today, her name is Lillian, she’s an elderly lady that usually comes in around 9 or 10a.m., she has a problem sitting down and walking because she doesn’t do much exercising so her body hurts. I also remember the exercises the physical therapists make her do. So I’m kind of getting use to everything and what each equipment is used for. What I did mostly today was follow the physical therapist around, and watch them massage, do an ultrasound, or practice the activities with the patients. It was like another regular day just watching. I got the chance to play catch with one of the patients that has a balance problem. Well this lady that I played catch with, she is an elderly woman named Lucia. There was a patient I got to work with him individually, like Mark gave me his sheet of the things the patient had to do, I felt happy because I feel like a physical therapist helping this guy out. This patient, I see him all the times I come in and he’s one of those patients that don’t complain about anything, he just does it. I didn’t understand much the list but I remembered everything he has to do and he also does it because he’s use to it. All I had to do was set up the activity that he was going to do, which wasn’t hard at all. The problem that this patient has is that a car crashed one of his arms and I think he has some type of metal inside there too. But he’s very strong and does everything without complaining. The first time I came here, I remembered a woman that has a balance problem and her eyes kind of dance. I had asked Mark, one of the physical therapists that I mostly follow around, about that lady and he said that she comes in at 2:30p.m. So I was happy that she comes in today because I was planning to do my project on her. Like I wanted to research the problem she has and maybe interview her and make something out of it as my project for my exhibition. When she came in, I started to follow her around and see if she has been progressing with the problem she has. I noticed that she has been doing better and her eyes didn’t dance. The physical therapist, Mark, was also explaining to her and me that her eyes haven’t been moving around and that her balance problem has become better. She was also talking about how she feels better and that therapy and the activities she does have been helping her a lot. I watched her walk around the room like two or three times and she did fine and when she was laying down and Mark told her to look up, down, left, and right, she did well, there was no problems when she was doing it. I also remembered like two weeks ago when she came in she had a little trouble, but now it feels like she’s doing very well. Now I don’t know if I should still do my project on her, because she has been getting better and I’ve only been here three times. I’m still a little bit undecided.
Reflection #2
Stephanie Ortega
2-11-09
Reflection #2
Internship
Today was my second time going to my internship site. Going in the morning, kind of boring, nothing really to do. But it was weird I found two patients there. What I usually do in the morning is read the employee handbook, so that’s what I did until around 9a.m. until Mark, the physical therapist I follow around, he was all set and done taking care of the two patients. Then I remembered that Mrs. Burke wanted us to get the history from our internship place. So I started to ask around, it sucked because everyone in there doesn’t have anymore than 5 years working there. So Rita, one of the employees, told me to look in the employee handbook, so that’s what I did. I remembered how I had read it, and when I started to read it, I was thinking about how I am going to write a one page reflection on half a page of the history of the company. I copied it down and asked Rita who has the longest time working there, about the company, so I can have more to talk about. So she told me a little bit more but she doesn’t know everything, so I got everything I can. I practiced a few exercises with the patients again, I think that’s fun, because it keeps me from being bored and it’s interested to do the exercises they do. I also seen some of the patients I saw last Wednesday, which is kind of cool because once I’m getting use to it, and I’m going to remember the exercises and activities they practice and I can hopefully help them out. Every time I would go with Mark to watch him exercise, he would explain to me the problem they have and where it’s located and what causes it, and why they do that certain exercise on the patient. He would also ask me questions to see if I know or remember if had explained it to me before. Today he asked me, what is hypoglycemia, I didn’t answer it, and all I said was that I heard of it but I don’t remember. So he told me to Google search it, find what causes it, and what can you do to help it. I went into the office and looked it up and went back to him with the correct answers. I also got to go in the evaluation or revaluation room, that is a room for the patients first time visiting the place and the therapist asks questions and checks out the problem and make activities for that patient to practice. In that room I got to meet new people and learn about the questions they get asked and about the problem they have. There are some patients that when they walk in, they go to the machine they are assigned to go to or go do the exercises they usually do, without the therapist telling them to do it. But then there are patients that you have to keep an eye on and make sure they are doing the exercises because if not they are going to fake it. Especially the old people, because they are old, fragile, have more health problems, and they forget things easily. There was something I noticed, that a lot of the patients come in for problems with their backs, spine, or problems with their legs and they have to practice walking. There was a patient that came in, who was seventy years old and still works, he was hit by a snow plow truck, that must of hurt a lot. After lunch, it was dead there were rarely any patients there; there was only one patient there. So I filed some papers for the first time in my life in the office; which wasn’t bad, it’s better to do something than to be sitting down doing nothing. Before I left that last patient had one leg bigger than the other one, like when he was lying down and slide both of his legs towards his body, you can tell the difference from the knee down.
2-11-09
Reflection #2
Internship
Today was my second time going to my internship site. Going in the morning, kind of boring, nothing really to do. But it was weird I found two patients there. What I usually do in the morning is read the employee handbook, so that’s what I did until around 9a.m. until Mark, the physical therapist I follow around, he was all set and done taking care of the two patients. Then I remembered that Mrs. Burke wanted us to get the history from our internship place. So I started to ask around, it sucked because everyone in there doesn’t have anymore than 5 years working there. So Rita, one of the employees, told me to look in the employee handbook, so that’s what I did. I remembered how I had read it, and when I started to read it, I was thinking about how I am going to write a one page reflection on half a page of the history of the company. I copied it down and asked Rita who has the longest time working there, about the company, so I can have more to talk about. So she told me a little bit more but she doesn’t know everything, so I got everything I can. I practiced a few exercises with the patients again, I think that’s fun, because it keeps me from being bored and it’s interested to do the exercises they do. I also seen some of the patients I saw last Wednesday, which is kind of cool because once I’m getting use to it, and I’m going to remember the exercises and activities they practice and I can hopefully help them out. Every time I would go with Mark to watch him exercise, he would explain to me the problem they have and where it’s located and what causes it, and why they do that certain exercise on the patient. He would also ask me questions to see if I know or remember if had explained it to me before. Today he asked me, what is hypoglycemia, I didn’t answer it, and all I said was that I heard of it but I don’t remember. So he told me to Google search it, find what causes it, and what can you do to help it. I went into the office and looked it up and went back to him with the correct answers. I also got to go in the evaluation or revaluation room, that is a room for the patients first time visiting the place and the therapist asks questions and checks out the problem and make activities for that patient to practice. In that room I got to meet new people and learn about the questions they get asked and about the problem they have. There are some patients that when they walk in, they go to the machine they are assigned to go to or go do the exercises they usually do, without the therapist telling them to do it. But then there are patients that you have to keep an eye on and make sure they are doing the exercises because if not they are going to fake it. Especially the old people, because they are old, fragile, have more health problems, and they forget things easily. There was something I noticed, that a lot of the patients come in for problems with their backs, spine, or problems with their legs and they have to practice walking. There was a patient that came in, who was seventy years old and still works, he was hit by a snow plow truck, that must of hurt a lot. After lunch, it was dead there were rarely any patients there; there was only one patient there. So I filed some papers for the first time in my life in the office; which wasn’t bad, it’s better to do something than to be sitting down doing nothing. Before I left that last patient had one leg bigger than the other one, like when he was lying down and slide both of his legs towards his body, you can tell the difference from the knee down.
Reflection #1
Stephanie Ortega
2-4-09
Reflection #1
Internship
Today was my first day going to my internship site. I was a little bit shy, because I didn’t know anyone there and hoping everything would go out well. I’m doing my internship in East Providence in a physical therapy place; because my topic is physical therapy. The place is inside is not so big, it’s small and it seems like a place I can get use to and won’t have any problems. When I got there, I got a little tour around the place and what each equipment is used for. I just hope I don’t get bored, even though the first few hours in the morning until 10a.m. it was slow, there was no patients there. The employees there are friendly and got along with them pretty well. When it’s slow they made read through the employee handout and everything I need to know there. When the patients started to arrive, I mostly followed someone around and they would explain to me the patients’ problems, what had happened to them, and why they did that specific therapy on them. The physical therapist made me look through the books he had, like the anatomy book and showed me pictures of where the patient has the problem at. I also got a break too. I also helped a patient do some of their activities. Before I left, I folded some of the towels. They do laundry a lot there because they have to keep everything clean and make sure they have enough towels for each patient. The patients usually go to the physical therapy for about thirty minutes to an hour. It mostly depends on the problem they have. The first patient that came in was an elderly lady; she has problems sitting and doesn’t do much exercise at home. She crosses her legs while trying to sit and plops and gets tired very easily. They made her walk from chair to chair and do exercises with her legs There was an elderly lady that had done a few exercises and then she said she feels like she’s going to faint, so the physical therapist took her blood pressure and it was very high. So they had her doing nothing just in case something might happen to her and they can get sued for it. So the therapist was going to make a phone call to her doctor so they can let her doctor know. There was another patient, that while walking from a game in Providence, a car passed by and broke his arm, he was the only patient today that didn’t have any problems doing the exercises, and he is a strong man. There was a man that had problems in his spinal cord and the doctors had to put metal in his body to hold it in, I think the name of the metal is called titan, they had to do an ultra sound and they massaged him as well. They do a lot of massaging and ultra sounds for those that have pain in there body. The last patient of the day, well before I left, was a lady around her thirties, who has no balance and feels like she gets motion sickness. I thought this was something very interesting and I’m thinking of doing my project on the problem she has. For example, when she walks straight and turns her head left, she feels dizzy and feels like the world is spinning around and may fall down towards that same direction; or like when she’s laying down and stands up from her bed she falls off her bed or about to fall off. She has been having this problem all her life and it’s in her genes. There really isn’t a cure for this problem, you just have to live with it and get therapy. This is something weird but very interesting to learn about. I thought it was fun time, I learned a lot, it felt like I was learning a lot more anatomy than ever. This has been a great experience and I am hoping to get as much as possible from it.
2-4-09
Reflection #1
Internship
Today was my first day going to my internship site. I was a little bit shy, because I didn’t know anyone there and hoping everything would go out well. I’m doing my internship in East Providence in a physical therapy place; because my topic is physical therapy. The place is inside is not so big, it’s small and it seems like a place I can get use to and won’t have any problems. When I got there, I got a little tour around the place and what each equipment is used for. I just hope I don’t get bored, even though the first few hours in the morning until 10a.m. it was slow, there was no patients there. The employees there are friendly and got along with them pretty well. When it’s slow they made read through the employee handout and everything I need to know there. When the patients started to arrive, I mostly followed someone around and they would explain to me the patients’ problems, what had happened to them, and why they did that specific therapy on them. The physical therapist made me look through the books he had, like the anatomy book and showed me pictures of where the patient has the problem at. I also got a break too. I also helped a patient do some of their activities. Before I left, I folded some of the towels. They do laundry a lot there because they have to keep everything clean and make sure they have enough towels for each patient. The patients usually go to the physical therapy for about thirty minutes to an hour. It mostly depends on the problem they have. The first patient that came in was an elderly lady; she has problems sitting and doesn’t do much exercise at home. She crosses her legs while trying to sit and plops and gets tired very easily. They made her walk from chair to chair and do exercises with her legs There was an elderly lady that had done a few exercises and then she said she feels like she’s going to faint, so the physical therapist took her blood pressure and it was very high. So they had her doing nothing just in case something might happen to her and they can get sued for it. So the therapist was going to make a phone call to her doctor so they can let her doctor know. There was another patient, that while walking from a game in Providence, a car passed by and broke his arm, he was the only patient today that didn’t have any problems doing the exercises, and he is a strong man. There was a man that had problems in his spinal cord and the doctors had to put metal in his body to hold it in, I think the name of the metal is called titan, they had to do an ultra sound and they massaged him as well. They do a lot of massaging and ultra sounds for those that have pain in there body. The last patient of the day, well before I left, was a lady around her thirties, who has no balance and feels like she gets motion sickness. I thought this was something very interesting and I’m thinking of doing my project on the problem she has. For example, when she walks straight and turns her head left, she feels dizzy and feels like the world is spinning around and may fall down towards that same direction; or like when she’s laying down and stands up from her bed she falls off her bed or about to fall off. She has been having this problem all her life and it’s in her genes. There really isn’t a cure for this problem, you just have to live with it and get therapy. This is something weird but very interesting to learn about. I thought it was fun time, I learned a lot, it felt like I was learning a lot more anatomy than ever. This has been a great experience and I am hoping to get as much as possible from it.
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