9/4-9/10

​I am currently working very hard on my goal of improving my rehabilitation skills by meeting with a patient twice a week for treatment. I am currently working with a patient who suffered a recent ACL tear with a medial meniscus tear. After discussing my goal with Melissa she asked me if I wanted to take the task on. I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to work on planning and executing a full rehabilitation. My goal is to review the stages of healing as I progress through the rehab process this semester. I really wanted to focus on this goal this semester as it was one of my lower categories on my last BOC practice test. I believe practicing the skills while reviewing will benefit me much more than simply reading and reviewing. I have also been spending some time studying the healing phases on a cellular level again as I feel that that is some of the information that I have struggled to retain. I have been utilizing my therapeutic modalities notes as well as the material we have been covering in anatomy to review. So far, I have been able to see the patient for three sessions and she is making good progress. The experience as a whole has been great review and I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish by the end of the semester. One thing that is challenging and that is interesting about this particular case is the limitation her surgeon set forth in regards to limiting her range of motion due to the type of meniscal repair she had done. We are about 10-15 degrees behind where a typical ACL repair would be. This has her slightly worried I believe, but I have discussed with her how all rehabs are individual and require different things. She is very interested in the anatomy and physiology behind her injury, so it is very beneficial that I can review while explaining to her what is going on. I have realized that I learn the best from teaching since I arrived at college, so I think this semester will help me do much better on my next practice BOC. Melissa will also be working with me on reviewing material as the semester goes on and I know that any questions I have I can refer to her for. With all that being said, I am still very confident in my knowledge and skills in regards to rehabilitation. I did well on my first practice BOC in this category and understand the material, it was that the questions revolved around one of my weaker areas in the subject. This was a good experience for me to see where I needed to improve and what I could do to be better in the clinic.