Rehabilitation Measures Database

Rehabilitation Measures Database describes a bunch of tests used in the PT setting. Its just a nice resource. Sometimes the tests are presented differently in different classes so I compare my notes to the database to get another party's perspective.

Picture of 6-minute-walk-test from Dr.Pinna.

Mad Skills Exercise Encyclopedia

It looks kinda awesome. I think I might buy the Mad Skills Exercise Encyclopedia.

I'm not an athlete and the idea of treating one kinda scares me because I'm not really familiar with sports. So I always wonder and ask in class what type of exercises would be good for a high-level athlete/person. The answer is always...it depends. Though I understand why my professors say that and treatment prescription should be very individualized... sometimes I would just like a sampling of what kinds of exercises are out there so I have a starting point. I still remember when I figured out how important bridging is. I'm going to check this book out.

Picture from Cool Hunting.

Things to do first thing in the morning...

I was glancing at this article on yahoo that I can't find now... about things that productive people do first thing in the morning. I don't remember the list but here are two things that stuck out:

1. Do the thing that you really don't want to do [its also probably the most important thing that needs to be done]. For me, right now it is an assignment where I have to discuss the theoretical framework behind one of the Healthy People 2020 objectives... yeah, exciting *hint of sarcasm*. The idea is that once its complete, the day already feels like a success because you got that "thing you didn't want to do" out of the way. This leads me to the second item on the list....

2. Exercise - I have a hard time getting myself to the gym. But if I get it out of the way first thing in the morning, I consider my day a success. Also I get the benefit of riding on my endorphin high for the first part of the day.

Stretching Picture from Huffington Post.
Exercise Picture from FitSugar.

How to gracefully fail an exam....

Last week was midterms week. I think that I failed an exam in my clinical decision making class - this class puts all your academic work into context and determines if you have a rhyme and reason to how you treat....and I think that I failed the exam. (Please note: I'm not one of those horrible people that say that I think that I failed an exam and get a 89. I stare down people like that.)

This post is not about how destroyed I feel but more about how to fail with grace. Because soooooo often I see students get really ugly when they do poorly on an exam and it actually works against them. Though, I can acknowledge that it feels good to complain for about 5 minutes but not longer than that.....here are my tips/thoughts.

1) Don't piss off the professor with your complaints. More than likely, he/she will be your professor again.

2) Don't use the words "not fair" to describe the exam to your professor. You sound like a child. Be a little more specific like... it wasn't covered in the 9/20 lecture or that was not my interpretation of the material, my interpretation was.... etc.

3) Think about how you could have prepared better. A test is as much about performance as it is about a learning. Learn from your mistakes. Nothing you can really do about your grade now but you can affect how you approach the next exam. Figure out what type of questions that the professor likes to write - critical thinking questions, short answer, lists, fact-based etc. and adjust your study habits.

4) Figure out what you got wrong and analyze what type of questions that you are not good at and adjust your study habits. Are you getting the fact based questions wrong, maybe you need to study with a partner and ask him/her to test your knowledge. Are you getting critical thinking questions wrong, maybe you need to go to office hours to see how you can get on track or talk through your answers with a classmate [make sure you are doing the talking].

5) Document the above so you see the pattern of questions that you are successful at and what you need to work on.

6) Don't gossip with your classmates. The walls have ears. And everyone hates a gossip. It also creates a negative sentiment amongst your class and then you-all become convinced that your professor has a personal vendetta against you. At that point, you will never be able to learn from that professor again.

7) Be proactive about the end of the semester review/feedback form. If the professor is truly to blame, he/she will only know what the problem is if someone writes about it.

With that said, I stewed last week but I'm back on track this week and figuring out how to do better on my final so I can pass the class..... Wish me luck!

Stink Eye Picture from Bookish Thoughts.
Crying Child Picture from Looks Like Good Design. 
Gossip Ruins People Picture from a Happy Lass.

Treatment Planning Worksheet

I was at my second clinical affiliation this summer and I thought that I was doing an awesome job. During my fourth week in, my supervisor went on vacation for a week and a half and I was handling a full caseload by myself. My professor was coming in the following week and I convinced myself not to be nervous.... I was such a fool.

Basically, my professor pointed out that all I was doing was following orders. And that I did not go to school for $40K/year to follow someone else's treatment plans. My job was to assess and guide treatment based on patient presentation and my knowledge. The key thing that I got out of that painful experience was that... a treatment planning worksheet was in order!

See my treatment planning worksheet.

Name: ________      Week: ___________ of ______________    Discharge Date:___________

IMPAIRMENT/FUNCTIONAL LIMITATION	GOAL	INTERVENTION	REASONING

***Please note my disclaimer - this is my modification of the tx planning worksheet presented by my professor. This is NOT the only one. This is NOT the best one but the one that worked best for me during my second clinical rotation.

Here is my reasoning:
- Impairment/functional limitation column reminds us of patient presentation and to tease out the problems that is within our scope of practice to identify.
- Goal column reminds us what we are working towards.
- Intervention column- includes patient position, therapist hand placement and technique if you want to get fancy. More details, the better. It means you thought it through.
- Rationale column is a reminder that you should be doing the activity for a reason. I know this sounds like a "no-doh" but you see how quickly you get into the habit of "ambulating" with a patient as a form of therapeutic exercise.  In this column, you should consider the stages of motor control (mobility > stability > controlled mobility > skill) and how you are sequencing your interventions. Have you reduced the pain & inflammation so patient can do the full range of motion without squirming? Does the patient have the ROM... to do the motion? Does the patient have the core stability to maintain their trunk while doing the functional activity?
- Week x of x is to meant for the prognosis and present week. If you said that the patient will be able to complete their goals in 4 weeks and you notice that you are on week 3 of 4, you better be 1 week away from completing those goals! Its really a reminder to re-assess as you go along your treatment to make sure you are on track.
- Discharge date is a reminder of when you stated that patient will reach his/her goals.

You can add more columns but I like the four columns because its manageable. I feel like I can do this on the train or when I come home after an exhausting day at work. I fit this on a regular piece of blank paper - landscape orientation, .24" margins. I'm technologically backward otherwise I would post the file!

Often times, it was easy to do what I was told. But my professor was right when she said...but that's not what I went to school for. The treatment planning sheet helps guide you to progress a patient to meet their goals... which makes sense... doh, that's my job!

Picture from SILive.com and Simpsoncrazy.com.