Nursing Home Internship

I never got a chance to write about it but....I got into PT with geriatrics in mind as my end goal. My dad and stepmom are seniors and they were the ones who got me interest in physical therapy for the elderly. They both received therapy and talked very positively about the profession. Then I volunteered at a extended care facility that catered to the senior community and I was sold. I knew my clinical rotation at the subacute facility would either solidify thoughts or remind me that it is very different to observe a profession than to do the work in the profession. So far......


So good. I really love the company of people that are in their 60s-70s-80s-and 90s and 100's! Its crazy to be in the company of someone with so much history! Love talking about old NYC and Queens. How people from their generation used to fall in love, develop relationships with their family, the war, recreation and work. My supervising therapist said the best thing that I have to totally agree with. When working with the elderly - you are really helping them with life. Being able to maintain independence and dignity in your golden years is very difficult as your body begins to deteriorate. I really feel like I'm helping people when I get them to walk, stand up, sit down, manage stairs, move from bed <--> to chair/wheelchair with as little help as possible. Hope this feeling lasts.

Picture from thinkprogress.org. 

Second clinical internship

I started my second clinical internship at a nursing home/subacute rehab center. I will here for 9 weeks. On the first week, I almost broke down in tears. Saddest thing - I have the coolest and informative CI, a comfortable schedule from 8-4, a great supervisors that guides me with my treatment, and some pretty awesome coworkers and students alongside with me. But I was plagued with this fear everyday that I was supposed to know how to act in front of the nurses, doctors, other therapists, how to do a perfect exam, diagnosis, etc and that I should be able to treat 50% or more of a full time PT workload. Stupid APTA guidelines. I felt like I wasn't doing enough. I nearly passed out while listening to my CI because I was so overwhelmed by all the things that I thought I had to be doing perfect.


By the third week, I got the hang of things. I kinda ignored my weekly progress notes until the 3rd week because I couldn't bear with the thought of being told that I suck. But I bit the bullet this week and wrote about my 'concerns'. My CI's response on my weekly progress report....'student has high expectations for herself compared to most students which makes her feel overwhelmed. Just focus on basics, it will get easier as student get familiarized with all the forms.' FINE, I am drama queen. Maybe things aren't that bad. Her note made me feel better.

Picture from wired.com.

Do you know who Sheryl Sandberg is?

You have probably seen her a million times in the news...her speech at Barnard, her work at Google, and then her work at Facebook. Now her book. I know of her and was touched by her speech on "having it all." I didn't read up about all the backlash that came afterward and her lack of duty to feminism. I may or may not read her book.

This weekend, my best friend spoke about Sheryl Sandberg's talk at a CEO conference. My best friend said a ton of amazing things that I cannot re-articulate because I am not NEARLY as well spoken as the bf but the one thing that stuck with me was the idea that young women should not have to reach a point in their life and choose between having a successful career and having a great family. When the family happens, then.... you figure out how to mesh the professional life with the personal life. Sandberg mentioned that one of her younger colleagues at Facebook was asking for advice on how to start planning her professional life for her future family. This younger woman was just out of college and I think she didn't have a steady boyfriend at the time but she was already planning on this life event that hasn't even happened yet. Sandberg encourages young women to pursue the career, don't hold back (our male counterparts aren't), find a partner to support you on your path and worry about the family when the time comes. 

I confess that I have this imaginary child and family in the back of my mind when I think of where I want to work when I graduate. But after speaking with my girlfriend, I am reminded that its ok to go where the most exciting opportunity is (or whatever opportunity that I have access to! ha!). And when it comes time to start that family, it will be a joint conversation and effort with my partner.

Picture from Businessinsider.

Early Intervention Part II

So I'm a silly silly ass. I thought I could just jump into Early Intervention (EI) like post-grads work in a orthopedics clinic after PT school because they are interested in "Ortho". I'm in my 7th week of Pediatric Dx & Management and we finally got to the part about working in Early Intervention. My professor broke it to me lightly and kindly, that therapists usually work in a school setting with the 3-5 year olds or in a clinic for kids of all ages for a few years before they even go near the 0-3 year olds. Makes sense. She must have thought, "Jen must be out of her mind if she thought she could go near anyone's baby with next to no experience." Sigh, I must sound really naive to people when I tell them that I want to work in EI when I graduate. Eh, live and learn.

Cute baby pic from CDC website that list baby milestones. 

Also an incredible powerpoint with fantastic pictures from Missy Rose and Lois Bly describing normal and abnormal infant milestones from 0-12 mo. It was really helpful visual when learning about developmental milestones.

How to be less awkward in a conversation with 3 people?

I always get into those awkward 3-way conversations. There are three people standing around a group. And one person seems to only be talking to me and the third person is left out of the conversation. This makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable.

I picked up a neat fix to this problem. When someone starts to address and only talk to you, you just look at the person that is talking, then make eye contact with the third person (and maybe add a smile). The person talking usually notices and opens up the circle and begins to address both of you. Finally then, you get a proper 3-way conversation.

I was so thrilled to see Bain & Company Chairman, Orit Gadiesh mentioned this similar technique in her interview with Maire Claire. Different context but same idea.

How We Die

It was so nice to wind down with a damn good book. I read How We Die over my Xmas break. I found the title from a blog post named, "Have you ever fallen for someone's ...bookcase" from my favorite blog, Cup of Jo.

Its a beautifully written but insanely detailed account of how people die - heart disease, stroke, cancer, "old-age,", Alzheimer's, accidents, euthanasia...and more from the eyes of a doctor. He describes the disease in a both scientific but poetic way that you can visualize what's happening to the person. In class, I learn and memorize about different pathologies and treatments for patients. But it feels so foreign and distant. The book brings together all the knowledge that you have learned over the years in school, from the news, from your parents/grandparents, your friends and makes sense of it by putting the information in the context of individual stories.

My bro says I'm kinda morbid that I want to read a book about death over Xmas. I think the book demystifies death and I'm happy to have read it. And its a great adjunct to classes like pulmonary or cardiac PT.

Picture from Goodreads.

Peds: Early Intervention

I met this incredible woman at a APTA conference. I spoke to her for about 30 minutes over a terrible boxed lunch about her background. Out of PT school she planned on working on sport injuries but she got a scholarship through the NYC Board of Education and committed the first 2 years out of school to working in a NYC public school with kids. She had her last affiliation working with kids with neurological damage and has been working in Pedatric PT since. 

The incredible part was when she would describe her techniques. She has been known to be unconventional but effective. With a kid with CP, she would bandage his legs together to help him with crawling. I'm guessing that the legs of kids with CP are usually splayed when they are born. Some people would be appalled at the idea of tying any baby's legs together but with the permission of the kid's parents, she would do it. She says parents with kids with disabilities are more open to these ideas because they want to do everything in their power to help their kids live a normal life. I gathered in my studies that kids have to reach their developmental milestones -crawling, standing, walking by a certain month or risk being severely setback by their disabilities. 

In this case, she said the wrapping of the legs worked. She's seen the kid grow up and walking with some assistance from crutches. That was one of her cheerier stories. She discussed the downsides of working in early intervention of kids with disabilities but she seems energized by the success stories. In addition to helping babies, she finds the field extremely interesting. There isn't a ton of manuals on how to handle the various presentations of CP, down syndrome, autism, muscular dystrophy, etc. With this population, she gets to be really creative with her interventions. And she supplements her knowledge with continuing ed classes like the one I met her in, pediatric vestibular dysfunction. 

I never thought about working with kiddies but this really amazing woman turned me on to the idea. 

Picture from Torticollis Therapy Blog.