Patient/Doctor relationship

I have been trying to put what I have been learning at my job down on this blog ever since I started. I have failed and have only been able to mention what it is that i am getting out of my intern once.  So finally I can put something else down that I feel is necessary for me to remember in order for me to have any chance of being a good therapist down the road. No homo, I was watching Good Will Hunting tonight and there is a part where Robin Williams is in the middle of teaching a class about how to be a good psychologist.  During the short dialogue of this scene he poses the question "Why is trust the most important thing between the patient and therapist". One of his students replies " because trust is life" or something like that. So I paused the movie and thought about the question myself and tried to relate it to the relationship between a Physical Therapist and his patient(s). In my head I replay the question "Why is trust the most important thing between the patient and therapist?". Since I was playing the movie on my laptop I couldn't open up my blog to brainstorm and record my answer to that very simplistic but insightful question, so i grabbed the closest piece of paper next to me and found a pen on the floor and began rambling.
What i ended up coming up with for the answer is that without trust then there is now way that the patient will be willing to do what you tell them to. The patient needs to know that without a doubt that you have their best interest in mind and that you are the person that can get them healthy again. If you fail to build trust with your patient i feel that it is highly probable that they will not finish there rehabilitation regimen, and at that point the only person that is losing out is the patient. As a therapist your whole goal is to keep your patient motivated so they continue to work towards completion of their program, no matter how long it takes.  So it is vital that throughout their program you prove to your patient that you are dedicated in getting them to their end goal. Thus building trust.

I have noticed this at Silverado.  What i mean is that I have noticed how much trust affects the motivation and quality of the rehabilitation. For example, there are a couple of patients that i work with daily that have slight cases of dementia. They are mostly there but it seems that at least once a day they are confused on who I am and what they are doing in our clinic.  Once they are in this confused state they immediately stop what they were doing and ultimately "quit" the rehab program at that moment. The patient will then look up at me and ask me in a variety of ways, "What am I doing here?" or "Who are you (referring to me), and why are you having me do this". At that moment it is clear that as a result of there dementia they do not have any trust in their surroundings let alone me, and have thus questioned there routine and most importantly they do not trust that I am there to help them.  What I have to do is tell them exactly where they are, remind them that they have had a hip replacement and that I am working with them so they can get back to walking and ultimately go back home to their lives. Once I reestablish that trust between the patient and I the results are off the charts.  Well until they relapse into their blank mind again, but nonetheless while they remember and know what my goal is for them they are more then willing to comply with my direction for them.

I don't know why it took the question that Robin Williams posed in the movie to realize that trust is vital for success in the health care world, but better late than never.

Industriousness

Industriousness is commonly known as hard work.  Some people never really know or understand what this word means or entails. Those people are the ones pointing the finger at external objects to blame for what they have not accomplished. The true key to life is industriousness. There is no substitute for a person who is willing to go the extra mile, plan harder, study longer, stay later at work, etc. I was recently talking with some close friends and family and we came across the topic of what it takes to do well in school. After some talking back and forth the common denomator between all of us happened to be, hard work. For example, if a student ends up graduating with a 4.0 some might automatically assume that he is just naturally smart, or if a high school basketball player turns pro, that he is just naturally talented. I do not agree with this way of thinking at all. I mean you can't deny that someone who gets a 4.0 or a basketball player that turns pro from high school does have some god given talents, but what most people fail to recognize is what is internal to that individual. The student who graduates with a 4.0 is not only a smart person,  but they are also the person who is putting in the time outside of the classroom in order to succeed in the classroom.  They are focusing on the small intangibles that no one sees, all anyone sees is the A on the report card.  Not the many hours spent in the library studying while others are out partying and leaving there homework for another day, and then another day, etc. Comparingly, no one ever gives credit to the incredible athlete for his work inside the gym when no one is around to witness it. Do you really think that Lebron James, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and pretty much the entire NBA made it where they are just by there god given talent or by practicing whenever the team was practicing.  The answer is hell no.  Which brings me to a John Wooden quote that reads, "“There is no sub­sti­tute for work. Worth­while things come from hard work and care­ful plan­ning,”. Don't ever take the hard work required to succeed for granted, because if you do you will have no chance!


As you know my goal is compile my own version of the pyramid of success with actions in my own life.  I am not doing this as a way to boast about me or to predict that I will be successful, but my hope is that by the time that i have completed the pyramid no matter how many years down the road that I will finally be successful, which is once again defined as "the peace of mind that is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming".


So with out further adew, everything I have participated in throughout my life I have always applied myself to my best abilities. I didn't always win the "Big Game", but no matter what I always put in the work.  Whether it was in school, sport, social life, work etc, I have not sacrificed the importance of hard work.  As a result, I have accomplished a lot thus far.  And to be honest, I expect nothing but the best for my work in any situation which is what drives me to continue to work hard to achieve my goals.  Recently my hard work has paid off once again. Today I received an email from Regis University inviting me to participate in the one-on-one interview with the faculty at the University for the Doctorate of Physical Therapy Program. Now this does not mean that I am accepted by any means, but it is the next step. I would not even be in this situation if i didn't stay focused on my end goal and grind it out till the end. I mean the application alone took me over 5 months to compile together before i submitted it. There were times where I thought about not even turning in my application because I was scared about not getting accepted. In the end i said fuck it and completed the app and turned it in. As a result I am now in a position to start grad school in May of 2011 to pursue my goal of becoming a Physical Therapist. The next step is to stay the course and prepare myself as much as possible before the interview so I can have the best possibility to get accepted. And that is exactly what I will do.


In conclusion, if there is something that you want to achieve, whether it is to be the best damn garbage man in the country or to become the next President of the United States, don't overlook the journey to get there. Buckle down and be willing to work harder than the person next to you to prepare you as much possible so when you get the chance to shine you are ready. One more thing, don't let the negativity of peers steer you away from what you want to accomplish, it isn't their life, so just do you!


Suggested Readings:  Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and Off the Court

Put the guard down

So after my final is done tomorrow at 11am I will officially have an end to my college lifestyle. After graduation from NDNU I have had a couple of part time jobs that were just a temporary solution to my money problems.  As of now, once I am done with school I will be working full-time at a more permanent job. The feeling is a bit surreal and confusing.  On one side I am very excited to have the opportunity to have a full time job in my field, but on the other I can't help but to worry that I am growing up to fast. That now is the last chance I have to be able to go on outrageous adventures, spur of the moment road trips, etc before I establish my comfort zone and get settled into my work routine. I just don't want to look back on my life in ten years and be upset that I didn't take advantage of life and live it while I was young. Up to this point I have done a more than adequate job of living life to fullest and taking advantage of every opportunity that presented itself to me, but now I am at a standstill.  I am at the crossroads between adolescence and adulthood, and have been for quite sometime. I am longing for an adventure to somewhere I have never been. Not like a little weekend getaway of sorts, but more along the lines of a temporary/permanent relocation. Because since I moved back home I find that the people that I was close with in the past still associate me with who I was 5 even 10 years ago, and to be honest I am not even close to the same person. Maybe relocation is the answer or maybe the answer is just to feel comfortable in my own shoes.
I have experienced the Bay Area, which up to this point in my life was the best four years of my life and I constantly have the urge to get up and move right back to the Bay. The best thing about the Bay area is the diversity. Utah has none and it just gives me the overall feeling that everybody is the same and following the societal norms.  The societal norms are not as unique as the Bay Area, to be honest there are no societal norms in the Bay Area, and that's what makes it great.  There is no expected way to live your life or expected routine that you must follow. The lifestyle in the Bay promotes individuality and accepts anything and everybody. I felt more comfortable with who was when I was living on my own in SF than I ever have before. Now I don't know if the problem is my location in Utah, or if i myself am just at a crossroad that is distracting me to feel comfortable with what I am doing. But when it is all said and done I need to stop questioning myself and just do me! I've had a rough time settling to life moving back in with my mom in Utah, but I will figure it out soon enough.
On a better note this 311 song inspired this rant:http:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjTjtJDZomw



-Just Do You!

Graduation Again?

So on Wednesday this week I will be done with school, AGAIN. The only thing is that finishing up two class at SLCC seems like nothing after completing over 100 units at NDNU. Nonetheless I will be partaking in festivities this weekend as if I just graduated for the first time.  Either way you look at it everyone is done this weekend. I'd like to throw a shout out to everyone I know who has already graduated this week, will graduate this week, or shit just finishing up another semester or even their first semester.  No matter your situation, lets party like its 1970' somethin.

-Always look to progress

Enthusiasm

 I recently got a new job at Silverado Assisted Living Center as a Physical Therapist Aide. I started on November 22, 2010.  After my first day I almost quit because I did not think that this center was for me.  But, I am to prideful to quit something before I have tested the waters well enough, so I decided to go back in the following day. I am still working there now and I have learned that this place is perfect for the time being.  Silverado is giving me the opportunity to see If a career in Physical Therapy is something that I will want to do for the rest of my life. It has done just that.

It did take me the first week to feel comfortable with my job and confident that I was doing it properly.  Working with geriatrics in an inpatient setting is nothing like working with middle-aged people in an outpatient clinic. The major difference between outpatient and inpatient clinics is the overall goal of the therapists. In an outpatient clinic the therapists main goal for each of their patients is to aid them in their recovery from an injury in order to get back to their previous level of activity at work or sport as soon as possible. There is a lot more urgency for recovery in the outpatient setting by both the therapist and patient. In an inpatient setting the therapists main goal is to prevent atrophy so when the patient is discharged they still have enough muscle to complete routine tasks such as walking up stairs, bending over, and maintaining balance while standing. So you can imagine that this therapy is much less intensive and with less importance on time of recovery, and more importance on preventing further degenerative side effects of being bed ridden.

While working at Silverado I found out that I really do enjoy assisting people back to health and because it is inpatient I see the patients daily and also see improvements everyday.  The satisfaction of gradually seeing patient improvement is unmatched, further reassuring me that a career in Physical Therapy is exactly what I want to do. Now all that is left is acceptance into Graduate school!

I chose to label this entry as enthusiasm because I have found that I thoroughly enjoy waking up everyday and going into a job where I am asked to help other people. I cannot wait until the day comes that I am a certified Physical Therapist and have the knowledge to heal anyone back to health.  The next step is acceptance into Graduate School!

-Focus on what you can control!