First Ortho. Internship!

[Pauli008]

Hey everyone!

I'm going on my first internship at an OP Ortho clinic in Davie, FL. I was wondering if anyone has any advice as to how to prepare. I've done well in PT school however, with all this information it's easy to feel a little overwhelmed!

Thanks!

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[DesertPT]

Read this:

www.amazon.com/Therapeutic-Neuroscience-Education-Adriaan-Louw/dp/0985718641

 

[twolves21]

Hey everyone!

I'm going on my first internship at an OP Ortho clinic in Davie, FL. I was wondering if anyone has any advice as to how to prepare. I've done well in PT school however, with all this information it's easy to feel a little overwhelmed!

Thanks!

Is this part of your clinical rotations for school?

Since it's your first internship, you probably won't be expected to do too much, especially in the first few weeks. Just review your ortho/kinesiology/anatomy notes from school. Make sure you're comfortable with taking measurements with a goniometer, performing joint mobs, performing MMT. Evals will likely pose a bit of a challenge, mostly due to having to finish them in a timely but effective fashion, so if possible it'll help to just run through some sample evals with a friend.

The first few weeks will be an adjustment process where you'll be building a relationship not only with your patients, but also with your clinical instructor(s). As they see you work and perform well, they'll be more and more comfortable letting you perform different treatments or prescribing different exercises to patients. More than likely, since it's your first internship they'll have their routine treatments and exercises for you to follow. However, once you get comfortable try to break out of the comfort zone a bit and try new ideas and techniques that you may have seen in school, during observation hours or elsewhere. I've found that my clinical instructors were always game to learn new things themselves, as long as it is applicable and effective.

 

[noyceguy]

Keep it simple. Medical screening. Pathoanatomical examination. Motor control/functional movement assessment. In that order. Diagnose the impairment. Treat the impairment.