In the past three years of studying for my undergraduate degree, I have discovered that change is not always a bad thing. Every challenge and test has helped me grow closer to the person that I strive to be. Over the past year I have accepted the challenge of applying for the masters program in orthotics and prosthetics at the University of Pittsburgh.
Throughout my time at the University of Central Arkansas I developed an interest in the anatomy, physiology, and health of a human being. The courses I have taken have challenged me and helped me grow intellectually. In my clinical experiences through my internship, I have been able to apply the information given to me in lecture. Everyday I learned something new in Structure and Functions
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lectures and labs. I find it fascinating to figure out what makes up the human body and why. After taking courses in pharmacology and pathophysiology, I understood what causes certain diseases and what medicines can treat those illnesses. These classes, as well as college physics, assisted in the advancement of my problem solving skills. Throughout my experience at the University of Central Arkansas, I have developed organizational skills that will be a crucial asset in the prosthetic and orthotic field. This past summer, I shadowed at New Hope Prosthetics and Orthotics in Conway, AR.
The thought of helping other people in prosthetics gave me love and compassion to pursue my interest. Fall semester, New Hope allowed me to further my knowledge in the field through a three hundred hour internship. I was given the opportunity to sit in on appointments and work with some of the tools and equipment around the workshop. The hands on experience I've received at the clinic has thoroughly prepared me for graduate school entry. Nick Howey and Ian Carr, the prosthetic and orthotic practitioners at New Hope, have also taught me valuable lessons about how to speak and behave around the patients to make them feel as comfortable as possible. In this line of work, it is just as important to have proper bedside manner as it is to be able to diagnose the patient. New amputee patients often exhibit signs of physical and emotional pain. A practitioner needs to be able to comfort and support their patients in both ways. They consistently tested my skills to ensure that I fully understood and felt comfortable in the work …show more content…
field. While pursuing a masters degree in orthotics and prosthetics at the University of Pittsburgh, I want to continue to grow in every way possible.
I would grow socially by learning how to connect with my patients. I would be able to convey a diagnosis and treatment of the patient in a way that ensures their confidence in my abilities as a professional in the prosthetic and orthotic field. Emotionally, a master's degree would help me not only grow in my compassion, empathy, and altruism for my patients, but also keep my emotions composed in order to maintain professionalism. Spiritually, receiving a degree in prosthetics and orthotics would allow me to develop a sense of self fulfillment that can only be reached through helping the helpless. The masters program is designed to enhance my conceptual, integrative, and quantitative abilities for problem solving and patient assessment. After completing the program, I will be able to conduct a physical examination of the subject and perceive the signs of disease and abnormalities of skin, subcutaneous masses, muscles, bones, and joints. I will also attain the intellectual growth needed in order to assess and manage patient movement disorders. The hands on clinical hours through the program will allow me to grow professionally as well. Field experience will ultimately result in confidence in my ability to use the tools and equipment necessary to deliver a high quality
product. The hope of being accepted at the University of Pittsburgh has influenced my drive to advance in my career after graduation. Using the previous knowledge from my bachelor degree in health services administration, I plan on owning my own prosthetic and orthotic clinic. My goal is to someday start a nonprofit organization that supplies these prosthetics to people in need. I also have plans of furthering my research in three dimensional printing in order to create an inexpensive prosthetic alternative. The excitement of today's technological advancements have inspired me to contribute my ideas through the expansion of my knowledge and development as a professional in the future.
There is not one single specific job that a prosthetist performs. What a prosthetist must do on a day to day basis overall is examine, interview, and measure patients to decide the appliances needs (myplan.com). This is just one part of the most important duties of the creation artificial limb process. Which may take a little while to be able to do considering that is a very tedious and high end job. Before starting the process though you have to work near doctors, surgeons, and nurses (samplejobdescription.org). The purpose of working with doctors, nurses, and surgeons is to acquire data about the specific patient and there situation so that you can make the ideal limb for them. This makes making the necessary fixes and special effects on the limb easier to make because you have a more personal, medical, and professional preference on the patient. This also helps the designated designer what to do and what not do to when creating the limb. Another reason you meet with these professionals is so you know what therapy may be needed for said person. This leads into the physical part of the prosthetists job. They must practice and perform physical therapy with their given patient (Myplan.com). This sector of the job is described as the “fit, test, and evaluate” portion. That is so they can better design prosthetic devices based on the patient’s recommendation and prescriptions (myplan.com/careers). This is important to do because the better without evaluation a patient may have a limb that doesn’t fit, or even worse doesn’t
Mobility grants opportunity and lifelong experiences through the gift of exploration and independence. Without autonomy of movement in one’s life, there are struggles accompanied by frustration do to the lack of freedom and ability. It is an orthopedic surgeon’s job to bring function to one’s life even if they have never been granted movement without restraint before. Orthopedic surgeons receive patients whose freedom of movement have been compromised and then return it back to them. Orthopedic surgeons give immeasurable opportunities and life experiences back to their patients because of their perseverance and commitment to their patients and careers.
I have been exposed to the medical field my whole life. My Mom was a nurse and I would love to listen to the stories she told about her time in the hospital. If anybody asked me at the age of five what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say “a nurse like my mom.” A few years later I decided I wanted to be a doctor from the few times I got to watch the television show “ER”. The beginning of my interest in physical therapy was when I met my fourth grade pen pal, Elmo, at a nursing home. Elmo had muscular dystrophy and only retained control of his right arm and pinky which allowed him to manouver his wheelchair. During one visit where we got to spend the whole day with our pals, the physical therapist at the nursing home came to see Elmo. I was allowed to stay and I remember thinking it was so cool that there was one person to help Elmo retain the little muscle tone and mobility he had left. In sixth grade, my class went to the hospital to sing Christmas caroles and I remember the coolest place being the physical therapy room. I thought it was amazing how patients were learning to walk again or throw a ball.
In the Personal Narrative ¨A Work In Progress¨ by Aimee Mullins, a young girl named Aimee Mullins was born with two amputated legs. She has to deal with not being able to do lots of things because she doesn't have ankles or legs. She overcomes this obstacle by working with many people to help her get new and improved legs that will be just like having regular legs. It says,¨ And so I started working with engineers, fashion designers, sculptors , Hollywood prosthetic makeup artists, wax museum designers to build for me¨(pg.406).This shows that Aimee wanted to try very hard to make sure that it doesn't even feel like she doesn't even realize
They have allowed me to experience the environment and given me a measure of what I will have to combat and accomplish in this field. I have learned so much about medicine and the different methods that they actually use in the field. I have been able to see how doctors work in their actual field and the impact that they have made upon their patients. This has given me more determination to work harder and the conviction that I can help many people as a doctor. I will be able to work hard to accomplish my ambitions and use this knowledge I have gained to help me on the way to becoming a
I believe placing student nurses in the clinical setting is vital in becoming competent nurses. Every experience the student experiences during their placement has an educative nature therefore, it is important for the students to take some time to reflect on these experiences. A specific situation that stood out to me from my clinical experience was that; I didn’t realize I had ignored the patient’s pain until I was later asked by the nurse if the patient was in any pain.
I became interested in osteopathic medicine when I entered high school. As I was applying for high school I knew that I wanted to be part of the medical field but I did not really look into the high schools that offered any sort of programs that can help me gain experience. I discovered my high school when my cousin told me her high school offered a medical assistant program. When the science department accepted me into the program in my sophomore year, I did not know what to expect. I thought the program would just be an extra class I will be taking in high school, a class that will be teaching me the basics of anatomy, pathology, etc. However, this program exceeded my expectations, it showed me so much more than I thought and showed me how
This week’s clinical experience has been unlike any other. I went onto the unit knowing that I needed to be more independent and found myself to be both scared and intimidated. However, having the patients I did made my first mother baby clinical an exciting experience. I was able to create connections between what I saw on the unit and the theory we learned in lectures. In addition, I was able to see tricks other nurses on the unit have when providing care, and where others went wrong. Being aware of this enabled me to see the areas of mother baby nursing I understood and areas I need to further research to become a better nurse.
The internship that I acquired during the summer of 2010 at the Greenwood Sports and Industrial Rehabilitation Center (GSIRC), allowed me to gain an immeasurable amount of experience during my tenure at this facility. Within this period, the exposure to new concepts within the physical therapy industry allowed me to observe and work hands on with patients of all ages and disabilities that exposed me to various treatment plans and programs to restore client’s mobility. The essential Physical Education and Exercise Science (PEES) courses taken at Lander University were beneficial to my academic knowledgebase, which prepared me and developed me for the opportunity within the physical therapy discipline. Working as an intern taught me the responsibility of time management and working within a lean schedule that allow me to further develop my skill set. This reflection paper will illustrate my classroom experience, internship experience, and learning experience.
I have always been intrigued by the field of science and that is the reason I pursued the field of Biochemistry for my undergraduate studies. How The Human body works and the different determinants that can affect one's health or a community as a whole have always been captivating to me. I wanted to emerge in a profession that is beneficial for me, my community, and the world I live in. I came to realize through various science courses and health care experiences that a career in health care was the best path for me to outreach my community and the world.
The human body is something I find extremely fascinating and have been interested in since a very young age. Success in my college studies and extra work in the Hospital and clinical placements has given me a deep academic grounding in which to approach a degree in medicine with confidence and enthusiasm.
...ts. Not only were my questions about the profession answered, but my excitement was ignited. For UIC, I was nominated to attend the national youth leadership forum, in which I met doctors, as well as professors. There, I learned different medical practices such as: suturing, taking blood pressure, intubating, and dissecting. These practices only verified my passion for the health care field.
As a whole, my clinical experience last year was formative in my learning more about nursing, patient interaction, and myself. Working with such a variety of patients, nurses, and other medical professionals at Newton Wellesley Hospital, I feel as though I gained a strong appreciation of the many facets of hospital care. Further, experiencing a new patient each week allowed me not only to gain a better understanding of the manifestations and necessary care for specific conditions, but also helped me learn how to work with patients of different background and personalities. Lastly, being my first clinical and having to push myself out of my comfort zone, I learned a lot about myself and definitely grew as a person and aspiring nurse.
Orthopedic surgery is one of the most valuable branches of the medical industry. The position is a necessity for the elderly, athletes, and anyone who happens to sustain damage to their musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgery is a demanding job with long, unpredictable hours, but it is rewarded with high compensation. To become an orthopedic surgeon, one must go through many years of education: high school, college, medical school, complete an internship, and go through a residency before choosing a
I have always felt drawn to medicine and working in the medical field. Upon entering college, I oscillated between going into the pre-med program or doing engineering, I had no idea what I was meant to do with my life. In this time of contemplation, I found myself being guided towards engineering, whether this was pressuring from others or God, I’m not sure, but I felt it was the right place for me. Since entering college, my understanding of what it means to be a student has changed. I have found that I needed to make a more conscious effort when studying or doing homework. I have realized that this is the time to learn and absorb knowledge because this is one of the last steps in my education. With this in mind I have been trying to take advantage of the resources the college offers. I have already signed up for a tutor and meet with them once a week. I also visit with my classmates after class or at night if I find I am struggling to complete difficult assignments. By talking to members of my classes, I am expanding my knowledge of the subject, as well as my relationships with those individuals. I have also realized my experiences and performance in