Final Reflection

The confronting aspect of this placement was better than I’d hoped. It certainly hit home on a number of occasions the gravity of some patients situations, but I think I dealt with these better than I’d expected. Each case was sad and too often was avoidable, but we didn’t really have time whilst there to think and dwell on this. The patients rehab was the focus and achieving goals relevant to their life after Shenton Park was paramount.

 

Empathy was given when a pt was discussing their difficulties, but balancing that with appropriate direction and motivation to their current abilities was our job. The psychologist or psychiatrist is better equipped to deal with emotional issues, and I didn’t pretend otherwise.

 

The patients were at various stages through their rehab and I saw one pt progress over a period of weeks, but was being limited by some upper thoracic back pain. He had osteomyelitis, which fractured his spine in a number of places (he was 77) and he was a jovial fellow who always entertained us during the sessions. But some less than ideal medical news regarding the advancement of the infection (a bug that they couldn’t identify or stop) has further compromised his spine with little hope of stopping its progression or even slowing it. His demeanour and motivation took a severe hit during our last days on prac, and it was this instance particularly that affected me. His prognosis was not good and there is nothing the medical staff could do to make it improve. The infection may attack his cervical vertebrae and compromise his cord at this level or even higher. Seeing his change was difficult. When we said our goodbyes and gave gifts to our pts on the last day, this gentleman was sad and shed a tear or two. It was of course not us leaving, but it felt eerie and a little unsettling knowing his situation.

 

Overall, the placement was amazing, I cant think of a better word to use. We saw a huge range of presentations and experiences and had the most wonderful staff, all of which mentored us and enhanced our learning opportunities. Physios in that setting make huge differences in these peoples lives.  It’s not as if these patients come to you for a sore muscle from playing footy on the weekend, they have suffered massive trauma to their bodies and require everything from you to help them recover what they can. Driving home Friday afternoon I had a moment where I observed people on the street, standing in conversation. This made me think I’ve just come from a place where people would give anything to be able to do something as simple as that. Its an obvious cliché, but those of us with good health take things like this for granted (and assume we’ll have it forever). I think this prac has given me more than I could have expected. A glimpse into their difficulties and how life swings one way, then changes into another direction without seeing it coming. I’m truly privileged to have been to the spinal unit for my placement and could see myself working in such a setting in the future.