Week 1
by Suhaila Usuludin ~ January 20th, 2008. Filed under: Archived, Fieldwork, Neurorehabilitation.Week 1 of clinical placement had just passed by. That was fast, right?
Reflections on the First Week
I thought I have lost interest in neurology eversince the 4-week incident in 2006. I thought I was kind of doomed when I received the news that I will be posted to Neurosurgery. But all these thoughts vanished when a very, very nurturing supervisor came by. It was during this very first week that I rediscovered my original passion of physical dysfunction, especially in the area of neurology. I’m glad to have such a kind supervisor who is ever-ready to guide me whenever I feel lost. I really appreciate it. Her patience in teaching me the nitty gritty things when working as an OT in an acute hospital.
She pointed out to me my strengths and weaknesses. I realised that it is not the first time a supervisor said that I am not so confident of my ability. To be more specific, this is the second time. I felt very reassured when she said that she will check through my treatment plans as well as clinical reasonings behind them prior to approaching to my patients. Another weakness will be synthesising theories so as to apply it efficiently. I also felt that I need prompts to facilitate my clinical reasoning skills.
The first week was mainly to orientate myself to the environment, protocols and routines. I feel good as I am getting hold on the routines daily. Moreover, I managed to do some assessments and planned a treatment session. Clerkin of cases and documentation have also be rolled in gradually. I did quite a number of readings on several medical conditions etc. It is really beneficial to have those knowledge, especially when seeing elderly clients who have multiple co-morbidities, so that you can make certain inferences.
I also engaged in sharing of thought-provoking clinical questions with my clinical mate, who is also in a neurology placement, so as to maximise my learning. I feel that I learn more through sharing, especially when it is done in a relaxed environment of a bus to work. Hehehe 
Tomorrow, I have to complete my learning objectives so as to be focused in my learning needs. As for the coming week, I will be handling a number of cases already. Confident? Well, I need to.
Till then!
January 20th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Passing through and wanted to say hello