Last week!

This week was another interesting one (it was Drew’s turn to go to the fancy private hospital!). I got to see more pediatrics therapy and finally, a neuro day!

The pediatrics location at Pinklao was a lot bigger than the Salaya peds room, and had more therapists and more kids running around- overall, a pretty fun and energetic space. We saw a few kids and some more Vojta therapy, as well as worked with a standing frame and a sit to stand lift that had a harness so the child could be supported and practice walking. It was a lot of fun, and the thing that stood out to me was how involved the families were. I haven’t had a full peds rotation yet, but I’ve worked with kids in a general outpatient setting before, and the families weren’t so hands on. Here, it looked more like a partnership between the therapist and family members to get things done. The mom or aunt or grandmother were the most common, with a few dads in there too. Usually more than one person was with the child to help, and they’d help with moving limbs and attaching harnesses/equipment. It was really cool to see that involvement. Many of them had been coming to physical therapy for years so they knew exactly what to do.

Neuro day was really fun, because it looked the most like PT at home to me. It was a big open room as opposed to the ortho private rooms, and the whole focus was exercise. They still rested more often that I would have if I were in charge of a patient back home (we spent two hours with each patient that day- though the therapist says it’s usually only one hour). I really enjoyed talking with multiple therapists that day about the relationship of patient motivation to outcome, and how there needs to be a direct connection between what we do to the patient‘s deficits- and how important it is that the patient sees the connection.

And with that, the internship is finished! It’s been a great learning experience and a lot of fun too.