It's been a while since I've put an update on here! The last two weeks have been busy as ever in my Interventions in Biomedical Sciences Class. Last week, we finished watching Something the Lord Made as a way to wrap up Black History month. This movie told the story of Vivien Thomas, an African American lab assistant who was integral in pioneering cardiac surgery. I absolutely loved this movie and appreciated getting to learn about this fascinating piece of history in medicine. Also last week, we were visited by representatives from Spartan Day School in South Carolina. We were able to show them the ropes in our program to help them recreate a similar one at their school. They seemed to be very impressed. We ended the week with a lab in which we applied our own plaster cast. We had to work very quickly because the plaster dried very quickly.
This week began with a presentation on Reflexology. Reflexology is a medical practice that focuses on how massaging different pressure points can benefit overall health. We learned about how different areas of the hand have pressure points that benefit a particular area of the body. For instance, massaging the tips of the fingers can help with headaches. We each created a reflexology chart that detailed where each of the pressure points correlate.
We could not escape our Capstone presentations this week. We met with the former St. Luke's employee, Mrs Hammons, to discuss the hook we will each do with our presentations. With her help, I decided I will draw my audience in with a personal story that details why I chose to study burns for my presentation. We then presented these hooks to our classmates and Mrs McCleery, who gave us all feedback on how to present them.
This week we also received an intriguing presentation from a guest speaker this week. Blaire Saale (PT, DPT) a neurological physical therapist and University of South Alabama Educator came to speak to us about physical therapy. Physical therapists are movement specialists who strive to restore, maintain, and promote overall fitness. They can find jobs in a variety of settings including but not limited to outpatient facilities, sport centers, rehabilitation, school system/universities, nursing homes, and hospitals. PTs see a variety of patient populations across various disciplines, leaving a lot of freedom for those who chose this field to explore. We learned about the requirements to become a PT in school and in personality as well. She also spoke to us about Hemiplegia and Hemiparesis. These are conditions in which half of the body does not function correctly as a result of a brain injury. Though similar, Hemiplegia is paralysis while Hemiparesis is weakness. We were able to put a hemiplegia suit on one of our classmates to simulate how a patient suffering from it would look. This was a very eye opening experience and certainly gave me an appreciation for the individuals who suffer from this and those who care for them.
I am very grateful for all the opportunities we have been provided for in Biomed. This weekend I have a job shadow, so stay tuned for my blog on that!
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