Brief picture of My’s journey through FW

Ok as promised to the MOT IIIs...here it is. New graduates, if you want to share your experience with them like they requested please email me and i'll post.

Chapter 1 (yes this is a short novel) haha:
My first FW site was at Houston Work and Fitness Impact. I don’t think this facility is accepting any more students due to the low case load but I’ll share with you my experience just in case you’re thinking about working at a worker’s comp facility. This facility was well equipped with weight machines and work simulation equipment for truck drivers, landscapers, etc. The most difficult part about this rotation was saying good bye to my patients. I know it sounds cheesy but I’m being honest. Those who were in the work hardening and work conditioning program were there for 8 hours a day so we built a very strong bond. Before this rotation, I thought to myself what do you do that would take up 8 hours?! I’ve learned now that 8 hours is not enough time to fit everything…stretches, strengthening, conditioning, and education classes on body mechanics or back care and work simulation activities. 8 hours is not enough time?! I know you’re thinking I’m crazy…trust me it’s not enough some times. Documentation was pretty hard at first, my longest FCE report was 14 pages. Although my caseload was not great in quantity, I definitely had quality patients. Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCE) probably took us longer (5 hrs and that’s not including writing the report) than other facilities being that we did everything manually (no fancy machines to spit out the numbers). After my third week, I was given a huge responsibility and worked mostly from 10-12 hrs/day because of early patients and one late patient. At first I thought the responsibility was too much, that I shouldn’t have been given that responsibility being that I was a student, felt like I was being taken advantage of but I eventually got over it, looked at it in a positive light that my CI fully trusted me and believed in me. At the end of FW, she told me that she had never given anybody that responsibility except for me.

Pros: You really work with the person as a whole (this should be the case everywhere you go but it’s not in reality).
Cons: You don’t get to work with a variety of diagnoses. You have to deal with insurance companies not wanting to approve what the doctor recommends. Dr. would recommend 4 wks, the insurance approves 2 wks.

Helpful hint: Of course, know your MMT & ROM (of the whole body….not just upper extremities). Go through and do the exercises in the documentation manual for writing SOAP notes. Even though every facility is different in their ways of documenting, those exercises will give you the basics that will help you on FW. Documentation is important any where you go but some places require much more detailed notes than others.

Chapter 2: ok….i’ll make it shorter
Neurodevelopmental Therapy Services (NTS) - Northwest location
My second rotation was a blast. The staff was wonderful and I learned so much from everyone that my head felt like it was about to explode…seriously. My CI was great…very knowledgeable and constantly teaching me tricks of the trade. Of course there are ups and downs as with everything. One of the hardest things for me was learning how to handle behavioral issues. There were many days that I came home completely exhausted mentally and physically but it was well worth it when I saw my kids reach their goals. My CI was also the clinical director there and of course there are pros and cons to this. Cons are she was very busy which made her less available lower caseload as compared to a “regular” CI. Pros was that since her caseload is less due the administrative work she also has to perform, it gave me time to work with other therapists (OT, PT, Speech).

Pros to this specific facility: Well equipped with various swings, etc and I had an upperclassman there that took me under her wings. Thank you Kristen! They treated me as part of their family and was invited to their big Christmas party.
Cons: Sometimes the kid’s behavioral issues got in the way of their learning process which was difficult for “true” OT to take place. 9-6:30 days were hard. It's ok at first but becomes draining (that was partly my fault cuz i worked full days on Friday even though i wasn't suppose to). So...don't burn yourself out.

Tips: If you’re going into peds, be sure to have some tools on how to handle kids with behavioral issues by googling or just ask someone who has been working in pediatrics and ask them to share some tools with you. Suggested readings, “The Out of Sync Child,” stock up on different books about activities, read and practice The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP).

If you want to know the specifics, please don’t hesitate to email me @ mynguyen1@gmail.com.

BONUS CLIP: Enjoy graduation, be in the moment and soak in your great accomplishment. My mistake was rushing through it at the end to find my family so they wouldn’t have to wait for me. I’m glad I was able to get the class picture together before rushing off though. Remember, this is YOUR moment so take time to snap pictures with your classmates, professors, etc. Your family has waited this long…I don’t think they’ll mind waiting a few extra minutes.