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Final Reflection

At the beginning of this process, I was unsure of what I wanted to accomplish for my senior project. In my initial thoughts, I asked myself, how can I impact a group of people with my work? A few weeks later, I contacted Marie Szczyglowski at Cardinal Physical Therapy. She said she was happy to take me in for my senior project. Marie was a fantastic mentor in my experience. My initial goal was to learn more about the different types of physical therapy. Although I did not have experience with alternative types of therapy, I did have the opportunity to surround myself with the outpatient world of physical therapy. I learned what the other fields consisted of, and outpatient is the most diverse and seemed to be up my alley. Marie was incredibly helpful during the first days of my project. I shadowed and followed what she did, and started to become familiar with many of the patients and therapists. Once I became comfortable with the patients, I began talking to a few of them while they ex...
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Working on New Exercises

Throughout my years in high school, I have developed my understanding of different exercises and how they can be incorporated into a workout to achieve results. This skill has helped me at Cardinal. After a few days into the project, I talked with Marie about different exercises that a patient could do to work on their ankle mobility and stability. It was a busier day so, she did not have time to write up the new exercises, so she assigned me the task of writing up an ankle routine for this patient. One of the exercises I thought of consisted of ankle mobility work on the rocker board. This was a new exercise they were not using at the time, but now they use it with a few of their patients. This situation has given me the confidence to step out of my comfort zone and recommend specific exercises to the therapists. Of course, I don’t know it all. I am constantly learning new methods that they employ with their patients. A lot of the time, I will work with individual patients on exercise...
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Advice for future Hawken Projects

 After the first handful of days of my project, I wasn’t sure I made the right choice working with Cardinal. It didn’t feel like the right fit because I felt very out of place. As mentioned in previous blog posts, I was uncomfortable with many of the people in the clinic, to begin with, but as a few days passed, I slowly became more comfortable with my surroundings. I openly talked with the patients about my life and interests. They did the same. I have begun to make genuine connections with some of the patients. If I have a piece of advice for all of the students who go on to do Hawken projects next year, it would be to fully devote yourself to what you are doing. It would be easy for me to do the bare minimum at Cardinal. I would clean the equipment, fold the laundry, and get the patients their water and equipment. But instead, I have fully dived into this field and process. If I see something interesting that one of the therapists is doing to a patient, I ask what they are worki...
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Something Surprising

When I began my internship process, I never expected to make strong connections with many of the patients. Throughout these last two weeks, I have met dozens of patients, but a few have extended some of their knowledge to me. During the first week, I met all of the regular weekly patients. I became more comfortable with the ones who scheduled once or twice a week, so I began talking to them more regularly. One of the patients has sought me out specifically during their rehab process. We talk about a handful of topics encompassing many major sports teams, the show on the clinic's television, and even our favorite foods and candies. I didn’t expect the patients to be as radiant as I have seen in the last two weeks. It makes my experience so much more enjoyable when I can talk and joke with the patients and they reciprocate my actions. Outside of the typical conversations, I have had more impactful discussions with some patients. One patient in particular extended some helpful advice ...
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Application and technology

Most of my experience surrounds individual work with patients and shadowing therapists; however, I have had the opportunity to explore different treatments myself. On Thursday last week, I was allowed to try Graston for the first time. Graston is a collection of tools used for deep tissue massages. Graston helps to apply more pressure to different parts of the muscle because each tool is shaped differently to get to every area. During my Graston, I noticed that my left shoulder got very red, which showed that I had a lot of injured tissue in that area. Most patients love this technique because they can feel the difference in their muscles immediately, but I was not too fond of this technique. The rest of the day, my shoulder was a little sore. It is also bruised, which is a common side effect. This week started fast. On Monday, I helped create a mobility routine for one of the patients recovering from a stroke. I instituted a balance exercise that consisted of supported ankle rocking. ...
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My reflection with patients

 Patients As mentioned in my previous blog post, I am working with Cardinal Physical Therapy as an intern. In physical therapy, there are different areas that people can work in. Cardinal is an outpatient clinic, meaning any patient can do therapy there regardless of the injury. I was nervous on my first day interning because I didn’t know any of the patients. I didn’t want to make them feel uncomfortable. In the last few days, I have become acclimated with many of the frequent flyers. We often strike up a conversation related to a topic of their interest. Many of the patients love to talk. Marie, the person I shadow, brings such an energetic attitude to the job which radiates throughout the clinic. The patients love the energy from the therapists; it shows in their recovery process. Many patients come in ready to do exercises for the day, not only because they want to get better, but because they love being there. There are the odd few who come into the clinic and make everyone’s ...
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Blog #1- Pre-Project

 As an athlete, I have had to deal with many different kinds of adversity. The biggest adversities I have dealt with have been injuries that required rehab through physical therapy. Since my first trip to physical therapy, I always loved the energy that my physical therapist brought to the job, it made my experience so much easier knowing I had someone in my corner who wanted to help me. For my Hawken Project, I am interning with Cardinal Physical Therapy because I want to be able to have the same effects on the patients who, just like me, need the extra boost of excitement in their day. My goal for this project is to get a better understanding of how to work with patients that have different injuries. I am excited to interact with all of the new people and potentially play a role in their recovery.  
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