FIRST PLACE CLINIC
18.10.2012 Day 1 in 1st place
I was really impressed by my experience in this external clinic. clinic tutor A.R. had a wonderful way with the children and involved us, students into the palpation and treatment of the patients. There was a range of the patients but it seemed that the issues of parenting were the cause of the issues the children had. Only one 14 yoa boy was seriously ill with a rare genetic condition. We also practices a palpation on each other during the break. I am really interested in paediatrics osteopathy and the experience I had really added to my enthusiasm to focus my future development in this direction.
25.10.2012 Day 2 in 1st place
The experience in 1st place is not only educational when it comes to the ways of the treatment of children, but also it helps me to expand the general understanding of the local community lifestyle and problems they deal with. My tutor herself grow up on council estate and she made me aware of the fact that there are generations of the families that are illiterate. She estimated that in the UK there might be millions of illiterate people. The mother of one of our little patients is preparing for her numeracy and literacy exams so she can study to become nursery teacher. All this at age of 30 something.
I have observed the cases of the autistic girl (4). It was her 9th appointment and so far she has had not treatment at all. Since the first accounter at the 1st place she became more familiar with the environment and is not agressive as she was for the first time. We took her and her mum into the sensory room (room for kids to improve and develop their special senses) but she was very unhappy. What I found interesting was the fact that she came to me and wrapper herself around my neck to be hugged. My tutor asked me to palpate the state of her tissues but as soon as I intended to do so, the girl would leave and went on to cuddle somebody else in the room or bang her head against the wall (which I found most disturbing but apparently it is a common thing autistic kids would do).
Another case I observed was a case of 4.5 months old girl that had a hemangioma growing on the base of her nose. The hemangioma was growing very quickly so her GP put her on beta blockers for next 2 years. She is monitored on the weekly bases. Betablockers are supposed to decrease the growing rate of this girl and thus stop hemangioma to enlarge, decrease its arterial supply and thus save this girl from becoming blind. On this visit the hemangioma was getting flatter. The tutor explained that as it was obstructing the vision of the girl, she was trying to look to the left by over rotating her neck that cause the muscle tightness in her neck.
I liked the way the tutor used the gravity to stretch the thorax of the baby about and the 10 weeks old baby with reflux.
Observing in first place is very inspirational and so are both tutors. Glad to have an opportunity to go there.
I have observed the cases of the autistic girl (4). It was her 9th appointment and so far she has had not treatment at all. Since the first accounter at the 1st place she became more familiar with the environment and is not agressive as she was for the first time. We took her and her mum into the sensory room (room for kids to improve and develop their special senses) but she was very unhappy. What I found interesting was the fact that she came to me and wrapper herself around my neck to be hugged. My tutor asked me to palpate the state of her tissues but as soon as I intended to do so, the girl would leave and went on to cuddle somebody else in the room or bang her head against the wall (which I found most disturbing but apparently it is a common thing autistic kids would do).
Another case I observed was a case of 4.5 months old girl that had a hemangioma growing on the base of her nose. The hemangioma was growing very quickly so her GP put her on beta blockers for next 2 years. She is monitored on the weekly bases. Betablockers are supposed to decrease the growing rate of this girl and thus stop hemangioma to enlarge, decrease its arterial supply and thus save this girl from becoming blind. On this visit the hemangioma was getting flatter. The tutor explained that as it was obstructing the vision of the girl, she was trying to look to the left by over rotating her neck that cause the muscle tightness in her neck.
I liked the way the tutor used the gravity to stretch the thorax of the baby about and the 10 weeks old baby with reflux.
Observing in first place is very inspirational and so are both tutors. Glad to have an opportunity to go there.
1.11.2012 Day 3 in 1st place
Today my colleague was asked to perform new born baby examination he learnt previously when he observed in the children's clinic last year as a matter of a tutorial. The tutor explained reasons behind many test and also talked about Mongolian blue spot - it is nothing to worry about but it can be mistaken for a bruise by some people (bruise can have yellowish and greenish colour - this is how to distinguish). We saw a few cases. The boy on the wheelchair I saw 2 weeks ago came again. Apparently he is the only known person in the world with his genetic condition. He seemed a bit paler today then before. We also saw a little boy that can not sleep very well since his family returned from visit in ecquador. Tutors put it down to his age and him trying to get some attention in the night. His mum was told to come and check on him but not to make any eye contact with him, pat him and leave. Not to engage in a conversation or playing. This way he should learn that crying in the night won't get him anyones attention and this should help stop crying. I assisted in the treatment of a 3 year old boy whose mum is complaining about him being too aggressive towards her and his 1 year old sister. The mum seems to be putting up a lots of barriers as she was told to get some time with her son alone or get a week off completely. She also said that she has a conflict of opinions with her husband about how to parent their son. She takes him as an adult where else her husband still sees a baby at him. The tutor explained her that even though her son is cognitively very developed he is not developed emotionally to be considered an adult. After they left my tutor summarised it very well. The mother fell out of love with her son. She said that all 3 year olds cuddle in the same way and when the boy jumped on his mum's back she realised that the mum finds her son as a burden and blames him for everything that is wrong in their life. He is full of energy needing constant attention and she feels too tired to give him what he requires. The last case we saw was a 7 year old girl that previously contracted a virus that causes occasional arthritis and affects the muscle length in the posterior chain. I worked on her hamstrings and calves while my colleague TS worked on her sub occipitals and the tutor worked on her breathing and thorax generally.
I left the clinic again feeling so unexperienced and not knowledgable about the life's ways. I feel I'm learning there a lot. Shame only one day in first place left.
I left the clinic again feeling so unexperienced and not knowledgable about the life's ways. I feel I'm learning there a lot. Shame only one day in first place left.
8.11.2012 Day 4 in 1st place
Today we saw a few cases. First of all we had a new patient the mother of which was complaining that when the baby lifts the legs and arms up, she constantly leans toward the left side. However since she has booked in back in August the thing were improved. The tutor examined the baby and everything was all right so the child was discharged. The second case we saw today was a 3 years old boy that suffered from recurrent URTIs however those have significantly improved since they have moved to the new place where was no mould on the walls. I palpated his Tsp and ribs and did some gentle articulation of the ribs. The last case of the day was a boy I saw on the day 1. He came today with his mum only so we had no distraction of his attention by a mobile. Before they came in we decided that we were going to involve singing of the songs into the treatment. That was not so successful. However then we used wooden bricks to which our patient responded quite well and also made a few noises despite being already 2 and not being able to talk. The session with this little boy was so far the most successful and the tutor asked mother to come next time without father again as it seems to benefit the little more.
As a conclusion on the end of my experience at 1st place community center, I have to say that I am very inspired by what I have seen and by the tutors too. I will miss Thursdays in 1st place greatly.
As a conclusion on the end of my experience at 1st place community center, I have to say that I am very inspired by what I have seen and by the tutors too. I will miss Thursdays in 1st place greatly.