Student Blog

Hi Everyone!

Core 34 has launched into the world of prosthetics with incredible patient models for patellar bearing sockets and ABC prep. Midterms are over and core 34 is moving on to their total surface bearing socket projects. Along with understanding sockets they are gaining knowledge in components, liners, alignment, and patient encounters. Core 34 extends an immense appreciation to the patient models and looks forward to the continuation of the IIOP process.

-Laurel Harrington

The Zen 10 have been enjoying the calm before the storm of finals, which will already start with the gait final this Friday!  In the meantime, we’ve been having fun in gait class with our various labs.  One involved analyzing each other’s gait while wearing a number of different orthoses.  We were also privileged to have Doug from RunDNA spend a day with us and even look at our running gait using the Helix 3D software.  Outside of class, we enjoyed an amazing BBQ lunch, provided kindly to us by Grace Prosthetic Foundation, and we had the opportunity to see the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team play!  

Stay tuned for my next post to see how the Zen 10 are fairing during the midst of finals!

Megan Merryman  

Hi everyone!

This week at IIOP we made our first solid ankle Ankle-Foot-Orthoses (AFO). We made much use of all of the equipment here at IIOP during the fabrication process. We practiced patient interactions, gait assessments, and completed checkouts with our instructors. Looking forward to diving deeper into various styles of AFO’s.

– Carly Smith

Hi everyone!

I am writing the first post ever for Spring ’24 cohort, the Zen Ten!  Despite our name, we are full of energy and eager to be in our first semester.  It is crazy to say that we have already reached the halfway point of semester one and have survived almost all of our midterms, with the clinical gait analysis midterm still looming ahead of us this week.  

The Zen Ten will complete their individual presentations this week in our pathology and neuroanatomy classes, with many interesting disorders and case studies being covered.  Lots of time, effort, and creativity were put into these presentations, which can be seen in the pictures!  

I look forward to sharing more with you all as we continue on our journey this year!

Megan Merryman

Core 34 is moving right along! Fresh in their white coats, in the past few weeks they’ve learned all about tools and how to use them safely. From the bandsaw to the drill press, from bending metal to riveting, they have gotten comfortable quickly in the lab and have moved into clinical evaluations such as range of motion testing and manual muscle testing. They are looking forward to putting all their new learned skills together!

Thanks for reading!

-Laurel Harrington

What an amazing couple of weeks for Core 34! From the Special Olympics in Orlando to a festive Thanksgiving gathering, from gait outcome measures to touring the RCAI facility in St Pete, Core 34 is sailing through the last bit of this semester. Preparing to wrap up finals while reflecting upon all of their experiences so far. Grateful, and ready for winter break to refuel ourselves for next semester!

– Laurel Harrington

Hi everyone!

Midterms are underway, and core 34 has created some great study games, study groups, and some pretty funny acronyms to help them comprehend the material provided up until this point.  Nonetheless, to throw some fun in they’ve gotten their hands into some plaster, attended a Tampa Bay Lightning game, and visited an elementary school to promote and provide education about the O&P field. Keep cheering them on & stay tuned for some insight into the volunteer events coming up such as Fit Feet, Pig Jig, and the Special Olympics.

Thanks for reading!

Laurel Harrington

Hi everyone!

This week at IIOP, we performed palpation and measurements of the lower limbs to identify bony landmarks. We also familiarized ourselves with measuring tools such as a goniometer and ML gauges. Each of us performed a comprehensive gait analysis and examined both our steps and strides. To end the week, Grace Prosthetics hosted a BBQ for Core34!

Thanks for reading,

Laurel Harrington

Hi Everyone!

Core 34 update!  This week Core 34 received some hands-on interactive training in casting, postural analysis, and real-life application.  So far, this crew has been deep into the books of human anatomy and physiology, pathology, and neuroanatomy.  They are excited to be applying their cumulative studies out of their seats!  Check back in soon, we have more hands-on applications coming up as well as several volunteer events and cohort get-togethers.

– Laurel Harrington

Hi everyone! 

I can’t believe I’m writing the last blog for the Divine 29’s time here on campus. We finished Contemporary Practice this week which has been a very busy class for us! Two socket laminations, a heat-moldable wrist-hand-finger-orthosis, two mock written exams, a mock CPM, and multiple patient interactions have made up these last couple of weeks at IIOP. Each topic in Contemporary Practice prepared us for our mock exams and allowed us to practice more patient interaction and fabrication skills before heading into clinical rotations at the end of this month. Reflecting on the last year at IIOP, we have truly had a great experience and have grown so much as a class. We are all so proud of the projects that we have completed as well as all of the coursework that we have balanced with our lab time as well. I am so excited to see where our clinical rotations and residencies take us in just a few short months. Look out for more blogs this fall from the freshmen class, as well as a few blogs from me updating everyone on our rotations! 

As always, thank you for reading! 

Sam Bousman