We’re already halfway through the month of February and learning so much from Mr. Mahairas! It’s been a busy semester as we’ve recently learned how to fit fracture braces, identify proper bracing using various joints and mechanisms, and back to the lab fabricating our ground reaction ankle foot orthotics (GRAFOs). This week we will be casting each other and learning the trying trials of fabricating our own knee ankle foot orthotics! More to come from the class of 2021
-BD
GRAFO Photos!
Annyeonghaseyo (meaning hello in Korean)! It would have been better if I knew Hangul or the Korean alphabet more. I hope everyone had an awesome week. And congratulations to the Bucs for winning the Super Bowl! Yayyy!
It’s the fifth week into the semester and things are moving quickly. Time is flying by. Graduation and board exams are tomorrow. Just kidding. This week felt short and long at the same time. We were only in class for 3 days of the week, but the days were long, and also felt short because we were super busy and focused on our project, you know what I mean? This week we finally met with our patient models and I enjoyed every minute of it, even the struggle parts lol. I met with a super nice patient model who had their right leg amputated due to some complications. One thing that really touched my heart when meeting the patient model was the positivity. It made me want to become a practitioner that gives hope to their patients and gives them strength to carry on. After meeting with our patient models and casting their limbs, the next day we poured our cast to form the shape of the patient’s leg. LeOnny Davinci was back and ready to turn these pour cast into beautifully, sculptured limbs. We did a few modifications on the cast and then created the sockets. I am so excited to see how the sockets turn out despite mess ups and I am also excited to practice more with casting and pouring in the future. This was a great learning experience for me.
I will see ya later. Bye… for now.
-Onny/ LeOnny da Vinci
Week 5 – – Semester 1
Another week, another post! I’m not sure about you, but for some reason this just felt like the longest week.
This week in Pathology, we really focused on how to talk about different abnormalities on a practitioner-patient/parent basis. While we may be getting tested on these pathologies in more of a scientific way in class, not every brain processes “a localized congenital abnormality leading to a lateral curvature of the spine and surrounding tissues” as scoliosis. In order to work on this skill, we were assigned to make a pamphlet or some type of information guide, that would help aid us in the future. While all 5 of us students made wonderful pamphlets, we were extra fortunate that our good ole classmate Ian Reyes wrote a rap to perform as well. So, if you are ever in dire need of learning about Cranial Disproportion, just call up Ian and ask for a little performance.
To wrap the week up, we finished with our gait class. While we started off with lecture in the morning, we moved onto a lab assessment in the afternoon. Since our class is called gait analysis, it was only right we do a lab assessing each of our gaits. Each of my classmates chalked the bottom of our feet with blue chalk and walked across 15 feet of paper. From there, we took different measurements and compared between all of us. We even got the opportunity to include data from Mrs.Crawford, and turns out she is the slowest walker of us all! Had to throw her under the bus!
Happy Mardi Gras weekend!!
Best,
Savanna Stumf
Kedu ka ị mere? As we say in the Igbo language meaning “how are you?”. I hope everyone had a wonderful week! Black History month started, and this weekend is also exciting because the super bowl is this Sunday! What team are you rooting for?
Anyways, of course, we like to get down to business here at IIOP. Clinical rotations and graduation are around the corner and there is no time for play. Well maybe graduation is a couple of blocks away, but you get the gist. We started the new course learning about prosthetics, which I am super excited about! It was nice to know how the prostheses are made based on K-levels or how active the amputee is. We also did some more patient evaluation because it is super important to know what to say to a patient, and how to describe the procedures. Most importantly because next week, we will be working with patient models. We also learned how to wrap a patient’s limb with ACE bandages and carefully put on shrinker socks. We covered topics relating to different foot and ankle amputations and all of the cool prosthetics that can help with patients’ balance. I did not know that big toe amputations can affect the patient’s balance. So, they make prosthetic toes to assist their walking. I think that is awesome.
While y’all watch Super Bowl, I will probably be studying and waiting for the halftime performance.
Anyi g’afu! (meaning ‘See you later’ in Igbo) Bye!
-Onny
Week 4 – – – IIOP
First Semester
First month down of my cohorts first semester! It has definitely been an adjusting process for me and my 4 classmates as we are getting used to the graduate school life. We are currently enrolled in four classes: Anatomy and Physiology, Pathology, Neuroanatomy, and Clinical Gait Analysis. Lots of information to keep up with, but having a cohort of 5 keeps us all on our toes and really pushes one another to keep up (even when we just want to go home and watch all the movies we talk about at lunch).
Pathology has definitely been one of my favorite classes. Learning about different abnormalities a person can have has made me a bit of a people watcher outside of school. I am now quick to catch any major genu varus abnormality or a pelvic tilt. But it is not just me! Every now and then, the phone buzzes with a message from our group chat that someone has spotted something new.
Finally, we had our first assessment in our Gait Analysis course. Come to find out, I have a slight anterior pelvic tilt and Peter has a depressed right shoulder. Who would’ve known?
Happy Superbowl weekend!!
Best,
Savanna Stumpf
Bonjour! I hope everyone had a wonderful week. When coming down to Florida, I thought that it would never get cold down here… but I stand corrected. Good thing I brought my heavy jackets back with me from winter break. Don’t judge me.
This week was very eventful. We started our clinical evaluation tools class on Monday and ended it with a written and practical examination on Friday. This was one of the fastest classes I have ever taken. Because this semester is more hands-on and we will be meeting with patient models, we practiced how to speak to patients, the proper way to ask for patient demographics, info and how to address them and their needs. We then got right into learning and performing active and passive range of motion tests on patients (which was our peers for now) and manual muscle testing. It was a lot of information, but I feel like it will help a lot when learning about what orthotic devices will be beneficial for the patient pertaining to what type of assistance they will need like dorsiflexion weakness or contractures. My favorite tests were the special tests because they were fun, and it was funny to watch some of my peers march around with their eyes closed.
Two classes down, 3 more to go, then clinical rotations. Bye for now.
-Onny
Back here in Tampa, Fl as we’ve just begun our third week back at IIOP! So far we’ve fabricated our wrist hand orthoses (WHO’s) and managed to stay Covid-free as we are back in the building where it all started. We’ve been primarily focusing on the upper extremity (which is nice because I was focused on lower all through rotation) and are moving rapidly through our IIOP course material. Friday we wrapped up our MMT and ROM practicals and had our White Coat Ceremony to make it official as we prepare to be health care professionals and search for our next step of residency.
In the weeks to come we will be sharpening our hand skills with fabrication of upper extremity prosthetics, transfemoral prosthetics, and knee-ankle-foot-orthotics. It feels great to be back in Tampa with the boys, and with the 70 degree and sunny weather here in Janurary, I’d say 2021 is off to a great start!!
-BD
Hola! I hope everyone enjoyed their week. Just a quick update because we literally had two days of class because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Thursday and Friday, we were off.
This week, we ended our introduction to lab skills and material class. It was a fun way to learn about the tools we would be using as O&P practitioners and how to use the tools. The best part of the class was that there weren’t any exams lol. On Tuesday, we got right into it and performed AFO casting on our peers. Remembering what I learned in my first semester of IIOP, I was able to identify the main bony landmarks to be distinguished inside of the cast for later use. Let me tell you right now, I most definitely like using fiberglass for casting more than paster. The plaster was a struggle to use and my cast fell apart a couple of times. I could have done it all day though because, to be honest, it felt like I was crafting a phenomenal art piece. You can call me Onny Picasso or LeOnny Da Vinci.
After working hard on my cast, I decided I wanted to take the leg home with me and pull a prank on my roommate. Ahh what a great way to end the week.
See all again next week! 😊
-Onny or LeOnny Da Vinci
Helloooo! Week 1 and we are back in action! I think the upperclassmen hyped me up for this second semester. I heard through the grapevine that the first semester would be the most challenging and so far, they were right. The days are much longer but it goes by fast when you are enjoying it. I think it was funny to see my roommate’s reaction when I told her I had fun in class today. “Say what??? Fun? At school?”
Anyway, this week we got straight to work. From metal bending to creating our own tools like the inside and outside calipers, heel wedges, and even sewing velcro together to fabricate AFO straps. I enjoyed it all. Using the bigger machines like the bandsaw, the workmaster drum, and the dry blaster gave me a bit of the nerves, but after a few hours of learning the techniques and taking my time to get to know the machines, I have become a pro. They look scary but the machines are most definitely safe if used correctly.
Welp, that’s all for now. Can’t wait for next week!
-Onny
Happy New Year everyone! I hope this year will be filled with good health, happiness, and prosperity. My name is Onny Mbagwu and I am the newest edition to the IIOP bloggers team! Firstly, I would like to congratulate all of those who graduated this December 2020, for you all have served as a guide for me and my future success in the O and P field.
I always knew that I wanted to be in the medical field, but I was not sure of where I wanted to be. Being interested in anatomy and psychology, I changed my major from biology to psychology, while also taking pre-medical classes. In almost every one of my psychology classes, the professors talked about Phantom Limb Pain Syndrome. I was beyond fascinated with that topic and began researching more about it. Learning about Phantom Limb, led me to research more about O&P and here I am!
My first semester was as challenging as expected. I think everyone gets a bit nervous because we don’t know how large the coursework is, we don’t know what to expect or what kind of professors we would have. Also, I was in a whole new state and did not know anyone. Although I was coming fresh out of undergrad, you all should know that everything I learned in undergrad has vanished, except for my acquired skills in time management, and Microsoft Office. However, I noticed that even after completing my first semester here, I am able to retain the information that I have learned in all of my classes. I was lucky to have a great cohort, professors, and upperclassmen who offered their help and allowed me to open up and ask questions about the information that I did not understand or was confused about.
This is just a formal introduction as the newest addition to the bloggers’ team. As you follow the rest of my journey in this program, I hope you all will enjoy reading about my fun-filled experience and education at IIOP and in the O&P world.
-Onny
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