Hello All,

Last week was very exciting we created a Custom Bivalve TLSO. We went through the processes of scanning, carving, modification, fabrication, fitting, and delivery. Being able to create my very own TLSO helped me understand and relate to patients who use custom bivalve TLSOs. This week we finished up our Orthotics Management of the Spine Class on Tuesday with our final exam which went well. Now, we are onto our next class adventure in Orthotics Management of the Lower Limb. I am so excited because we get to create a pair of foot orthotics that we get to keep! So, stay tuned and check back to see my foot orthotics! 

Until next time,

Alyssa Noe

Hello all!

After many hours of studying (shout out to Rachel for letting us use her apartment’s study space), we finally finished mid-terms last week, and everyone did well and passed! We had five exams total in a week and a half, along with our presentations for Pathology. Although we are enjoying the reduced workload, we are starting the following sections of our classes and learning new material for the finals. For our Gait Analysis class, we had a guest speaker, Dr. Sheila Clemens, the Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy at FIU, come in for two days to go over various gait deviations that result from pathologies and deviations from patients with lower limb prosthetics. We had the opportunity to work with two amputees to observe their gait and provide exercises to improve it.

This week’s student highlight is Terrance! He is a local to the Tampa area, living in Clearwater. He graduated from St. Petersburg College for Health Care Administrations. Terrance has the most O&P experience out of all of us since his dad is a CPO and founded the company Superior Prosthetics and Orthotics. He enjoys fishing, riding his Wave Runner, and hanging out with his nephews and nieces in his free time.

Busy week this week learned how to calculate Cobb angles on double major curves, learned how to make trim lines for a Boston brace, took our Orthotic management of the spine midterm, started scanning for our custom bivalve TLSO, and even celebrated pie day! This semester is flying by and I am enjoying every second of it. Can’t wait to see the custom bivalve TLSO scan be carved into a positive mold and see the thermoforming process next week!

Check Back!

Alyssa

Hey everyone,

The time is going by fast with mid-terms coming up next week. Everyone has been studying hard, and we have also started our semester presentations. This week, we had our neuroanatomy presentations with case studies including scenarios of traumatic brain injuries from gun shot wounds to infants needing cranial helmets to correct plagiocephaly. In our gait class, we have been using the gait mat to analyze our walking gait and compare it to the manual calculations we measured with the chalk and paper. We will occasionally take some breaks and finally got a photo at the bowling alley with all nine of us. I got to lead everyone in a combat workout class to de-stress from studying, and it was a bonding experience to say the least.

Brian is our highlight for this week’s post! (He’s the one next to the neuro presentation.) He is from Miami, Florida and studied Biology at Florida International University. In his free time, he is pumping iron or visiting his fiancé in Miami who is going to law school. He is one of the best presenters in the class and the champion of creating case scenarios.

-Brooke Merryman

The past couple weeks we finished our prosthetics management of the lower limb class! We had our final exam yesterday and I learned a great deal about prosthetics and can’t wait until fourth semester to learn even more. Today, we started our Orthotics Management class of the spine, and I am excited to learn all about spinal anatomy again and how we as future clinicians can help correct different spinal conditions. 

Alyssa

This week we saw patient models again! This time we casted a different patient for a TSB, total surface bearing socket. After the last couple weeks modifying and fitting our PTBSC, patellar tendon bearing, supracondylar sockets I feel more confident in going through the process of evaluation, casting, and fabrication! Not going to lie doing it the first time was a little stressful but after fitting my first socket I gained more of an understanding for the entire process. So casting, modifying, and thermoforming this week’s TSB socket I have felt more comfortable and relaxed. I can’t wait to continue learning different suspension methods and going through the process multiple times to build up that confidence and learn more and more to become the best practitioner I can be.

Until next time,

Alyssa Noe

Hi all!

The weather has been getting warmer in Tampa, so our lunch breaks have been outside with some recreational time. Midterms are drawing ever closer now being less than 3 weeks away and we have started putting together our semester presentations for most of our classes. Last week in our Gait Analysis class, we performed postural evaluations on each other and this week we did manual mensuration of gait parameters. This involved measuring our cadence and walking speed as well as putting chalk on our feet, walking across white paper, and measuring the length and width of our steps.

The student highlight of our class this week is Rachel (the one playing ping pong)! She is from Boston, Massachusetts and is getting her second Master’s degree here after getting her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Kinesiology at UCF. Our neuro class is a breeze for her, and she enjoys reading and hanging out with her two cats.

The past couple weeks we learned all about the componentry of lower limb prosthetics! We were able to get our hands on all the components and put together our very own transtibial prosthetic leg. I realized how many different pieces and parts are individualized to the patient for their safety and comfort. It is incredible to see all the pieces and parts come together like a puzzle. Wednesday this week some of the SGA members took a field trip to Tallahassee, Florida to speak to legislators about O&P, what we do in our field, the curriculum at our school, and learned a lot about how the senate and House of Representatives works! It was truly an incredible experience. This week we see patient models and get to cast and fit our first transtibial patient! I am so excited and can’t wait to tell you all how it went next week! 

Check back, 

Alyssa Noe