New Year, New Rotation

Handy book I was given for Christmas.

After a fantastic Christmas at home, in my new home, I am back in Yarmouth and have finished my first week in my Clinical rotation. I am currently in the area of stroke and renal and I anticipate learning a lot over the next 4-weeks.

Each week there is an assignment to complete. Week one's was focused on dysphagia, aspiration, and the dysphagia diet. Week two's is more in-depth focusing on protocol, what to look for when doing swallow assessments, etc. I have yet to read through week 3, but will let you know in the not-too-distant-future.

So here's a recap of my week:
Tuesday and Wednesday I essentially observed and answered questions the P.Dt. asked me. On Wednesday, however, I got to see my first Modified Barium Swallow which is a video x-ray of a person showing how they swallow (ie. the physiological function of the muscles, how well/easily/safely the food is swallowed or aspirated) to determine if they are safe to have food by mouth (po) or if they should be NPO or nothing by mouth. I had seem YouTube images before and recordings of MBS' in school, but seeing it live was so interesting! Hearing the Rad. Tech and the Speech-Language Pathologist and the Dietitian discussing what they saw on the screen, each inputting their own specialty wealth of information, was really impressive to witness. Thursday I started charting and having a more active role, and by Friday I was charting, calculating tube feeds (rate, formula, and energy, protein, and fluid requirements of the Pt.), and interviewing patients. I know that this week is going to be even busier so I best keep on-top of my studying to keep all the information fresh and "at the ready".