Now that's being narrow minded...
You learn a lot during clinics and sometimes you learn how much other medical professions truly knows about their supposedly allied health team. Everyday I'm realising how little doctors really know about rehabing joint problems. They may know how to drill holes, screw nails and put plates into people but that's the easy part of getting the patient back to "normal" function. They may know the theory of rehab but man do they suck at applying it.
Yesterday at clinics we were discussing a patient in the room where patients' folders are held. All of a sudden someone says with excitement, "Is that really a goniometer? So that's what they look like". Then this morning the same person was talking to his colleagues and said, "did you know that a goniometer really does exist. They're not just something you ask for during practical exams and never expect to see". That's right an intern doc said that. For all you non physios, a goniometer is basically a gadgat to allow us to measure the angle around a joint (e.g. how much bend in the knee). These are the same people who have the final say as to what happens to their rehab progress.
Earlier this week we wanted to clarify the doctor's plan for a patient. She wrote in the notes that the patient should be placed on a CPM, a machine that passively bends and straightens the knee for the patient. Usually this machine is given to a client who's had knee surgery or extreme difficulty bending the knee. Well we wanted to clarify if there were any specific range that she wanted him to achieve. When we spoke to this intern doctor, she admitted that she didn't really know what a CPM machine was and how it worked. We had to explain to her that you can adjust the range, the speed, and how long a patient usually uses it for. She said that she only wrote it under the plan because it was something that they were told to do for knee cases. Oh baby intern doctors...they have so much to learn in such a short period of time...
I've always told people that if you ever suffer a muscle and/or joint problem, always go see a physio and NOT your family doctor. I think I've proven my point here. Doctors don't know anything about muscles and what is required to rehab muscles and joints.
Yesterday at clinics we were discussing a patient in the room where patients' folders are held. All of a sudden someone says with excitement, "Is that really a goniometer? So that's what they look like". Then this morning the same person was talking to his colleagues and said, "did you know that a goniometer really does exist. They're not just something you ask for during practical exams and never expect to see". That's right an intern doc said that. For all you non physios, a goniometer is basically a gadgat to allow us to measure the angle around a joint (e.g. how much bend in the knee). These are the same people who have the final say as to what happens to their rehab progress.
Earlier this week we wanted to clarify the doctor's plan for a patient. She wrote in the notes that the patient should be placed on a CPM, a machine that passively bends and straightens the knee for the patient. Usually this machine is given to a client who's had knee surgery or extreme difficulty bending the knee. Well we wanted to clarify if there were any specific range that she wanted him to achieve. When we spoke to this intern doctor, she admitted that she didn't really know what a CPM machine was and how it worked. We had to explain to her that you can adjust the range, the speed, and how long a patient usually uses it for. She said that she only wrote it under the plan because it was something that they were told to do for knee cases. Oh baby intern doctors...they have so much to learn in such a short period of time...
I've always told people that if you ever suffer a muscle and/or joint problem, always go see a physio and NOT your family doctor. I think I've proven my point here. Doctors don't know anything about muscles and what is required to rehab muscles and joints.
posted by Sub29 at 8:07 PM
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