Final Post

On review, my initial expectations of the placment structure and my role within this were met. By the end of the 5 weeks I was managing a moderate caseload and conducting independent inpatient and outpatient appointments- I very much enjoyed the independence and ability to devise rehabilitation programs for my patients. I found that my theorectical knowledge was one of my strengths and that I had more trouble with the practical analysis of a patient. I've come to realise that this will only improve with practice and observing real patients. I thoroughly enjoyed having an inpatient and outpatient caseload mostly due to the fact I was exposed to both the acute and chronic stroke population. I would have liked to have had experience with other neurological conditions however due to the nature of the ward and outpatient refferals this was not applicable.

As predicted the patient's rehabilitation was conducted from a multidisciplinary approach where I found myself constantly liasing with other team members to ensure an efficient yet safe discharge. It was evident that a patient's rehab is multifaceted and requires the co-operation of many professions to ensure that the patient has the maximum potential to recover. I was pleasantly surprised to see that physiotherapists played a very important and pivotal role in deeming a patient safe for discharge once they were medically stable. Often in the ward meetings the medical consultants would look for our opinion first in terms of discharge planning and what timeframe is predicted before the patient is safe to go home. Overall, I found that physiotherapy has high integrity within the neurological rehabilitation setting and that our role in preparing patient's to be safely discharged home and aiding them in returning to better function is pivotal in the multidisciplinary team.