Incorporates continued education as a lifelong practice with the commitment to remain up-to-date and well-informed
Through the LEND program, I was able to stay current on the latest information regarding diagnosing factors for autism spectrum disorder based on the DSM-5. All LEND participants were expected to participate in online learning modules, out-of-class readings, and in-class lessons accompanied by extensive discussions, which provided better insight into the new diagnostic criteria. I also learned what other disciplines are looking at when diagnosing a child with ASD for the very first time. It was interesting to learn which categories were emphasized with each discipline, and how those differed from what OTs may look at when using the DSM-5 to identify ASD in a new client. By staying current on the latest changes to the DSM, I was able to learn that autism spectrum disorder had evolved into a spectrum in which a few other diagnoses had been engulfed into the spectrum rather than remained their own diagnoses. This may be more "politically correct", however, having those specific "labels" provided a better idea for therapists to approach a child. For many, they now believe that the diagnosis is very broad and vague, which leaves more wiggle room than they would like. Nevertheless, as a future occupational therapy practitioner, this is a good piece of knowledge to have especially when working on an interdisciplinary team because all of my teammates will expect me to be current on the latest changes in medicine in order to contribute to the overall team. I enjoy learning and I will continue educating myself in the latest practices and research.
Another time that I incorporated education into my skills as a future practitioner was while I was working at a skilled nursing facility and my fieldwork educator and I were faced with an unique situation. Our client was in her mid-50s with a history of healthy lifestyle choices. Right up until her hospitalization, she had been working for a marketing firm on the east side of the state. When we read her chart, her diagnosis read "glioblastoma", but the rest was blank. She had no record of broken bones or major surgeries. My fieldwork educator couldn't believe the woman was that healthy and ended up with a brain tumor. However, my fieldwork educator at the time didn't know that that is what that was. My grandfather died from a glioblastoma in 1994 so I knew what it was. However, it had been a while since I had researched the topic since it's so rare. To keep us both well-informed and up-to-date, I researched the latest information about glioblastomas (GBM) including the prognosis, survival rates, and therapy options for these individuals. I even found one case study where a man had been diagnosed with GBM and been given a drug that they were currently testing. The drug had proven effective for preventing the mass from growing or spreading, but it hadn't eradicated the tumor. It allowed him to live longer than he otherwise might have but the research was still ongoing to determine the effectiveness of the drug. I relayed all of this information to my fieldwork educator who found it to be very helpful when we began designing and implementing our client's intervention plan. Without this information, we would have gone about our interventions much differently. It also changed the direction we would be taking our client, whether it was a restoring approach or maintaining approach. From this experience I learned how important it was to be informed and be willing constantly learn about new research and information to apply to practice.
One of the resources I used to retrieve and relay this information to my fieldwork educator includes the American Cancer Society's "Survival Rates for Selected Adult Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors" (2017). Check out the link below.
The TIME magazine "Experimental Brain Cancer Treatment is a Success" (2016) article isn't the exact same article I initially found regarding the guy on the experimental drug, but this is about the same guy and drug that I read about in the original article. Check out the link below for more information.
Another time that I incorporated education into my skills as a future practitioner was while I was working at a skilled nursing facility and my fieldwork educator and I were faced with an unique situation. Our client was in her mid-50s with a history of healthy lifestyle choices. Right up until her hospitalization, she had been working for a marketing firm on the east side of the state. When we read her chart, her diagnosis read "glioblastoma", but the rest was blank. She had no record of broken bones or major surgeries. My fieldwork educator couldn't believe the woman was that healthy and ended up with a brain tumor. However, my fieldwork educator at the time didn't know that that is what that was. My grandfather died from a glioblastoma in 1994 so I knew what it was. However, it had been a while since I had researched the topic since it's so rare. To keep us both well-informed and up-to-date, I researched the latest information about glioblastomas (GBM) including the prognosis, survival rates, and therapy options for these individuals. I even found one case study where a man had been diagnosed with GBM and been given a drug that they were currently testing. The drug had proven effective for preventing the mass from growing or spreading, but it hadn't eradicated the tumor. It allowed him to live longer than he otherwise might have but the research was still ongoing to determine the effectiveness of the drug. I relayed all of this information to my fieldwork educator who found it to be very helpful when we began designing and implementing our client's intervention plan. Without this information, we would have gone about our interventions much differently. It also changed the direction we would be taking our client, whether it was a restoring approach or maintaining approach. From this experience I learned how important it was to be informed and be willing constantly learn about new research and information to apply to practice.
One of the resources I used to retrieve and relay this information to my fieldwork educator includes the American Cancer Society's "Survival Rates for Selected Adult Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors" (2017). Check out the link below.
The TIME magazine "Experimental Brain Cancer Treatment is a Success" (2016) article isn't the exact same article I initially found regarding the guy on the experimental drug, but this is about the same guy and drug that I read about in the original article. Check out the link below for more information.