Internship: Day 1

  So, today marked my first day at Virginia Therapy and Fitness Center. I arrived at 9am to the office in Reston, VA. Johanna, the PT I will be shadowing (more on her later), was busy with a client so I met with Heather who works at the front desk. She showed me how their computer system works for scheduling appointments and keeping track of all the clients. There are nine physical therapists that work in this office, so there is a lot to keep track of!  She has this extremely detailed coloring system which is how she displays if someone has checked in, if they cancelled late and will be charged, if they cancelled early and won't be charged, or even if they cancelled because their insurance is out of network. Plus there was coloring systems for massages scheduled, new patients, and re-evaluations.  Basically, I learned early on that there is a LOT of behind the scenes work that goes on!
  Johanna later showed me around the office, which is mostly a large open room.  There are about 10 tables lining the side wall, cardio equipment in the center, and strength training equipment along the other side. I was also introduced to the washing machine and dryer :) I did a bit of towel folding today, but I still had other things to do.  I'd rather do something that's actually helpful to them, rather than just following someone around all day, anyway.
  One really cool thing I got to do was assigned to me early on in the morning.  Johanna had seen one girl who is about 16 and had been to a series of doctors with some unknown chronic pain in her knees.  A doctor finally diagnosed her with Reflex Neurovascular Dystrophy. Johanna didn't know much about this, so she asked me to do some research to determine what physical therapy treatment could be provided.  Cool! Now this is something definitely more helpful than folding towels!  From my research, there is very little known about this disease. There is no one specific cause, and no known cure.  I haven't gotten to discuss what I found out with Johanna yet, but I will definitely write more about this disease.  I'm also not sure if this girl will be coming into the office while I'm there, but if she does I'm considering doing my case study on her.
  Anyway, more on this curious disease later along with some info about Johanna and how I met her. Very cool story!  Off to go christmas shopping with my brother....

Total Hours: 6