Internship 3: U of U Neuro Rehab

I was very excited for this internship and I wasn’t let down. The clinical instructors were very knowledgeable and willing to spend the time to help me learn, grow and become comfortable with my patients. My CI, Collin, gave me the space I needed to learn, but was also available to answer questions and give suggestions to improve my practice. He also should confidence in my knowledge and skills.

Collin helped me to become more comfortable with jumping in and trying things. I have a tendency to become intimidated in new and uncomfortable situations, I like to have a step by step plan of what to do, but each patient is different and sometimes those plans don’t fit well. Collin helped me to think basic and have several ideas of what I can do, so that if one thing doesn’t work, I can try something else. He and a few other therapists I worked with also helped me learn to push my patients further and not limit them to my idea of what they can do. When I was willing to do this, my patients improved more than I had expected.

I felt like this setting fit me; I can see myself working in this area and being very happy. I was excited about seeing my patients, I felt confident in what I was doing, but I was also continually challenged. There were points throughout my internship that I felt great at what I did and then other points that I needed a little more help with. Having this experience assured me that I am a good therapist while keeping me inspired to continue to strive to become better and more knowledgeable.

In this internship I had more opportunities to work with individuals from different backgrounds and cultures than where I come from. I worked with individuals from all over the world. I learned that each patient and their loved ones have different views of how they should be cared for and what the family’s responsibilities were. Some felt that we were working them too hard and that the patient needed more rest, others wanted more time in the gym. All of these situations required me to educate more and then compromise in order to keep a good relationship with everyone while doing what was best for the patient. Having to do this help me to become more comfortable with talking to the patient and the family. It also required that I look up information when I was unsure, so that I knew what I was saying was correct information.

Vday

This year V-day was on a Monday, which is a very busy day for Matthew and I. Most Mondays we go to work and then straight from work we go to choir practice with the branch members and then stay for FHE until about 8:30om, then head home get a bite of something to eat and then head to bed.

For the past few years we have had a tradition of going to the temple and then getting a heart shaped pizza for dinner. Well this year we made a resolution to go to the temple each week, so we had that part of our V-day tradition covered over the weekend. I knew Matthew was very busy and stressed with work and his calling, so I decided that this year I would take care of the heart shaped pizza.

When I finished work on Monday I called Matthew to get an update on our plans. We were trying to decide if we should skip FHE and have some time together or go to FHE and spend the evening with the branch members. It wasn’t a very good time for Matthew and I could tell he was frustrated and busy. He said that he was going to be late and then before I knew it I heard him cancel V day. We hung up and I tried not to be upset. My rational side said, “I know that Matthew loves me, he tells me and shows me everyday. I don’t need a commercially set aside day where everyone is getting the same things to ‘express love.’” This rational side couldn’t control the irrational girl inside of me screaming “How could he cancel V-day?! Doesn’t he love me? It’s not like a need a lot. One rose, is that too much to ask?”

Despite V-day being canceled, I still felt that I needed to get the heart-shaped pizza for Matthew. I figured if nothing else our tummies would be full and it's my opportunity to show him I love him. After all he DOES show/tell me all the time and I feel like I could be better at letting him know.

Later after reviewing our conversation, Matthew insisted that he did not “cancel” V-day, but he agreed that he was going to have to really put forth great effort with our Anniversary (this year is his turn to plan) to make up for it.

Looking back on the day, it was actually a good experience; I now have one more thing to tease Matthew about, I was able to serve Matthew and show him that I care and we were able to spend time with the branch members whom we adore. They bring a lot of light into our lives. We both feel we have 30 or so extra grandparents and I think that means even more to Matthew since his have all passed on.