4 June 2013
So I head
over to Jaclyn’s apartment this morning to meet her before walking to the
Sports Medicine building to being our first day of our internship. When I
arrive, I politely knock on the glass sliding-door and am soon greeted by an
obviously flustered Jaclyn. “Are you ready to go?” I asked, to hear her faint
reply through the door, “I can't find my key!” Jaclyn had been given a key to
lock the padlock on her sliding door, but had lost it within 48 hours. Now she
was locked INSIDE her apartment and I couldn’t help but laugh, which I knew
would make things so much better. For some reason Jaclyn didn’t find the
situation as amusing. “Well… see you later,” is all I could say standing there
helpless, although I reassured her that as soon as I reached a faculty person I
would have them make a call and get help to her. I felt like Lassie trying to
explain what had happened and where Jaclyn was in captivity, as a faculty
person at the International office gave me a blank stare as she tried to
comprehend the bizarre situation. In the end, Jaclyn had her key the whole time
but it had managed to become hidden under a pair of shoes in her closet. We all
had a big laugh; well Jaclyn didn’t until much later, and continued on with the
first day of the internship, running only a few minutes behind schedule.
Sanmari was
our escort for the day, showing us to the Sport Medicine building, medical
library, and Physiotherapy clinic. She was a wonderful person who was very
knowledgeable about the campus and kept us laughing. It was also great to
finally meet Dr. Louis Holtzhausen, who is the department head of Sports
Medicine, served as the Springbok’s (National Rugby Team) team doctor, and was
selected to serve as the doctor for the South African Olympic Team for the 2012
London Olympics. He gave us a brief overview of the next four weeks and assured
us that customizing our experiences to our likings was no problem; all we
needed to do was ask.
Dr. Marlene,
who also works in the Sports Medicine Department and is a joy to talk with,
helped us to pick topics related to sports medicine, on which to conduct
research over the course of the internship. I chose to research the causes
behind exercise related cramping, which studies have shown is due to more than
dehydration. Another topic of great interest was platelet rich plasma
injections (PRP), which are used to promote natural healing and more long term
solutions for injuries to tendons.
With our
research topics in mind, we headed over to the medical library where Mrs. Elma,
the librarian, introduced us to using the library’s databases and gave us a
quick tour of the building. Afterwards, we headed over to the physiotherapy
clinic where were able to shadow Dr. Holtzhausen and experience a platelet rich
plasma (PRP) injection on a patient with tennis elbow. First blood is drawn
from the patient and is then centrifuged at low rpm for 8 minutes, so as to
isolate the neutrophils, platelets, and plasma (containing inflammatory
proteins). PRP is then injected into the site of the injured tendon, causing an
acute inflammatory response at the site. This allows for loss of function,
allowing the body to actually heal the tendon, rather than masking pain with cortisone
shots and further deteriorating the tendon. By allowing the body to heal the
tendon properly, the tendon will remain healthy longer.
Later we
went to the gymnasium and observed students our age who were biokineticists.
Biokineticists differ from physiotherapists in that physiotherapists work to
relieve pain from the patient and regain range of motion. When the patient
reaches the biokineticist, they are pain free and work on regaining their
strength to that which they had before the operation. One patient in particular
was astonishing to meet. He was an Olympic runner and long jumper for South
Africa, and he also coached the Springbok’s from 1985-1986. All his years of
running and jumping had deteriorated the cartilage of his left knee, which was
his planting foot for jumping, and he had undergone surgery to clean up his
knee.
No comments:
Post a Comment