4/1

At my mentorship and also through my research I have learned a lot about the ACL and the
types of injuries people can have. ACL injuries are not all the same, there are three classified
groups or ‘grades’ of injury that are possible. The grade 1 injury is a mildly injured ACL, this
means that the ACL has been mildly stretched but can still operate adequately and obtains
stable balance and function. Grade 2 injuries are considered very rare, these injuries include
both a ACL partial tear and mild stretch. Grade 3 injuries are the most severe ACL injuries, this
means that the ACL is completely torn and does not function normally and doesn’t have
adequate balance or range of motion. A lot of times with this kind of injury, doctors will
recommend a surgery to replace the ACL. This is most common for athletes or active people
who want to continue going back to extreme physical activity that would require a new ACL.
With surgery and long period of rehabilitation, people who have ACL grade 3 injuries can return
to their activities but have to be careful with the time that they return. If someone returns to a
sport to soon, they could have a more possible chance of tearing or re-injuring their ACL again.
That why physical therapy is so important in the healing process for ACL surgery.

4/8
At my last mentorship visit I was able to observe many patients. The first patient I saw was a
man who had a shoulder injury; when he first came in, I got him a hot pack to put on his
shoulder to help the blood flow and to warm his shoulder up before doing exercises. After his
hot pack my mentor started him off with some stretching, this can be achieved by resting your
arms on a table and bending down with the injured shoulder hanging loose below, this allows a
good stretch without any harsh pulling. The second patient I saw was a teenager who had an
elbow injury from wrestling. She went through some stretches and my mentor made sure to
observe her elbow and its range of motion before she started any activity or exercises. She then
went to the arm bike, which is a bike but instead of working the legs its for the arms. I feel that I
am moderately prepared; I have a good idea of wat most of my presentation is going to be but I
do feel that I still need more information in order for my presentation to be thorough and
effective.

4/15
During my last mentorship experience I was able to observe three different patients go through
rehab. The first patient had an ankle injury, she was a middle-aged woman who was a few
weeks into her rehabilitation process. Before she started any workouts or stretches, I gave her a
heating pad for her ankle to make sure she had good blood circulation. After about 8 minutes of
heat, she moved on to stretches that moved her ankle different directions. A good exercise that
my mentor recommended was putting stretch bands around the back of foot and move foot
backwards and forwards to stretch out the range of motion of the ankle. The second patient had
a knee injury, he had been going to rehab for a few weeks and his range of motion was very
advanced. My mentor had him heat for 8 minutes and then walk for about 6 minutes to warm his
knee up. After this the patient did workouts that tested his knee’s range of motion and it
flexibility. The third patient had a knee injury and they weren’t very advanced into their rehab
process, they didn’t have a whole lot of range of motion and the knee was still very inflamed and
swollen after the surgery they had. I gave them an ice pack to help with the inflammation and
my mentor did an assessment of their knee to figure out their rehab path and process.

4/22
This last mentorship week I observed multiple injury rehabilitations. They included two knee
injuries, both ACL tears, and one patient with an ankle injury, a sprain and also plantar fasciitis. I
was able to give them heating pads at the beginning of the session and ice packs before they
left to help the swelling and inflammation go down. This semester I really enjoyed observing at a
physical therapy establishment. I was able to have a lot more hands on experience and one on
one customer communication. I learned a lot about physical therapy and I also learned about
the day to day activities and duties that a physical therapist must do. Throughout this semester I
was able to see many injuries that needed rehabilitation and also many different workouts and
activities that people can do to help strengthen different muscles to help their injured area. I am
very glad that I got to see this profession because it increased my interest in it and I realized
that this is something that I really want to do in the future. I am also very happy that I got to be
around a lot of people throughout this experience because I was able to practice talking in a
professional setting