Today I did my first assessment of a client. Most of the clients have annual reviews, or 6-monthly reviews if they're young kids. I was doing "Brad"'s annual assessment, a 17yr old boy with DMD. It's the end of week 4 and this is the first subjective and objective assessment I'm taking. I should have done better but I haven't had the experience, and I was a bit disappointed with how I went. I think these things come with practice - I know how to measure ms strength and ROM and all that, it's not rocket science, but the practicality of managing my time and holding the goniometer and this contractured limb in the right place, and asking questions right so the conversation flows well... all that stuff is why we're on placement because doing it at uni is so different (well that's been my experience anyway). I got most of the info we needed no worries... I just felt I made a few amateur mistakes.
Next time I assess a patient I'll concentrate more on asking open-ended questions. Like most teenage boys I've encountered on this prac, he almost always answers "I don't know", so it wasn't a very dynamic conversation! On Monday I'll ask my supervisor how I went. I understand that I'm not expected to hit it out of the park every time on this prac but I know there's room for improvement, and it's a matter of 'when' not 'if' :)
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