The Hospital is Nothing Like Grey's Anatomy...it's even better!

I haven't talked too much about my practicum so I will fill everyone in.

I'm at Parkland Hospital on the trauma unit. It's a really cool setup they have for the speech pathologist. Basically every 4 months the therapist rotate between medicine/burns, trauma, outpatient rehab and inpatient rehab. So for this semester my supervisor is on trauma rounds and so am I!! I absolutely love it. It is challenging and crazy every day but I get to see and learn something new with each patient. Parkland has quite a diverse population coming through both in types of injuries and ethnicity. In fact I have been greatly inspired to learn spanish so I converse with many of our patients! It is frustrating to not be able to communicate with them in anyway. Parkland also offers a lot of help to unfunded patients. I think it's great and I won't get started on my views of our healthcare system. All I will say is that it's angering and inefficient and the more I learn and see each day makes me wonder how our healthcare system is so terribly run. Mind you it is run by predominately by insurance companies who never have contact with the patient but decide their future treatment...go figure! I only hope for a change...no it's not socialism!

Some things I've worked with at the hospital:

1. Traumatic Brain Injuries caused by:

• Car/Motorcycle/ATV accidents
  
• Gun shot wounds
  
• Horses in general
• Aggravated assaults
• Drugs (Did you know how many people do drugs? Cause I didn't!)
• Diseases (One in particular was caused from undercooked pork! Mom..don't freak out it happens rarely and "boot leather" :-) meat won't help!)

2. Strokes

3. Swallowing Disorders

Who knew a speech therapist had so many roles!!!

I currently have a patient right now that has a love/hate relationship with me. She hates everything about the hospital and won't let you forget it but secretly I think she loves the attention. She is a sweet woman, has a good heart, just stubborn as hell! I have now gone from being told to "get out of here" at the end of the session to "get out of here honey." haha, I can appreciate it.

Anyway that is a big summary of a just a month of being at Parkland. I'm sure I will have more stories to come!