Placement Begins

So today was my first day on placement. Our program manger walked with us to the hospital and showed us where to sign in each day, we then headed over to the superintendents office. He gave us a presentation about the hospital and expectations.

In Sri Lanka healthcare is free and provided by the Government and donations are also given, as a result people come and queue for clinics and to be seen on a first come first served basis. Some people begin queueing for clinics at 5am.

Walking through the hospital you can see the numerous people queueing in the humidity all waiting to be seen.

I was then orientated to the physiotherapy department and introduced to my supervisor. The department itself consists of 2 electrotherapy sections, and 2 gyms one for adults and one for paediatrics. The male staff wear shirts and trousers, females where saris, and the reception/ admin staff wear a uniform (a white/pale blue dress down to their knees with buttons like a polo at the top).

In the morning I was based in the electrotherapy ‘b’ section of the department. In the department there are curtains to separate each cubical but more than one patient was able to be seen in the same cubical at the same time.  Bed are made of metal and heights are non-adjustable. There documentation system is a lot different than in the UK, notes are written at an initial assessment, in english and from then on only attendance is recorded.

In the afternoon I spent my time in the adult gym. We talked through assessment techniques and facilities. The concepts behind all the treatment is the same as in the UK but just with less resources to use or older equipment that we no longer use, like slings. We also discussed common pathologies such as GBS, CP acquired from infection, Diabetes, TKR (post-surgery treatment plans and prognosis), adhesive capsulitis, plantar fasciitis (due to the amount of people who only where flip flops or bear feet) and RTA are also very common- due to the way they drive!!!

It was very interesting to talk to different physio’s and understand there reasoning behind techniques. They all had extensive textbook knowledge and could talk this through with me as they are taught the degree in English.

Now home for a language lesson!