Internship PowerPointKIDNETICSSARAH PARKS

IntroductionAs part of the coursework in Health Science at Clemson University, Health Science students complete a semester-long internship at a location of our choice. Through the course of the semester, I completed a total of 95 hours of work at Kidnetics completing a variety of duties and filling a number of different roles.This presentation contains an overview of my time at Kidnetics, including information about the organization, descriptions of my responsibilities, and examples of projects and treatments I was involved with on site.

The SiteKidnetics is located in Greenville, SC and is one of several groups that are all housed in the Center for Developmental Services (CDS) Building on North Academy Street.

Kidnetics is a pediatric therapy group that boasts the trifecta of therapy: Physical Therapy Occupational Therapy Speech Therapy

Kidnetics also has a Developmental Pediatric Clinic, and the Wonder Center, a “daycare” for genetically fragile children.

Roles and ResponsibilitiesAs an intern at Kidnetics, and due to certain restrictions, I had a unique level of involvement in the treatment and care of patients. I had the opportunity to observe and participate in the treatment of a wide variety of diagnoses, ages, and both genders while at Kidnetics. I cleaned and organized the treatment gym and rooms as needed, and re-organized the equipment closets in order to make every item accessible. Additionally, I learned about the appropriate developmental milestones in children under 2 years old through involvement in the Developmental Peds Clinic. This was an aspect of physical therapy that I was otherwise unexposed to.

Roles and ResponsibilitiesKidnetics has a large treatment gym equipped with mats, mirrors, stairs, a climbing wall, a therapeutic pool, and several different areas housing treatment equipment. Most treatments occur on the hour and will end about 5-10 minutes before the hour is concluded.

Roles and ResponsibilitiesBetween appointments I walked around the gym cleaning toys, thera-balls, and treatment spaces that had been used in preparation of the next appointments, as well as putting away equipment that was left out.

Roles and ResponsibilitiesIn addition to ensuring that the treatment spaces are clean and ready for the following patients, I also re-organized the closets that house a lot of the treatment equipment that the physical and occupational therapists use. Kidnetics, being a pediatric therapy group, is movement geared. The equipment that the therapists use can be used to do various exercises and make the therapy process more fun and entertaining for children of all attention spans.

Roles and ResponsibilitiesI had the opportunity to observe and participate in many different treatments. Due to the fact that the patients are exclusively children, each treatment session is different, even if the diagnosis or issue is the same.

One patient I was able to follow from the beginning of the semester is pictured right. She is almost 2 years old, and at the beginning of August was not walking at all, and had severe torticollis. She is now walking, standing, and rotating unassisted.

The patient’s torticollis, a diagnosis I had never heard of before, is slowly beginning to improve with more movement. Torticollis is discussed more on the following slide.

TorticollisTorticollis is a condition where the neck muscles contract resulting in a head tilt to one side or the other. According to the literature, it is a rare condition, but at Kidnetics, it is incredibly common.

Torticollis can be treated by neck massage (seen right) of the contracted muscles, stretching of the contracted muscles, and in some children is corrected after learning to walk.

Walking is a symmetrical activity, and often can help to correct torticollis because it encourages the head back into midline as the muscle must loosen to accommodate the symmetrical movement.

In severe cases a Tot-collar (seen right on the top) may be used to help stretch the neck muscles.

Roles and ResponsibilitiesAnother child I was able to follow for the duration of my time at Kidnetics is a 9 year old female with Cerebral Palsy, more specifically spastic quadriplegia. Cerebral Palsy is a congenital disorder of movement, joints, or posture. Spastic Quadriplegia essentially means that all 4 appendages are impacted and that the patient experiences jerky movements that are difficult to control. The spine x-ray to the right is of a spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy patient and displays one type of spinal abnormality.

Roles and ResponsibilitiesThis patient has been at Kidnetics for 2 years getting therapy. Over that time span her therapist reports that there have definitely been improvements, however, Cerebral Palsy as of right now is a chronic condition and cannot be cured. This patient gets exercise for her legs and arms while in therapy to help maintain tone and range of motion.

Roles and ResponsibilitiesAs a written project at Kidnetics I completed a case study on a patient who comes to the Wonder Center.

The case study discusses a year and a half old female patient named Mia. Mia has been diagnosed with Jarcho-Levin Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.

The skeletal abnormalities were known in utero, and Mia has a fairly unique, although sad, story. After birth Mia was not properly cared for due to parental neglect, and is now in custody of her grandfather.

Mia is a mystery. All of the skeletal abnormalities for the disorder fit: the scoliosis, fused ribs, missing ribs, abdominal hernia, and single kidney. Additionally Mia has a short trunk and short neck, as well as congenital hip dysplasia, a condition that impacts the stability of the hip joint.

Mia has a long list of associated diagnoses, but therapists are not entirely sure if the Jarcho-Levin syndrome diagnosis truly fits her condition.

Roles and ResponsibilitiesWhile in the Developmental Peds Clinic I had the opportunity to really be exposed to an entire different role of physical therapy. I learned about how physical therapists examine things like muscle tone, range of motion, head shape, and other movements that early on must develop properly or could potentially cause problems later on in development.

Roles and ResponsibilitiesWhile in the Developmental Peds I learned about the different tests that are used to assess development, and assisted in scoring these tests.

The DAYC-2 (Developmental Assessment of Young Children- Second Edition) is used to identify developmental delays in cognition, communication, social-emotional development, physical development, and adaptive behavior.

The PDMS-2 (Peabody Developmental Motor Scales- Second Edition) is composed of six subtests that measure interrelated motor abilities that develop early in life.

Roles and ResponsibilitiesIn the Developmental Peds Clinic I was given the opportunity to give “homework” to parents on a few occasions and explain how their child was doing according to the skills that they should be displaying according to their adjusted age.

Adjusted age is used to correct for premature birth in assessing developmental skills. By counting their adjusted age from the due date instead of actual birth date (called chronological age) this ensures that the child is developmentally on track and is not suffering any repercussions due to premature birth.

ConclusionMy internship this semester at Kidnetics has been incredible. I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to further be involved in the career that I am pursuing after graduation, and being able to play a role in a pediatric clinic was the icing on the cake.

Pediatrics has always been something that I have thought I would enjoy specializing in after getting my PT degree. The variety of diagnoses, personalities, and the involvement of the family that I was able to experience while at Kidnetics not only corroborated my thoughts about the specialization, but encouraged them.

Kidnetics was unique from my other physical therapy experiences not only due to the specialization, but also because of the therapists themselves, the facility, and the opportunity to learn so many new things. There are diagnoses that I learned about while at Kidnetics that I had never heard of prior to my experience there, in addition to being exposed to the Wonder Center.

I was also introduced to an entirely new delivery of physical therapy through the Development Peds Clinic. That aspect of therapy is something I would love to further investigate and learn more about.