#37- Completing my capstone project!

One of the requirements to graduate from the University of Colorado, Doctor of Physical Therapy program is to complete a final capstone project and present it in front of peers and faculty in the final weeks before graduation.  This is an opportunity for each student to pick a patient they have treated from start to finish and write a clinical case report including: examination/evaluation, plan of care, evidence based research- all highlighting the ability to make clinical decisions based on the critical thinking skills developed throughout the last three years of the program.

My case was particularly unique in that it was a patient I treated while at Craig Hospital that had sustained a traumatic brain injury.  I treated her for eight weeks for approximately 1 hour per day. And as you might guess, writing a case report on someone with a brain injury might be a daunting task (and it was).  This project began in October and really did not finish until this past Tuesday when I presented to my classmates and faculty.  

For me, this project was not only difficult due to the content and the lack of available research on traumatic brain injury, but it was difficult because it was spread out for essentially 8 months. I found that I have ADD when it comes to projects of this length and would rather just complete them in a timely fashion, rather than have it drag on for some many months.  In addition, this particular patient had involvement of every extremity and multiple systems, which made it complex and challenging to squeeze into 25 pages and a 20 minute presentation.  But in the end, it provided a good challenge and most importantly, I am finished with the project!

I was very nervous to present on Tuesday because I had been assigned to present first out of all my classmates.  But, the presentation went better than I expected and I was thankful to have it completed!  My CI (clinical instructor) from Craig was able to be in the audience, which was very special for me since she played an integral part in assisting with the growth of my patient management and clinical decision making skills.  I received some fantastic compliments from faculty and fellow students, which I accepted with more grace then I would have in the past. :) 

All in all, it feels so great to have finally completed this last academic requirement for graduation!  I am pleased with the final product and have thoughts on publishing it in the future in one of the physical therapy journals.  Looking forward to graduation day on May 25th!!!