I could not have been luckier this week with the way that class work tied into preceptor hours.  Cal State builds 6 preceptor days into the already busy schedule.  It allows us to see different types of O&P offices and patients.  My classmates and I are partnered up each week and sent off to various locations in Southern California. 

During our first week of transfemoral, we had an in depth lecture about the different prosthetic knees: outside hinge, single axis, stance control, polycentric, manual locking, and even hybrids!  Then we had a lecture on TF gait, deviations, and possible solutions to the deviation.  Our poor little heads were swimming after that day of lectures!  The following day was a preceptor rotation.

My partner and I didn’t know what to expect.  Our instructors told us to be ready for anything.  Be it casting, fabricating and everything in between.  When we walked into the office, the practitioners told us we’d be testing out different knees on a new TF patient that hadn’t walked yet.  Coincidence?  

The patient was fit with an Otto Bock 3R60, 3R80 and an Ossur Mauch that they had in the office.  Like many people, this patient didn’t expect walking to be so difficult.  The practitioners gave out a few gait pointers, many similar to transtibial.  Rocking back and forth to get a feel for the foot and knee, hand placement on the parallel bars…The patient took a few laps, alignment was adjusted, and a few more laps were completed.  We worked on steps, riding the knee and equal stride length.  Just as the patient was getting used to the knee he was in, it was swapped out.  He immediately felt the differences. 

By the end of the appointment, the patient’s gait was still shaky, but his stride was equal and he was having fun.  I was excited that the practitioners let my partner and I set up bench alignment for the knees and let us get our hands dirty during dynamic alignment.

The whole day was an amazing experience.  I may not have learned all the nuances of TF gait, but I learned quite a few in that appointment.  Can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next preceptor rotation!