Last week was the start of my final semester in my O&P education. Now graduation is just around the corner, but it is not yet time to start celebrating since there is still plenty to learn. Up until now most of the curriculum has been focused on the lower extremity and now starting this semester we started on the
upper extremity in both
orthotics and
prosthetics. Going into the beginning of the semester I was excited to be starting
upper extremity prosthetics since myoelectrics that is very interesting to me. But, the class sort of threw me a curveball since when we started reviewing the anatomy of the
upper extremity I found myself a little rusty because most of the last 2 years in school has been so focused on the lower extremity. This is just one of those situations that reminds me of the saying “if you
don’t use it, you lose it.” However, I did learn a lesson that I will be able to apply in the future for when I move onto my residency and become a
practitioner; if I happen to notice a
patient coming in the next day or week for a device I have not seen in awhile, I just might want to refresh myself so that I can be prepared.