Taking the Row Less Travelled!

by SOCO | Aug 13, 2018 | About SOCO, Latest News

Taking On Paddler’s Knots At the Dragon Boat Festival!

As a final year student at Southern Ontario College of Osteopathy (SOCO), you are likely enjoying putting all those learned techniques and practical skills to real use in a clinical context. But, what about using those skills in a real-life context? At SOCO, final year students have the opportunity to expand their skill set by volunteering at onsite events, which are held locally in our community. These events expose students to treating complaints in a more complex context. Sporting competitions and other social community events are great opportunities to hone in on specific skills needed for various conditions. The Mississauga Dragon Boat Festival did just that. Students enjoyed treating athletes in an atmosphere filled with team spirit, laughs and interesting complaints to mend, related to the sport. The sunny day with and light breeze at their back helped them soak in the experience. We could not have asked for better weather, and it was all a part of the required practical hours for the program. While it may seem intimidating to treat the public under a supervising eye, our clinic does a great job at keeping this experience from being daunting and overwhelming. Clinic coordinators ease each student into the public clinic through preparation treatments on fellow students and then treatments on instructors themselves before beginning to treat the public. 2-3 treatments each clinic day is valuable in gaining experience while not creating a drain on the retention process. If you are the kind of person who wants to soak in as much as possible in one day, or you travel from afar and your time is limited, then you are welcome to take on more treatments in a practical day and get those hours done in a shorter time frame. An instructor is available to support you every step of the way.

Here at Southern Ontario College of Osteopathy, we are always looking for feedback on how we can improve the learning experience. Adding more variety to the practical portion of the program is one of the ways that we do this. Onsite events provide a refreshing perspective to those who find daily clinic to be monotonous over time. We know that some students really enjoy a change in scenery, while others prefer the stability and routine that a clinic setting provides. Our instructors found that providing variety enriches the experience and learning. Students will have a chance to try their hand at many scenarios running across all age groups. They will have to develop many treatment approaches and utilize all of the skills they’ve developed over the three years. Keep in mind, it is always a great idea to switch things up!

It takes a fair amount of knowledge and experience to begin the internship program at SOCO. In order to be eligible to treat the public, students have to complete all of the 1st and 2nd-year modules, up to and including Visceral 1&2. They will have to complete a minimum of 150 clinic hours. This means being up to date on the observational and practical hours from the first and second year. And remember how students are eased into the clinic? That’s right, all those practice treatments on fellow students and instructors using the correct treatment protocol. Once all requirements are met, students will then complete a mock treatment on one of the instructors, demonstrating their proficiency before becoming eligible to treat the public.

There is a huge benefit to treating clients in the public clinic as opposed to only practicing on your peers. The public does not have expectations for what techniques you will perform or how you will approach their unique issue. They will also have a more objective opinion on the treatment outcome. You can work to improve your ability in communicating effectively with clients and perfect your bedside manner. Lastly, you will gain valuable experience in managing the time of your sessions to include assessment, treatment and treatment conclusion.

A big thanks to those 5 students who took a jump outside the traditional clinic setting, so to speak, and joined instructors at the Mississauga Dragon Boat Festival.

We set up 5 tables allowing paddlers and spectators to sign up for 20-minute time slots to get a FREE mini treatment. This allowed us to introduce manual osteopathy to a large array of people who may not have been familiar with this modality and to help the participating athletes warm up before and cool down after their races. This also gave our students an amazing opportunity to treat at a community event, forced them to think quickly on their feet, that allowed them to have a varied set of sessions in a short time frame for comparison and also allowed them to practice their time management skills. They had to think outside the box and experience an exciting change of pace.

Some students found specific aspects beneficial:
“I enjoyed treating people back-to-back with a strict 20-minute time frame. This aspect made me really hone my skills and effectiveness.”
– Karen, 3rd Year

Others enjoyed the overall change:
“I really like the opportunity to get my last practical hour in a different setting. A different type of learning environment. I am grateful for that experience.”
– Sue, 3rd Year

We have participated at this event 3 times now and are looking for more local events where we can be of benefit to the community, but also provide our students with an amazing opportunity to learn and grow as practitioners! The next event on the agenda is a local children’s karate exhibition where our students will not only get to work in a different setting, but will also get to put their pediatric training to work and practice effective pediatric assessment, communication and treatment techniques. Look for us at the East-West Karate SummerFest on Saturday, August 25th!