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MY COMMSERVE EXPERIENCE

by Kyra Steenkamp

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ABOUT ME

DANNHAUSER CHC

  • Rural KZN
  • Primary Health Facility
  • 10 clinics & home visits
  • Out-patients
  • Only OT - ran my own dept
  • Small MDT
  • Mostly chronic conditions

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CHARLOTTE MAXEKE ACADEMIC HOSPITAL

  • Urban GP - Academic Hospital
  • Rotations through Paeds, Neuro, Hands
  • Paeds plastics, NNFU, Hands, Adult plastics and Wheelchair seating clinics
  • Acute in-patient conditions
  • Out-patients
  • 16 person OT team
  • Large MDT unit

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HIGHS & LOWS

Highlights

  • Exploring KZN - Drakensberg
  • SASHT Presentation
  • Presentation at Local School Event
  • MDT
  • Wheelchair seating course
  • Learning new skills (splinting & pressure garments)
  • 2 different learning environments

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HIGHS & LOWS

Lowlights

  • Being by myself (little to no signal)
  • Far from home
  • Fighting with finance & district
  • Dealing with patients passing away
  • Wheelchair waiting list
  • Uprooting in the middle of the year
  • No December break ;)

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TIPS

  • Explore!
  • Stay active
  • Keep in touch with friends & lecturers
  • Lifelong learning
  • Courses
  • Save!
  • Learning a few greeting phrases in the language most spoken in your area
  • Try not to bring work home (if you must, keep your weekends free - work/life balance)
  • Make a list of what you want to accomplish this year (2x tasks/week)

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TIPS (cont.)

  • Don’t waste your year
  • Use what you have on hand
  • Be open to criticism & improvement
  • Do what makes you uncomfortable
  • Get to know your MDT - build connections
  • Add to your handover continuously throughout the year
  • Find someone to debrief/talk to
  • Look for positions early! (like september)
  • Give yourself grace

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PROJECTS

DANNHAUSER CHC

  • Bread tags & bottle caps
  • Support group training
  • MDT referral system
  • Wheelchairs & district

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PROJECTS

CMJAH

  • OT Day & OT week
  • Stroke Awareness

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RESOURCES

  • Anatomy textbooks (especially for hands)
  • Orfit (splinting videos)
  • OT Toolkit (Links to various print outs/websites) - https://www.ottoolkit.com/links
  • The OT Toolbox (worksheets and activity ideas)
  • Twinkl (worksheets)
  • My OT Spot (worksheets & treatment tips)

Courses I would recommend:

  • Building brains
  • Marti Simpson Intro to Hand Therapy
  • Basic wheelchair seating by Rehab Skills Lab

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THANK YOU!

Do you have any questions?

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