Evidence: safeguard training and FGM training

Reflection
Before we were allowed to enter the student clinic in Y3, us students were obligated to follow a safeguard and FGM training to make us aware of possible warning signs of abuse or genital mutilation. I found these measurements before entering clinic very beneficial as I felt more ready to pick up any red flags. In the future I would like to go back to the training to refresh the details and keep my guard up within private practice. 

Evidence: Safety and cleaning protocol COVID ESO clinic

Reflection
Both the student clinic as the Boxley campus underwent extensive risk assessments and measurements to reassure the safety for both students and patients by introducing PPE, cleaning stations, regular fogging, staggering appointments and social distancing within our smaller subgroups in this COVID pandemic. This provided a safe and clean environment to control the spread of the disease. The use of these measurements made me reflect on how I can implement a similar structure for my own future practice. Even if legal restrictions in regards to COVID measures soften within time because of the high vaccination rate, I am more prone to still keep most of these measurements for a longer period of time. 

Evidence: DBS + GOSc registration

Reflection
When starting to obtain the necessary paperwork for GOSc registration I came across the need to do a DBS check where my possible criminal history would be checked. Even though I’ve never had any convictions or run ins with the law it made me feel quite anxious on how the process would go. I did not know if speeding tickets would be included in this process. Being a foreign student as well I was not sure If I had to do different paperwork to obtain the certificate. 
After emailing with the GOSC team for final year students, they put me to ease that simple traffic violations were not an issue, and an UK DBS check would be sufficient as I was in the country for the last four years. 
This process has made me more aware of the position we hold as healthcare professionals and how important it is to keep a clear record at all times for both our personal and professional futures. 

Evidence: Health reference GOSc + COVID tests + COVID Vaccine

Reflection
Coming back into the student clinic during the COVID pandemic had a huge impact on the perception of my personal health. Before the pandemic, I would view myself as a fit and healthy individual and I wasn’t too worried about getting sick. The thought of being a transmitter of a virus had never crossed my mind. 
The evolution of going back into practice where regular covid testing, PPE and social distancing at all times where the new norm, came as a real shock to the system. It made me realize how important it was to follow all regulations to a tee in order to keep all my patients safe. 
Therefore, I’ve been engaging with regular lateral flow testing and got fully vaccinated recently. I am planning on continuing frequent testing to keep myself and my patients safe. 

Evidence: Poster Disc herniation + Psychology presentation + Referral letter

Reflection
At the start of my degree my assumption was that including other healthcare professionals into your management plan was mostly focused on GP referrals for possible pathological conditions that needed more investigating. However, doing more assignments looking into the evidence of the literature and associated guidelines, I became more aware about the limitations in our profession. 
While doing my psychology presentation I realized how important it is to pick up the signs of post-natal depression and how important referral is for mental health issues to avoid possible devastating outcomes. 
This made me more aware of the psychological flags and I am implementing them in both my general patient population as my postnatal patients. I have included more conversation with my patients in regard to mental health and what options there are for them, steering them into a more multi-disciplinary approach and plan on continuing to stay open minded to other healthcare professionals and the benefits they may have for my patients.

Evidence: Equality Act (2010)

Reflection
The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination, offering protection to the following characteristics: age, race, sex, gender reassignment, disability, religion, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a very open minded and multicultural upbringing in Belgium. Multiple members of my family endured racism and I saw how much impact this has on their daily life and how I was privileged in that matter because of the skin-color I was born with. It saddens me to see how some individuals can carry so much hate just because of their misconstrued view of what society should look like. Within my family background is also a variety of different religions being Catholicism, Islam and Judaism. This has taught me not only the differences but mostly the similarities between the biggest religions with the messages they can teach. I’ve been lucky enough to have travelled to various parts of the world, broadening my perspectives and reduce my prejudices in regard to all aspects of life.
I believe my personal experiences go hand in hand with the Equality Act and I strongly believe discrimination should never be allowed, in any circumstance. Sadly, this is not equally perceived by everyone. However, in my own practice I wish to establish a safe environment for every person that walks through my door.

Reference
Equality Act (2010) The Stationery Office Limited, London. Available at:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/pdfs/ukpga_20100015_en.pdf [Accessed June 1st, 2021].

Reflection
Throughout the course we’ve been examined on our practical skills on a regular basis. With this comes a need to verbalize your findings and how this is maybe different from what we expected to find according to the fictional case we are provided with in an exam situation. I found that every year my ability to distinguish between healthy and dysfunctional tissue has improved and I believe clinical work has been the main contributor for this. Exposure to many patients and experiencing tissue reactions to injury and pain has helped me to identify the main contributors to their discomfort more easily. As my global evaluation improved, I found more confidence within my exams to discuss these fictional cases as I had more of a clear vision of how these patients would present. This also helped me to employ a broader range of different osteopathic approaches and my grades show a positive evolution reflecting my developing understanding of the human body. 
I aim to keep reflecting on this process as my clinical experience grows and I want to keep working on being more efficient within the entire examination process to improve my osteopathic practice. 

Evidence: Rehab plan for patient

Reflection
A 65-year-old slightly overweight woman with an inactive lifestyle presented in clinic with a longstanding left sided L4-5 radiculopathy seeing care. During the initial consultation I discussed the different routes of management that would be suitable for her including physical exercise. We came to a mutual agreement where we would start off with some osteopathic sessions and slowly introduce exercise into her daily regime to help with her complaints. I focused on explaining how increased mobility and strength could help her and she expressed great interest in gaining tools to help herself. 
I then developed a rehab plan to both mobilize the spinal nerves effected and strengthening her lower extremity for further support. I monitored her progression over a two-month period increasing difficulty and load and she progressed a lot in a small time period. 
The patient was very grateful that I could provide the additional support of exercises within our sessions, and she expressed how she now enjoyed going to the gym as she saw the impact it already had made to her quality of life in a short period of time. 
For me personally, it was a really satisfying being able to change a person’s perception on exercise to the point where she made it a part of her daily/weekly routine. I felt that the initial support for that lifestyle change also gave her the confidence to become more independent with non-rehab related exercise. 
In the future I hope to be able to motivate more patients to include daily exercise in their routine within their own capacity. However, I am still aware of the fact that not all patients will be open for this process and that is where I will have to learn to stay neutral and respect their decision without trying to change their minds.