PHYSICAL/OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY WRITING PROCESS
When I learned that for this week's blog assignment we had to interview a professional in our field, one name popped immediately into my mind. Kim Spranger. Not only is she my physical therapist, she is my best friend's mom, and someone who I look up to tremendously. She cares so much about each one of her patients and genuinely wants to help them in anyway that she can. She did so much for me through my high school athletic career, and I would love to learn more from her now. Kim works closely with occupational therapists and is very well educated in their field along with her own. So, although she is not an occupational therapist, I chose her as the professional that I would interview.
When I asked Kim what kind of writing occupational therapists use, she explained to me several different procedures. The first she explained to me was specifically for occupational therapists working in an educational setting with special education students or those with an "OT issue" such as having a hard time with handwriting or even tying shoes. Occupational therapists in this setting have to write whats called an IET or Individualized Education Plan, which is what they plan to do to help the child. The second type of writing that she explained to me is more of what she does daily as a physical therapist. Initially when the patient comes in, Kim said she spends about 30 minutes after the patient leaves writing her evaluation toward treatment care plan. She does this by writing a SOAP note. SOAP stands for: Subjective (note the patients words as they tell you how they feel), Objective (an overall physical examination) , Assessment (assess the patients condition based on the S and O information), and Planning (Plan the treatment). Then, after every ten treatments, Kim writes a note to the physician, explaining how the patient is doing, what treatments are being used, and how much longer she believes is needed. She explained that this is a short, very goal-oriented writing used to inform the physician of the patient's progress. She also explained that in the future, she believes this type of writing will be replaced with new electronic medical records. However, she believes that the writing she does is the art of trying to communicate effectively, and is an important part of her job. The third and final form of writing she informed me of was for patients for diseases such as lymphedema. For these types of patients, Kim writes detailed instructions on what types of therapy they need to be doing for themselves, so that twenty years down the road, they can pull this paper out and know what they need to do.
This style of writing differs from the types of writing we've looked at so far because this type of writing doesn't involve several drafts. Kim does not need to write a shitty first draft about her patient's condition, then ponder on whether she should add a more attention grabbing opening scene, rising tension, or climax at the end. She does not need to take her time and write drafts 1-5, she simply needs to write the facts so that the physician can best meet the patient's needs.
When I asked Kim what kind of writing occupational therapists use, she explained to me several different procedures. The first she explained to me was specifically for occupational therapists working in an educational setting with special education students or those with an "OT issue" such as having a hard time with handwriting or even tying shoes. Occupational therapists in this setting have to write whats called an IET or Individualized Education Plan, which is what they plan to do to help the child. The second type of writing that she explained to me is more of what she does daily as a physical therapist. Initially when the patient comes in, Kim said she spends about 30 minutes after the patient leaves writing her evaluation toward treatment care plan. She does this by writing a SOAP note. SOAP stands for: Subjective (note the patients words as they tell you how they feel), Objective (an overall physical examination) , Assessment (assess the patients condition based on the S and O information), and Planning (Plan the treatment). Then, after every ten treatments, Kim writes a note to the physician, explaining how the patient is doing, what treatments are being used, and how much longer she believes is needed. She explained that this is a short, very goal-oriented writing used to inform the physician of the patient's progress. She also explained that in the future, she believes this type of writing will be replaced with new electronic medical records. However, she believes that the writing she does is the art of trying to communicate effectively, and is an important part of her job. The third and final form of writing she informed me of was for patients for diseases such as lymphedema. For these types of patients, Kim writes detailed instructions on what types of therapy they need to be doing for themselves, so that twenty years down the road, they can pull this paper out and know what they need to do.
This style of writing differs from the types of writing we've looked at so far because this type of writing doesn't involve several drafts. Kim does not need to write a shitty first draft about her patient's condition, then ponder on whether she should add a more attention grabbing opening scene, rising tension, or climax at the end. She does not need to take her time and write drafts 1-5, she simply needs to write the facts so that the physician can best meet the patient's needs.
WORKS CITED
Spranger, Kim. Personal interview. 13 February 2013.
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