Final Presentation Night

On Friday, May 20th, we had our Final Presentation Night at Liberty High School. Over the course of the week, I had practiced my speech at least once each day, so I felt fully prepared to deliver a strong speech by FPN. The event was divided into three parts: a brief research showcase, mentor recognition in the auditorium, and lastly presentations in our individual classrooms. Because I had two volunteers helping me set-up and transition from one part to the next, I was able to get everything done on time with minimal stress. For the research showcase, I was surprised by how quickly the hour went by, since I had a lot of fun talking to those who visited my table and asked me questions about my field and overall ISM experience. Because I had built two prosthetic legs for my Final Product, I was also able to draw more people to my table, since they wanted to learn more about the building process and how I chose the design specifications. Next, we had the mentor recognition in the auditorium, and I felt really calm as I thanked my mentor in front of a few hundred people and handed him a plaque stating his role as an ISM mentor. Afterwards, I went back to my classroom and gave my 30-35 minute speech detailing my entire ISM journey and the knowledge I gained through this experience. As I spoke, my mentor was grading my presentation, but because I had practiced my speech several times, I felt comfortable and confident speaking in front of everyone watching, which was about 15 people! As a whole, I'm extremely proud of how well FPN went, and I couldn't have asked for a better conclusion to my ISM journey. I can definitely see how much I've grown as a person from this experience and the incredible opportunity to learn so much about prosthetics and biomechanics first-hand helped me realize that I truly do want to pursue a career in this field!

One More Week

This week in ISM, I had a mentor visit at UT Southwestern, finalized my presentation slides for FPN, and gave another mock speech. During my mentor visit, my mentor and I gathered all the parts of my Final Product, and I was able to finally take both my prosthetic legs home. We discussed some details for Final Presentation Night, so that my mentor would have a better idea of what to expect during this event. My mentor also gave me some feedback about my presentation, which helped me plan out the timings of various slides and verify some of the information I wasn't sure about. Then, I learned about the two methods used to pull a plastic socket: drape and blister. By using the drape method, a seam is formed at the back of the prosthetic socket, while the blister method is fully seamless. This difference occurs as the result of using two different pieces of plastic, because the drape method uses a rectangular plastic sheet, while the blister method uses a thicker, circular plastic sheet with a small protruding plastic piece in the center. Therefore, this circular sheet creates a large bubble shape when heated in the oven, allowing you to fully cover the plaster model without leaving a seam in the end. Also this week, we had a dress rehearsal for FPN at school, so I was able to practice my auditorium statement and run through my speech in my actual classroom. As I practiced my speech, a fellow ISM classmate offered suggestions for improvement, so I feel more prepared about my content and movement. This upcoming week, I'll finish last-minute preparation for FPN and continue practicing my speech, so that I'm completely ready for Friday!

Patient Description

This week in ISM, I handed out all of my invitations, had a phone call meeting with my mentor, and started planning out how I want my room to look for FPN. During our phone call, my mentor and I discussed and finalized the patient description for my Final Product, because now that we've actually built both the prosthetic legs, we could justify the decisions we made in regards to the suspension system based off patient characteristics. Since the patient's leg was amputated after a traumatic car accident, this caused serious issues at the distal end of the residual limb. As a result, the additional soreness could be alleviated by using a vacuum system for the finalized prosthesis, because vacuums are better for circulation and don't pull on the extra tissue at the site of the amputation. This skin condition is known as verrucous hyperplasia and having a shuttle lock system only pulls on that redundant tissue even more. Therefore, we decided to use a shuttle lock system as the preparatory prosthesis for about a year, while the leg shrinks down and stabilizes in volume before transitioning into a vacuum system. Also this week, I reviewed the mock speech I gave the week before, so that I could determine what areas needed improvement and what I did well. I realized that I could incorporate more movement during my speech, but that my content and body language remained strong throughout. This upcoming week, I will record another mock video of my entire FPN speech and create a checklist for my volunteers, so that they know exactly what to do during FPN.

Mock Video #1

This week in ISM, I completely finished both prosthetic legs during my mentor visit and recorded the first Mock Video of my Final Presentation Night speech. During my mentor visit, Mr. Wilson and I discussed how the electronic pump works for the vacuum and added the final pieces to my Final Product. To change the air pressure within the socket, an individual uses a remote to power on the electronic pump and set the specific air pressure they would like to maintain. Then, the pump starts pulling air out until the desired air pressure is reached, notifying the user of its progress through a series of buzzes. If there is an air gap in the leg or some other form of failure, the pump immediately shuts off and the remote emits a warning, which basically saves power and increases the lifetime of the pump. Without this mechanism, the pump would keep trying to pull air out but would never be able to reach the set air pressure, because there's a leak within the sleeve. In regards to my Mock Video, I didn't have any trouble reaching the time criteria of 20-25 minutes, but my speech wasn't as smooth as I would've liked. Before FPN, I want to work on my movement, because I usually move very little during my speeches, and on my pacing, because I would like to spend more time discussing my Original Work, Final Product, and overall mentorship and ISM experience. This upcoming week, I'll continue to fine-tune my FPN speech and presentation, hand-deliver or mail all my invitations, and consider how I want to arrange my room for this event.

FPN Program and Invitations

This week in ISM, I continued with my Final Presentation Night preparation by finalizing both the template and content for my program and invitations, creating an outline for my speech, and deciding my two volunteers to help me during the event. Previously, I had already made a first draft of the program, which we then revised and critiqued in class to check for mistakes and general appearance. As a result, I made a few corrections to the formatting and content in my final draft, which I will print and perform one final check on before mass-producing all my program brochures for FPN. For my invitations, I didn't make any major changes from my first draft, because I really liked the color scheme and information I had included previously. In class, we received a massive checklist with everything that we needed to accomplish before FPN, and I was shocked by just how extensive and detailed the number of tasks were. The majority of them are due on May 20th, which is the actual day of Final Presentation Night, but several are due in the upcoming weeks. With only three weeks remaining before FPN, I'm definitely starting to feel the pressure of keeping organized and staying on track with the busy schedule ahead of me. However, despite my current nerves, I know that all the knowledge and skills I have gained over the course of this year will help me share my amazing ISM experience at FPN. This upcoming week, I will create a mock video for my final speech, schedule a mentor visit at UT Southwestern, and update my display board from Research Showcase.

One More Month

This week in ISM, I had a phone call meeting with my mentor and updated my blog. During our phone call, Mr. Wilson and I discussed what else was left to build for my Final Product and the specific parts I used for each of the prosthetic legs. Because we are far ahead of schedule, I have time to make minor adjustments to each of the legs and understand how each suspension system would work as part of a full leg, rather than as an individual piece. Also, I am now able to focus more specifically on the other aspects of Final Presentation Night, and this includes writing and rehearsing my speech, updating my display board, creating invitations, and making a program brochure for the evening. As of right now, there is just over a month remaining before FPN, so I'm definitely starting to feel the pressure of having to accomplish so many different tasks at once. Even though the next few weeks are going to be challenging and difficult, I hope to make the most of this incredible opportunity and finish the year strong. I can't wait to share my ISM experience with my family and friends, and I know that all the hard work and effort I put in now will pay off in the end. This upcoming week, I will schedule another mentor visit at UT Southwestern, start writing my FPN speech, and finalize the template and content of both my FPN program brochure and invitations.

Pulling a Clear Test Socket

During my fifth mentor visit with Mr. Wilson, we finalized most of the characteristics of our hypothetical patient and pulled a clear test socket for the shuttle lock prosthetic leg. In our phone call meeting the week before, my mentor and I had revised our previous idea of designing two prosthetic legs: one for an above the knee patient and another for a below the knee patient.

To read my analysis, click here.