Healthcare: Living With Your Ex! Orthopaedic Treatment For Fractures With Stan Swanepoel From University of East Anglia

Do you know someone who has broken a bone, or have you even suffered one yourself? Have you ever wondered how and why these injuries are treated in different ways? If you have ever spoken to anyone who has some sort of plaster of Paris or synthetic cast on to treat a fracture then you will know how irritating it can be. Have you ever thought about living with more cumbersome methods of fracture management?

This session will give you the chance to explore the world of orthopaedic treatment options for fractures and what it means for a patient.

What is an Operating Department Practitioner?

Operating department practitioners (ODPs) play a vital role working alongside surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and other health care professionals to ensure patients receive the highest standard of care and support. Operating theatres provide 24 hour care for patients requiring emergency treatment. It’s quite possible to be caring for a woman needing an emergency caesarean section to safely deliver her child and follow this with an emergency orthopaedic procedure following a road traffic incident, to a child that has swallowed a toy and has difficulty breathing.

As well as operating theatres, you could also work in such areas as accident and emergency, intensive care, day surgery clinics, maternity units and resuscitation teams. The Covid-19 pandemic has seen many ODP’s providing their skill and expertise in caring for mechanically ventilated patients, to assist ITU colleagues.

Working in the theatre can be physically and emotionally demanding, but it is a rich and rewarding experience. The ability to be a good team player as well as working autonomously is integral to the role.

Stan Swanepoel is a Lecturer in Health Sciences (Operating Department Practice), School of Health Sciences at UEA.

Suitable for: Year 12 and 13 students (and equivalent). This session is designed for students thinking about studying a diploma or degree in healthcare.

Preparation/Pre-Reading: Please prepare for this session by placing one complete layer of cling film around a carrot (one is fine but two or three carrots, prepared in the same way, will be helpful). These will be your bones.  We will use these to explore the impact of various forces and the challenges of restoring the carrots to their previous shape.

The IT Setup: The event will be run on Bluejeans (similar to Zoom) and students can engage using their microphones to talk directly to Stan, or use the chat facility if preferred. Participants are able to join using laptops, tablets, and mobile devices.

Booking a Place: This is free for schools and colleges. If you would like to take part in this event, please register your interest by clicking on the link directly below for the registration form: