Last week was a week of firsts. And I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last. I laminated my first socket, built & fit my first solo prosthesis, had my first prosthetic critique, witnessed a photo/video shoot --and survived it all! What a week…

Freedom Innovations turned the Cal State Training Room and front lawn into their studio for a few days last week. They were taking photos and videos of their Plie 2.0 Microprocessor Knee for their website and print material. My friend, Jillian, was asked to be one of their models. Jillian was fit with the new knee and filmed while completing various activities of daily living. I was able to sit ‘on set’ for her last night of filming. It was interesting to see how much work the models have to do: hit marks, walk a certain path (even walk a different path if the director doesn’t like it), look happy, but not too happy, and even improvise dialogue. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see any of the final shots or videos, but it looked amazing from behind the scenes. I told Jillian that if this whole CPO thing doesn’t work out, she’s definitely in the running for America’s Next Top Model!

A few days later, the Training Room was set up like a scene from Project Runway. The ‘runway’ was between a set of parallel bars with seating along each side. Our patient models were prepped, each student presented, and the patient models walked their ‘supermodel walk’ down the catwalk. Well, as best as they could with mostly Static Alignment complete. The whole class was involved in the Dynamic Alignment of each prosthesis. How much did the heel compress at Initial Contact? Is the trunk leaning too much during Midstance? Each phase of gait was analyzed and the prosthesis was adjusted if necessary. The critique was a success! Learning occurred all around, no one failed, and no one cried—student OR patient model.

Next week doesn’t appear to be as busy or filled with as much runway talent. But you never know…