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Guest blog by Federica Musumeci, who is studying Veterinary Physiotherapy at Harper Adams, talking about her experiences so far on placement at Woozelbears Canine Hydrotherapy and Dog Grooming

This week I have completed 11 weeks of placement, already a quarter of my way through!

Although time has flown, I have learnt a lot. Not only regarding placement directly, but also about myself, perspectives of the way I view certain things and my path for the future.

Over the past few years at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ, I have met people from different backgrounds, on different courses, and at different points of their journeys at Harper Adams. This included students who had already completed placement, and had some advice prior to starting it myself.

The main piece of advice was to accept that there would be highs and lows.

My experience on placement has definitely included both! Both of which have become a learning experience about myself as a person, discovering my resilience on a day that I found harder than others, as well as understanding more about the profession and employee’s working standards/methods.

It is a privilege to be given the responsibility of handling dogs daily and the ability to communicate and demonstrate my understanding of a dog’s current condition by explaining observations through videos taken, to their owners. Although I am not able to participate practically in the pool or underwater treadmill with patients, I am able to gain experience through observation of these sessions.

It is a massive confidence booster to hear that my observations are correct when asked for my thoughts; the ability to share observations on different cases is very interesting. This has demonstrated to me that it is important to have more than one person observing in a session where possible. The ability to be present to lend a helping hand where needed, whether it is with leading dogs out of the pool or with a bit of cleaning, allows me to feel like I am part of the team.

Other realisations of mine have included wanting to see both aspects of my course - physiotherapy, alongside the hydrotherapy. This has shown me that by taking my own initiative and making time for this extra experience which doesn’t count towards my placement, I can see a wider picture of what happens when different professionals treat the same dogs, and how this impacts their recovery.

This does mean I have less time to wind down and recharge for the next day. However, this other lesson that I learnt was about having boundaries and setting time to focus on myself, to prevent burnout and fatigue. This did not start easy. I faced a few hardships around this time. I have been thriving since creating a routine which works for me, and ways to keep myself positive.

One quarter of placement may not seem like a long way through, but I have certainly come a long way, not only with my knowledge around hydrotherapy at , but also on my personal growth journey. I am grateful for every lesson I have faced, and look forward to sharing the rest of my journey.