Pediatric physical therapy is an area of practice that comes along with many challenges stemming from the complexity and unpredictability of human development. Whether it is in the neonatal intensive care unit or the outpatient physical therapy clinic, pediatric physical therapists treat patients ranging from newborns up to and through young adulthood, who often suffer from musculoskeletal, and neuromuscular disabilities. What we understand as students is that pediatrics is an extremely challenging area of physical therapy, but the outcomes can be extraordinary.
For this weeks #DPTstudent chat we are excited to be joined by pediatric physical therapists Kendra Gagnon (@KendraPedPT), Jason Cook (@JCookPT) and Carina Torres (@CariniPT) who will help us to better understand what it means to be a pediatric physical therapist as well as a member of the APTA section on pediatrics (@APTASoP)!
Blog written by TJ Janicky (@tj_janicky)
My hat goes off to all pediatric physical therapists. I have a good friend that is a Ped’ PT in Mass., and it amazes me the hurtles she clears on a daily basis, from the patient, to schools, to parents, to insurance companies — the growth, development and treatment of the Whole Child.
Again, my hat’s off to all of you that undertake this extremely important challenge!