Author: Lauren Kealy

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)

This week we are honored to have Louie Puentedura (@AussieLouie) on for the #dptstudent chat to talk about all things ISPI. ISPI is an organization that is at the forefront of pain science, manual therapy and the treatment of the “hard” patients, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, LBP, etc. Louie has traveled all over the world teaching, he is a researcher, writer and an expert in many aspects of physical therapy. Come and join us in our discussion of pain, manual therapy and ISPI.

Blog post written by Zach Duhamel

Women’s and men’s health is a specialty area of physical therapy focusing on issues such as pelvic floor dysfunction and urinary incontinence. With a subject this personal, the PTs who work in this specialty have to be able to communicate effectively and with empathy to their patients. This Wednesday at 9pm EST we will be joined by several PTs who work in women’s and men’s health to learn all about this specialty area of PT. You can find information about the APTA Women’s Health section here.

One of the benefits of being an active member of the APTA includes opportunities to explore the 18 sections and specialties. Acting upon opportunities to gain insight and mentorship from these sections is of vital importance to us now, as students as we are developing and deciding on what type of clinicians we hope to be in the rapidly approaching future. How many of us know what being a member of a section means? What benefits may come from membership and what value does being a member place on our future as a clinician? What resources can these sections provide to its members and what networking and continuing education do they offer? The people that bring you the #DPTstudent chat each week have recognized these frequently asked questions and have gone straight to the source(s)! We are joined this week by active Private Practice Section (@pps_apta) members Jerry Durham (@Jerry_DurhamPT) and Robert Snow (@RobertSnowDPT), who will be offering us insight into benefits of being a member of the Private Practice Section. This will include mentorship opportunities, practice-building resources, networking opportunities etc. Mark your calendars for this Wednesday at 9pm EST, you won’t want to miss it!

Blog post written by TJ Janicky (@TJ_Janicky)

Professional development is an important aspect of both our education as a student and our growth as a professional. In August 2003, Professionalism in Physical Therapy: Core Values was reviewed by the APTA Board of Directors and adopted as a core document on professionalism in physical therapy practice, education, and research. Included in these core values was a definition of “Professional Duty” defined as commitment to meeting one’s obligations to provide effective physical therapy services…to serve the profession and to positively influence the health of society. Indicators of this core value in practice include, promoting the profession of physical therapy, being involved in professional activities beyond the practice setting and in my opinion the most important indicator, taking pride in ones profession.

Joining us this Wednesday at 9pm EST, on the topic of  “Professional Development” is @WebPT co-founder and COO, Heidi Jannenga (@HeidiJannenga). Heidi is a practicing physical therapist as well as huge demonstrator of #PTAdvocacy.

Blog post written by TJ Janicky (@TJ_Janicky)

Let’s face it- there is no way to learn everything possible in PT school. We are taught how to be competent entry level physical therapists. However, I want to be more than just competent so I do some of my own independent learning especially on topics I am interested in or find especially challenging. While free time is tight in PT school (you know we all spend most of our Friday nights in pajamas with our nose in a study guide. I really hope it’s not just me!) I thin it is important to stay up to date with current PT events and expand your knowledge.

What do you think? How do you learn outside of PT school? Let’s talk about it Wednesday night at 9pm EST!

This week we are privileged to have Eric Robertson join the #dptstudent discussion on the upcoming American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy (AAOMPT) Conference and manual therapy as a whole. The AAOMPT is a leader in training and promoting manual therapy in the US for over 20 years. For more on their history check here .

Eric Robertson is a fellow of the AAOMPT as well as a well known national advocate and leader in the field of physical therapy…and owner of this blog! Come join the conversation to learn all about the AAOMPT, manual therapy, fellowships, and a whole lot more.

For more information and to stay up to date with AAOMPT check out their new blog http://blog.aaompt.org/

See you at 9pm EST on Wednesday October 16!

Post written by Zach Duhamel (@zduhammy). Chat will be hosted by Lauren Kealy (@laurenrspt) and TJ Janicky (@TJ_Janicky) 

Therapydia (@therapydia) is an online networking site for patients and PTs alike to find each other. They take physical therapy and put it totally online so that PTs have a greater reach to patients and that patients are able to research their condition, ask a PT and then find a PT in their area.

This Wednesday, Therapydia will be talking with us about how to build your online brand and visibility and how it can help us students find jobs and build referral sources. In this day and age, with the power of social media, it is not uncommon that job connections are made via social media and having a strong online brand BEFORE trying to find a job could making landing that dream job a bit easier. Join us on Wednesday, Oct 9th at pm EST for what is sure to be a fantastic chat!

As students we are emerging from school at a pivotal point in health care. We are walking into some big changes that will have profound effects on both our patients and us as physical therapists. So what should we expect? According to the Kaiser health tracking poll in September of 2013, 51% of the population felt they did not have enough information about the law to understand how it will impact their families. Our patients will be asking us the big questions about these confusing health care changes, which is why we should be preparing now! Questions we as PT students should be asking are: how will the health care reform improve the health care system? What types of coverage and benefits can we expect for our patients? Finally, how will health care reform impact my practice and ability to provide quality care?

Join us at 9 p.m. EST , as we are joined by Dr. Kathy Mairella (@kathymairella), covering the topic of health care reform. Dr. Mairella currently serves as Director on the APTA BoD. Dr. Mairella is a full-time faculty member at Rutgers University where she teaches Health Care Delivery Systems as well as Professional Development. Finally, Dr. Mairella was the former President of the NJ chapter of the APTA.

Blog post written by TJ Janicky (@TJ_Janicky)