Author: Lauren Kealy

After an intense, three year, non-stop DPT program we are prepared to play the role of physical therapist in almost any setting. After graduation many of us may feel so elated to finally have a Friday night that does not involve studying that we may not jump right into studying for additional certifications. However, this article on Monster.com says that PTs with specialized certifications are more desirable and are the first to get hired. Do you think that holds true for new grads? Do you think the more letters you have after your name the better (even if the patient has no idea what they mean)? Or do you think that becoming so specialized with certifications backs you into a tight corner and you are no longer able to be seen as a general physical therapist? Do you plan to obtain any extra certifications in school or closely following graduation? Let’s talk about it on Wednesday, April 3rd at 9pm EST! See ya on Twitter!

CHAT UPDATE

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Last week when I received the statement telling me the current amount of my student loans, I could have cried. To think that number will be double by the time I graduate with my DPT puts a serious pit in my stomach.

According to CNN, the average debt from undergrad is $27,000. According to the APTA the average cost of a 3 year DPT program (obviously this varies by public vs private school and other factors) is $86,204. That is a whopping $113,204 in student loans.

In the early 2000s the push was made for PT programs to be 3 year doctorate programs. With this came an increase in tuition cost, but no increase in salary. Is there anything we can do about it? Do we just have to suck it up and pay back student loans for the majority of our lives if we want to be physical therapists? Does the passion for the profession out weigh the cost? I have to admit that I almost didn’t leave my job as an accountant because of the cost of the DPT program.

What are your thoughts? Let’s talk about it this Wednesday at 9pm EST!

Tell us what you think about #DPTstudent, here

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If there’s one thing we all spend time learning about it’s low back pain. Physical therapists are highly skilled in the management of low back pain overall. However, individual physical therapists attack the treatment of low back pain with a stunning variety of approaches. From Treatment-based Classification, to McKenzie’s Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy, to SIJ, to Movement System Impairment, it sometimes seems like there’s as many systems as there is schools of physical therapy. This week’s topic will discuss treatment variation in low back pain.

While physical therapy offers a wide range of approaches to managing low back pain, it is worth considering complementary options that can potentially enhance the effectiveness of treatment. As individuals seek comprehensive solutions for low back pain, exploring natural alternatives like Kratom can provide additional avenues for relief. With a commitment to providing high-quality Kratom products, Kratom Earth Canada offers a trusted source for those looking to supplement their treatment regimen with a natural botanical option. By embracing a holistic approach that combines physical therapy with complementary alternatives such as Kratom, individuals may find a more comprehensive and personalized approach to managing their low back pain.

What form of treatment rationale did you learn/are learning in your program? Have you struggled on clinicals to integrate what you learned in school to a particular approach seen in the clinic? What are the positives and negatives of this variation? Let’s talk about it! Tune in at 9pm EST this Wednesday, March 20th for the next #DPTstudent tweetchat!

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Mentioned Readings

http://www.somasimple.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14868

http://www.craigliebenson.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sdarticle.pdf

The first PT clinic I ever experienced as a patient utilized PTAs to the max. In fact, I think I only saw the PT for 10 minutes at most each visit. The next PT clinic where I was a patient did not have PTAs at all because the clinic owner wanted the physical therapists to spend the maximum amount of time with each patient. I received great care at both clinics.

What are your thoughts on the relationship between PTAs and PTs? How much time should a PT spend with their patient versus the PTA? Do you think patients understand the difference between the PT and PTA? What are the big differences in what we do?

And lastly, let’s about the article that appeared in the December 2012/ January 2013 edition of Pt in Motion titled “The Joint Manipulation Debate” that discusses the APTA policy that only PTs can perform join manipulations.

Talk to you tomorrow evening at 9pm EST!

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Physician owned physical therapy services and referral for profit can be added to the laundry list of items that physical therapists are standing against. What is a POPTS? The name pretty much sums it up- it is a clinic which offers PT services that is owned by a physician. This means the physician gets a kick back of the profit for patients referred to the physical therapist.

I read about the bill and the legislation behind it, I read the cons that the APTA stated about POPTS, but it was not until I read Joe Black’s post on POPTS that I truly realized what it was, the impacts it had on PTs and patients. It was then that I also realized that in 2009 I was one of those patients getting mediocre care at a POPTS clinic. I took a pretty nasty fall why skiing, tearing my ACL, MCL, and medial and lateral meniscus. I went to the best Orthopedic surgeon that the DC area had to offer. After surgery he referred me to “his” PT clinic saying that I would get the best care there because “his” physical therapists know the ins and outs of the surgery I just had. I did not argue because I did not know any better. After 2 weeks of seeing a PT that asked me every time I saw her what my injury was, I decided to find attorney for birth injuries claims to help me financially for what I am about to do next. I went to small independently owned clinic and worked with the PT who pushed me beyond my limits, had me running in a few weeks, and came to cheer me on at the finish line of my first 10k. She is the reason why I became a triathlete, quit my job in accounting and am pursuing a career in PT but that is a different story for a different day.

Now looking back on it I also realize that the POPTS clinic charged me $25 each visit where as the independently owned clinic did not charge me anything because she told me my insurance covered it in full. Darn, I wish I would have not been so uninformed back then!

To play devil’s advocate- do you ever think a POPTS clinic model could be a wise investment for both the physician, the physical therapist AND the patient? Let’s talk about it!

For your reading pleasure here are several great reads on the topic:

Stop POPTS
Term and Title Protection for Physical Therapist and Physical Therapy
AB783 and the California Campaign to Stop POPTS
POPTS in California. The Anti POPTS Movement Goes Web 2.0
POPTS and Referral for Profit
APTA and POPTS-II

Talk to you Wednesday, March 6 at 9pm EST!

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The other day this article was making its way around Twitter. It discusses the importance (or lack thereof) of performing a history and full physical exam on a patient.

While this article is not about PT specifically, it got me thinking. I am spending a great deal of time learning how to perform a PT exam- I even have a class this semester titled “Physical Therapy Examination”. Yet, I know that some PTs do not perform a comprehensive exam and even fewer take vital signs during a visit. There is a ton of valuable information that can be learned through vital signs and a full evaluation. What do you think about this? How do we balance efficiency while still being thorough and treating the whole person? Is a full evaluation necessary or a waste of precious time?

Let’s talk about it!

Current PTs are welcomed and encouraged to join in on this chat! All of us students would love your input!

 Chat Summary

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This chat also included a great list of recommended readings.

Maitland’s Vertebral Manipulation, 7th ed: http://t.co/tPQHxzanTm

• Eric Robertson (@EricRobertson): “Also the Maitland texts have an excellent chapter on communication.”
• Jerry Durham (@Jerry_DurhamPT): “Directed towards Maitland book which was very helpful”
• Kyle Ridgeway (@Dr_Ridge_DPT)- “Read the Maitland Subjective Exam Chap about 1x every 4 months w/ experience it will make more sense”

 

Checklist Manifesto by @Atul_Gawande

• Kyle Ridgeway (@Dr_Ridge_DPT) – “all #DPTStudent should read Checklist Manifesto by @Atul_Gawande #PTScience”

 

Reading list by @mikereinoldblog

• Mark Kev SPT(@markymarkkev) – “@mikereinoldblog has a good reading list”

 

Illness Narratives by Arthur Kleinman

• Kyle Ridgeway (@Dr_Ridge_DPT)– “All PTs should read the book Illness Narratives by Arthur Kleinman For us the subjective is VITAL”

 

 

Physical Therapy as a profession continues to push towards direct access, which allows patients to come to us first in hopes that we can diagnose and either treat them or refer them to the correct medical professional. However, are we able to fully understand the injury and the best path of treatment without seeing an x-ray or MRI? Should we as PTs have privileges to write scripts for MRIs and x-rays?

If PTs are given radiology privileges, are we educated enough to correctly interpret the results? Would DPT programs have to add more classes on radiology?

I can see the pros and cons of both sides so let’s talk about on Wednesday at 9pm EST!

CHAT UPDATE

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Last week, when we discussed the new proposed APTA vision we discussed several of the vision elements included within it. We briefly touched on interprofessional education and collaboration. The element of collaboration is written as follows in the new vision statement:

Collaboration: The physical therapy profession will demonstrate the value of collaboration with other health care providers, consumers, community organizations, and other disciplines to solve the health‐related challenges that society faces. Education models will value and foster interprofessional approaches to best meet consumer and population needs and instill team values in physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. In clinical practice, physical therapists, who collaborate across the continuum of care, will ensure that services are coordinated, of value, and consumer centered by referring, co‐managing, engaging consultants, and directing and supervising care. Interprofessional research approaches will ensure that evidence translates to practice and is consumer‐centered.

Are we as students given enough of an opportunity to learn about other health professions in order to foster great interprofessional collaboration once we are out in the working world? Do you think it is important that we learn the basics of what other practitioners do as well as educate them on our role as physical therapists? Let’s talk about it!

 CHAT UPDATE

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Since 2000 the APTA has been making strides towards Vision 2020, a vision which outlined goals for the profession of physical therapy to reach by the year 2020. These goals included care that was provided by doctors of physical therapy, direct access to physical therapy by consumers and more.

In 2012 the APTA has created a vision that goes beyond Vision 2020. You can read more about it here. While this new vision includes aspects of advocacy, access and equality, innovation, value, collaberation and other strong points, the controversy lies in the first line of the proposed vision which states that “The physical therapy profession will transform society by optimizing movement for all people of all
ages to improve the human experience.”

Some argue that the words “transform society” is too strong. Others argue that those words are exactly what we need as a profession to get our point across. What do you think? Let’s talk about it!

Here is a great video of Bill McGehee, chair of the APTA Vision Task Force, discussing the updated APTA vision.

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By the time we have the letters DPT after our name we will all have gone through four years of undergraduate education plus three years of graduate level education that is PT specific. That is 7 years of higher education but is that enough to be able to call ourselves Doctor? Especially when our undergraduate degree did not have to be in pre physical therapy, biomechanics or exersice science (Mine is in accounting and statistics!).

I want to discuss this as it was a side topic from last weeks chat in which people felt very strongly one way or the other.

Should only PhDs or MDs be able to be called Doctor? Will you introduce yourself as “Hi, I’m Dr. (insert name here), I’ll be your physical therapist” or will you leave out the word doctor all together? With many professions now offering entry level doctorate degrees, does the word doctor have less meaning?

Think about it and then let’s talk about it on January 30th at 9pm EST!

Remember, there are going to be many opinions on this so let’s agree to disagree respectfully!

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