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ADVANCE for Physical Therapy & Rehab Medicine is thrilled to welcome you to PT Talk: Blog Community from ADVANCE! Our blog community offers interactive blogs written by PT professionals and our editorial staff. We look forward to hearing more about the rehabilitation field from your point of view. Blogs will discuss issues related to the field, current events and other fun & candid observations. We have provided a comment section so you can voice your opinions and submit feedback. Happy blogging!
LATEST POSTS FROM EACH BLOG
November 19, 2009 10:04 AM by Veronica Haywood of A Day in the Life of a PT Student

This week I learned that solitude and silence can be very relaxing. Two tests, three papers due within the next one to two weeks, taking my NATABOC, meetings, work, massage-a-thon, family issues, my purse being lost/stolen along with keys, vital medications, paychecks that were to be cashed that day, etc., irritation with peers' lack of contributions during group projects, etc. has all made me stressed this week! ...


 
November 19, 2009 7:22 AM by Lisa West of Life with a New PT Grad

A friend of mine is an MD, and he often does other work using his MD education as a basis for other jobs.  He serves as an "expert opinion" in some court trials, does consultation work for medicine companies, and teaches lectures occasionally.  Although he isn't practicing medicine, he indirectly uses that background in other career opportunities.

The physical demands of a PT job can be strenuous depending ...


2 comments  
November 18, 2009 8:02 AM by Toni Patt of Toni Talks about PT Today

Last weekend I finally got the chance to attend an NDT course.   Even though some of the material was basic, it pulled things together for me.  For the first time I feel like I might have a chance at passing the NCS exam in a year or two. Listening to the lectures made me realize how much of what we do goes back to NDT.  I'd heard many of the things ...


2 comments  
November 18, 2009 7:50 AM by Dean Metz of A New York PT in Queen Elizabeth’s Court

What a week it has been! I started working with my new employer, the National Health Service of Great Britain on Monday. On day one it was a pleasant enough general "Hello there" meet-and-greet sort of thing. The staff was fascinated to meet a physio from the U.S.A. They all were inquiring about our health system with things like, "Is it true that you get turned away from the hospital if you don't have insurance?" "I've ...

 
November 18, 2009 7:47 AM by Janey Goude of The Busy PT's Guide to Finding Balance

Be careful what you wish for.  It is so easy to see greener grass on the other side.  Often we don't take time to think through the ramifications of our decisions.

My seven-year old, Abigail, announced, "I wish our family only had five people."  We currently have six, so I was curious who had offended her most grievously.  Turns out she wanted to oust herself!  She wanted our family ...


1 comments  
November 18, 2009 7:45 AM by Jason Marketti of PTA Blog Talk

I spoke with Emily Lopez Neumann, an an immigration attorney at Reddy & Neumann, P.C., Houston, TX, about the immigration process for PTs recently.  What follows is a Q&A of our discussion.

Question: Are you seeing a change in the way immigration handles the PTs since the Doctorate of PT is becoming the norm?

Answer: I have actually found that the immigration ...


 

The deadline to be featured in our 2010 print Buyers' Guide is fast approaching. Visit our home page, click on "Annual Buyers' Guide" and sign up for your FREE listing by this Friday, November 20th. The annual Buyers' Guide, which appears online and in the December 28th print issue, is a comprehensive guide to equipment and services used in physical therapy and rehabilitation, and provides ...


 
November 12, 2009 8:17 AM by Lisa West of Life with a New PT Grad

Last Sunday was my first experience of working during a Packers game. The other times I have worked on Sundays, the Packers have played at 3:00 p.m. By 3:00, I'm nearly done with my schedule and only have one or two patients left to see. With a noon game, however, there are over three hours of my workday when patients prefer to watch the game. 

Three patients refused therapy sessions ...


3 comments  
November 12, 2009 8:14 AM by Veronica Haywood of A Day in the Life of a PT Student

So many times we hear people discussing whether someone is reaching their full potential. It not only applies in rehabilitation, but in life in general. But what does it truly mean?

Is a person's full potential measured based on how others perceive them, or how they perceive themselves? Is it our own dreams, aspirations and goals that require the boost from someone else to tell us our potential, or strictly ...


3 comments  
November 12, 2009 8:10 AM by Toni Patt of Toni Talks about PT Today

Last week something was said during rounds that I'm still angry about.  We were discussing a new admission.  Since my case load was low, I asked if I needed to see the patient.  In response, I was told the patient had been given to the young, pretty therapist because that was who he'd asked for.  That statement is wrong.  It's not just wrong, it's wrong in many different ways.  I'm not referring ...

3 comments  
November 11, 2009 10:46 AM by Dean Metz of A New York PT in Queen Elizabeth’s Court

I've been out of work now for 2 months. I've accepted an offer of employment nearly 7 weeks ago, but the necessary bureaucratic steps needed to be taken so that I could work here in the UK. The good news is that all the papers are in order and I have a start date of November 9! I'm very excited to get working again.

I'm sure my spouse, friends and family are also happy that I'll be working again.

I don't ...


1 comments  
November 11, 2009 10:39 AM by Janey Goude of The Busy PT's Guide to Finding Balance

Your Life is an Occasion - Rise to It!

--Dustin Hoffman as Mr. Edward Magorium in Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

If you haven't seen "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium," you are missing a gem.  I love this movie.  In so many ways, it embodies what this blog is all about:  living life.  To live life well, we have to live it balanced.  ...


1 comments  
November 11, 2009 10:36 AM by Jason Marketti of PTA Blog Talk

Based in Ann Arbor, MI, The Legacies Project archives self selected memories from the elderly population and categorizes it into videotaped histories. 

It began as Jimmy Rhoades recounts a personal experience. 

"My dad was diagnosed with cancer and we were told he had six months to a year to live.  I was in my 20s and still hadn't formed a real adult relationship with my dad, so it was now ...


 
November 9, 2009 5:29 PM by Rebecca Mayer of ADVANCE Perspective: Physical Therapy

The health care reform legislation that was approved by the House of Representatives on Saturday has attached high hopes to a very large price tag-the bill would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years and reduce the federal deficit by $104 billion.

Senator Joe Lieberman, an Independent Democrat from Connecticut, was quoted as saying, "I believe the debt can break America and send us into a recession that's worse ...


1 comments  
November 5, 2009 10:30 AM by Veronica Haywood of A Day in the Life of a PT Student

Our career fair is coming up tomorrow and I cannot wait. The day is sure to be a very exciting and stressful one. So far I have completed my resume and had professors as well as the career services center at Marquette look over it. Well that was the first step...after going to buy a business suit!

The hard part came along when I was trying to narrow down the employers that I intend to visit. There are over 60 representatives ...


1 comments  
November 5, 2009 10:19 AM by Lisa West of Life with a New PT Grad

Well, I hate to jump on the media wagon with more commentary about the H1N1 flu virus, but I'm wondering how other health care systems are tackling this nation-wide problem. 

I got the H1N1 flu shot today at work, but many of my coworkers are declining to have a flu shot.  Mostly, they haven't gotten the flu in previous seasons and don't feel any increased risk with the H1N1.  Some are afraid of needles.  ...


1 comments  
November 4, 2009 9:39 AM by Jason Marketti of PTA Blog Talk

The debate continues for America on whether to legalize this.  Pros and cons have been heard on both sides and still it is unsolved for the majority of us.

Let's take a look at other "controversial" pain therapies.  

Craniosacral Therapy (CST). Some have said has little scientific support, yet physical therapists continue to use this treatment. It has also been listed as an alternative ...


2 comments  
November 4, 2009 9:30 AM by Janey Goude of The Busy PT's Guide to Finding Balance

 

Are you trying to perform tasks but find you consistently come up short? Maybe you are working outside of your skill set. 

As I watch a squirrel, his tiny cheeks chock full of nuts, I marvel at how easily he can crack open the shells.  This feat is made all the more impressive because of his diminutive size. My relative giant-like stature and comparatively inferior nut-cracking ...


2 comments  
November 4, 2009 9:28 AM by Dean Metz of A New York PT in Queen Elizabeth’s Court

The London Times published an article today about the hopeful next Prime Minister, David Cameron, and his plan to overhaul the National Health Service. There has been outcry at mismanagement in the system and frustration by the public at the apparent lack of attention to timely and quality care. As I mentioned ...

2 comments  
November 4, 2009 9:19 AM by Toni Patt of Toni Talks about PT Today

This morning while doing the schedule board, we started talking about what type of patients each of us prefers to treat.  It started when one of the PTAs asked to change one of her patients. She explained the patient in question was a back patient and she couldn't work with that type of patient.  I had a similar request for a patient I had evaluated over the weekend.  I asked she be given to a different ...

2 comments  
November 2, 2009 11:48 AM by Lisa Lombardo of ADVANCE Perspective: Physical Therapy

Arguably, the best changes are ones that are subtle but make a big impact. To that end I would like to welcome our readers to ADVANCE for Physical Therapy and Rehab Medicine, a new and improved version of the national physical therapy newsmagazine that serves your profession.

We're expanding our focus in ADVANCE to include more coverage of practice management, sports medicine, modalities, equipment ...


 
October 29, 2009 1:39 PM by Veronica Haywood of A Day in the Life of a PT Student

Senior Farewell and Massage-A-Thon are well on their way, and I can't wait! I am especially excited for Senior Farewell. It is the one opportunity that we get to make fun of all of our previous professors. This year however, our professors are apparently aiming to fight back with a rebuttal...This should be interesting.

I think that it is very important for people to laugh.  More importantly, it is important ...


 
October 28, 2009 8:48 AM by Jason Marketti of PTA Blog Talk

Like buying fine foods by number we should offer a therapy menu for those who are undecided what will take care of their aches and pains. It would look something like this:

JASON'S THERAPY

#1  Massage...........................$XX.00 (For first 15 minutes. $X.00 for each additional minute.)

#2 T.E.N.S............................$XX.00

#3 ...


5 comments  
October 28, 2009 8:41 AM by Janey Goude of The Busy PT's Guide to Finding Balance

We lived in West Palm Beach, Florida. You'd think we would have been in heaven.  The sun, the sand, the glitz. But our experience was far from heavenly.  While I finished out the remaining six weeks of a contract assignment, my husband moved down to get us settled. He says if he'd have known then what he knows now, he would have packed his car and headed back to Ohio time he got there.  Go figure, ...

3 comments  
October 28, 2009 8:39 AM by Dean Metz of A New York PT in Queen Elizabeth’s Court

One aspect of moving to the UK, which I didn't think about, was all the differences in the prescribed and over-the-counter drugs. I'm currently battling a nasty cold. I would normally take Tylenol and Claritin for daytime relief and Nyquil for getting a good night's sleep in New York.

Those products don't exist here.

I have an anaphylactic reaction to anything containing aspirin so I have to read labels ...


 

ABOUT OUR BLOGS

The ADVANCE for Physical Therapy and Rehab Medicine editorial staff will discuss issues in the PT profession, current events in health care and offer their opinions and insights.

Toni will be talking about the PT world as she sees it with 20+ years of experience as well as a student new to the world of post-professional education. She welcomes comments and responses. Anything is fair game!

With a husband, four children and a dog, Janey Goude finds maintaining balance is as essential as it can be elusive. Join us as we share strategies that make life a better, balanced place.

With 12 years of PTA experience behind him, Jason Marketti is still learning and growing every day. He invites you to join him on his journey through the therapy profession and as a husband and father of three children.

I am a current Marquette University physical therapy student from Chicago, IL. I recently completed my coursework to receive a Bachelors of Science degree in Athletic Training along with completing my first year of coursework for a degree as a Doctor of Physical Therapy.

I am a physical therapy student from Marquette University.

I am a staff development specialist for the Visiting Nurse Service of NY soon to be unemployed and looking for PT work in the United Kingdom.