PT 2008 'Kicks it Up' at the Opening Ceremony
SAN ANTONIO—PT 2008 kicked the conference off right last night with a stimulating opening ceremony. APTA President R. Scott Ward, PT, PhD, welcomed the overflowing audience of PTs to San Antonio. He had nothing but praise for the 7
th largest city in the country, a city that, in his words, exudes "world-class cuisine, offers opportunities for fun and adventure, and captures the spirit of Texas while keeping its old-world charm."
"When you're not in sessions--and we won't tell anyone--stroll along the Riverwalk and see all this city has to offer," he encouraged the audience.
Dr. Ward noted there are more than 350 speakers at this conference who represent seven countries. He thanked everyone involved and recognized the newly elected officers (a new treasurer, speaker of the house and directors) of the APTA.
Next to speak was the president of the Texas Physical Therapy Association, Carolyn Oddo, PT. "While you're hear, you will experience typical Texas weather. The moisture you feel while walking the Riverwalk isn't a hot spring shower--but Texas humidity," she joked. "We survive by drinking cold beverages--like margaritas."
She persuaded the audience to visit the Alamo, "which is almost a requirement for Texas citizenship," she said.
President Ward took the stage again to speak about the advantages and challenges to the profession of physical therapy and the work of the Association. He noted the common goal of PTs and PTAs alike is to make lives better for patients. "It's a goal we can--and should--be proud of." He told the audience that the public already recognizes that fact.
"When I tell people I'm a PT, they react favorably. I've never been asked, ‘What is a PT?'" Instead, he relayed, one of two things usually happens: the person expresses their desire for an on-site consult ("I'm sure you're familiar with these encounters, which I call ‘Thanksgiving Day clinics,'" he said), or they ask where he practices and are genuinely interested to find out.
"We tend to think the public doesn't know what we do," but they do, he said. "We are overly humble. Never forget what you do-and never forget to make it clear to others who you are."
He encouraged the audience to view challenges as opportunities not only for the PT profession, but for the patients you are fortunate to serve.
Perhaps the most riveting of all the speakers at the ceremony was the last to talk to the audience. This year's keynote speaker was Lee Woodruff, author, freelance writer, contributing editor of ABC's "Good Morning America"--and wife to Bob Woodruff, the ABC journalist reporting in Iraq when a roadside bomb hit his convoy on January 29, 2006.
Bob suffered a traumatic brain injury from the 155 cm bomb packed with rocks. He remained in a medically-induced coma for five weeks. After much medical attention and physical therapy, he has healed far beyond doctors' expectations.
When Lee took the stage at the Convention Center Ballroom last night, she was met with a standing ovation and thundering applause, to which she responded, "I think it is no surprise that the physical therapists would be getting up and down during all of this."
Transitioning from Dr. Ward's speech, she told the audience, "I'm not a person who forgets what you do. Your profession has healed my husband and my family and I have the utmost respect. The surgeons and doctors may get all of the attention...but you are the wind beneath all of our wings--and you probably don't always get the credit that you deserve."
If Bob had been reporting in a previous war, it is likely he would not have survived, she said. In Vietnam, there were three injured to one dead. In the current war, there are 12 injured to one dead. Fifteen to 30 percent of the 1.6 million servicemen will come back with some sort of brain injury, she recited. "This war is rewriting what we know about brain injuries."
Bob's miraculous recovery wouldn't have been possible without PTs, OTs and speech therapists, Lee acknowledged. PTs never told her "He won't be able to," or "He can't" or "He shouldn't"--common phrases among doctors, she said. "I heard from you motivation; you were giving me that little bit of hope so I could go to bed that night."
Lee and Bob created the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation which raises money to assist members of the military with cognitive rehabilitation and other health care needs following traumatic brain injury.
"We could not have done it without the love of people like you," she concluded.