Registration for the final two courses has taken place. Mental, physical and emotional preparation is next on my agenda. Although I have a pretty good idea about what my case report will be, I often question myself and my ability to develop a doctoral-level document capable of being published. The exhaustive literature search has been literally ...

The American Physical Therapy Association, Alexandria, VA, put out a press release yesterday detailing the role that therapy professionals and students played in helping victims of the tragic bombing at the Boston Marathon. The release stated: ''A team of 70 members of APTA's Massachusetts Chapter, stationed at the Boston Marathon finish line on ...

This morning there was a patient on the floor so the request went out for lifting help. Four people responded, including me, a PTA, a male CNA and the patient's nurse. The patient was a big man, weak and in a narrow space so it wasn't going to be easy. As we were positioning ourselves to lift him the nurse stepped away. She said she didn't lift ...

By now, many people have heard about New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's attempt to combat obesity by limiting the size of soft drinks containing sugar. There has been both an aggressive ad campaign and a new ban on beverages over 16 ounces. He has quite a few professional voices backing these decisions. Today, though, a state Supreme ...

Recently I took on another challenge, writing a CEU module. When I agreed to do it, I thought no problem. This is what I teach. I already have an outline and references. I can just fill in the words. After I started writing, I realized something. When I teach, I have lots of material to cover so spend little time on any one thing. The CEU module ...

Day in and day out, more than a few patients have taken a life-threatening event and turned it into a life-changing experience. Many have admitted there is some reason that they're still alive and have taken the opportunity to experience what they were meant to accomplish, whether permanently wounded physically or not. As physical therapists, we ...

A while ago, a patient came into the facility and we were given two weeks to make the patient stronger and safer to go home. The two weeks was what the patient's insurance company authorized. Research shows that a person will need to increase caloric intake and lift heavier weights with shorter repetitions to increase strength. The person should ...

A therapist's gym is a multipurpose room not only for the staff but also patients. For the staff, it's used for in-services, luncheons and meetings. For the patients we see, the gym is used for exercises to get stronger, a place to encourage and become encouraged by others, and a safe place to express frustrations. Often when I'm with patients ...

One thing is true in the field of rehabilitation: Change is constant. This has never been more true than at the present time. Within the past year, there have been staffing shortages followed by staffing surplus; needed equipment, but not enough room; along with insurance changes that are limiting patients' ability to obtain necessary help. ...

I often find myself dreaming about the future. I plan, too. I think about the best scenarios for accomplishing certain tasks but also allowing time for other things. My brain is wired to look at situations and try to uncover the best possible ''solution.'' I put ''solution'' in quotations because often times there isn't a problem but instead an ...