The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), Alexandria, VA, announced in an April 30 press release that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has signed HB 1034, granting Hoosiers direct access to evaluation and treatment by a physical therapist without a physician referral. Ensuring a patient's choice of which healthcare professional ...

A big year is in the making. I've successfully completed training to become a Guardian Ad Litem. The next step is to wait for a case to be assigned to me. Quite often, friends and family question me about how I'll manage the guardianship of a minor or minors while completing my doctorate. Quite honestly, I'm not sure. What I do realize is that all ...

As part of a very in-depth project for our ''Leadership and Professional Development'' course, I'm in charge of justifying the purchase of an electronic health record (EHR) for our theoretical outpatient private practice. I've been spending a lot of time researching the benefits, processes and considerations for EHR implementation, and I'm ...

The first week at a different rehabilitation center has proven to catch me off guard, by giving me much to think about while I attempt to absorb the complexity of the entire situation. As the first manager of a busy rehabilitation center, I'm attempting to embrace the process of workflow that's in place. This includes trying to keep our patients ...

I spent the better half of yesterday trying to organize the notes and lecture materials I've accumulated since starting PT school. I'm amazed by a lot of things, mostly the amount of knowledge that has been imparted upon us in such a short period of time, but equally by how much I have managed to forget. I filled 13 three-inch binders to their ...

Completing the fall semester early led me to believe that my first week would be relaxed and quiet. Unfortunately, this was not the case. As the senior physical therapist in a busy outpatient department, I'm expected to mentor, counsel and discipline employees (although I've been lucky so far in that discipline has never been necessary). This week ...

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. ...

As a therapist and candidate for a doctorate in physical therapy, I have several opportunities to speak up and make a statement for the patients we treat on a daily basis. Over the past year and a half, I've learned it is in our scope of practice to make the determination if a physician's orders are appropriate or justified for our patients. Just ...

I guess my initiation as a PT student is finally complete -- today was the first time a patient refused to work with me after I informed him that I was a student. In a way, I'm surprised it's taken a year and a half for that to happen. At the same time, it was completely unexpected and I'm sure my facial expression didn't hide my surprise. This ...

This third and final class of the semester, ''Direct Access,'' has taken more time than I expected, as I realize there are more than 20 articles I need to read and take quizzes on, as well as listen to the lectures that coincide. This is proving to be one of the more challenging classes for me, not only for the volume of content, but also because ...