I see many COTAs who enter the profession for the salary. Some may not know what they are getting into; others have done their research and are aware of what the job entails. I definitely know that I was not fully aware of some of the things I would do over my years as a COTA, but that's another story.   Yes the pay is decent as a ...

I've written before about the trend in the UK towards triaging all and treating some patients with musculoskeletal complaints over the telephone. I've been very skeptical of this approach to the problem of access to PT services. By its very definition, we're removing the ''physical'' from physical therapy. A new paper came out last week in ...

I have less than four days to finalize my preparation for what is hopefully my final exam in Pitt's DPT program. I'll admit that I've spent slightly less time than I should have preparing for these, but I think I'll be OK. I've tried to get through as much as possible, but the reality is that it's impossible to review all of the material you've ...

  Working for so many years as a therapist I always knew my side of the bed. You always wonder about many of your patients though, how did they get here, what have they been through, what do they think and expect being on the other side, in the bed?   Over my years I have definitely seen my share of poor care, patients with bed ...

A friend of mine emailed me a link to a 10-minute video from the TED website. I hadn't ever heard of TED talks before, but after I watched the video I read more about the site. The motto of TED is spreading ideas that were founded on technology, entertainment and design. It seems like a really neat site and platform to learn more from ...

Along with all the chaos that accompanies a capstone project, additional pressing issues come to the front lines. Within the past few months, the subject of G-Codes has taken up a majority of time in regard to educating ourselves, clinical and ancillary staff, as well as a busy IT department. In preparation for a mandatory July 1 compliance date, ...

Two weeks from today, the APTA's annual conference & exposition will kick off, making its first-ever appearance in the state of Utah. From June 26-29, PT 2013 is scheduled to convene in beautiful Salt Lake City. The exclusive ADVANCE preview article detailing city attractions and conference highlights can be found here. According to Curtis ...

I was working with an elderly female on transfer safety. After about 20 minutes, she understood the sequencing involved in standing up from a wheelchair. This was important -- she had fallen multiple times because she had forgotten to lock the brakes on the chair. I was satisfied that she was safe and we proceeded with other aspects of mobility. ...

In past posts, I've expressed frustration at volunteering for various opportunities within the APTA and the Neurology Section. A few months ago, I was nominated for a position on the nominating committee for the stroke special interest group. The results arrived today. I wasn't elected. I wasn't surprised. One of the questions nominees were asked ...

  As the number of schools increase that teach the OTA program, are the graduates able to find jobs? One source I follow says no, but others say they are finding job offers. The one common thread I am finding though is some COTAs are completing three or more interviews before landing a job.   I do see changes in Medicare happening, ...