As the dust begins to settle from separating one department into two, this extended break from school allows me to get a grasp on what being a manager really entails in an outpatient rehabilitation facility. From balancing payroll to juggling hours in three disciplines to staying productive, to completing performance appraisals and performing ...

It's hard for me to believe it has been four years since I graduated PT school. I remember working as a student with physical therapists who had been practicing for four or five years and looking at them as a source of information and experience. Now that I'm on the other side of that spectrum, I still feel like I'm learning every day. As the ...

I completed the first full week of my six-month clinical affiliation, and things are off to a tremendous start. This past week, I was assigned two patients of my very own who I'll likely see throughout their course of care on the inpatient rehab unit. It might not sound very monumental; however this is the first time that a patient has been ...

This title from a recent Advance Article caught my attention.  As a golf enthusiast (where my score does not yet reflect my passion for the game!) and with May being Mental Health Awareness Month I found the topic timely and fascinating.   Basically a group of Level 2 fieldwork students at Kean University in Union, NJ developed ...

Amazing what can happen in one week. In a major healthcare system of a large metropolitan area surrounded by water, we've successfully accomplished separating pediatric from adult rehabilitation in preparation for our growth as the Rehabilitation Institute of South Florida. Every day of this mission has started at 5 a.m. with communication with ...

I learned this expression while working in England. It was a way of getting to the core of something, often a product, to determine the original intent and whether it was accomplished. I wonder that about continuing education requirements. Florida has had them (12 hours/year) since I've been practicing (a long time) while New York has only ...

Please don't be fooled by the title of this post. I don't have a good method by which to accomplish this. However after starting my fifth clinical last Wednesday, I've realized that earning the trust of a clinical instructor is a very tricky game requiring a great amount of patience. I just began the first half of my final yearlong clinical ...

Since I've spent a lot of time in the past 18 months making changes in my own career and developing the content of the training and orientation program for new employees at my clinic, the concept of mentors has always been on my mind. Even when I graduated PT school (which seems like an era ago), the common words of wisdom from my professors were, ...

A short break between semesters has proven to come at the best time for me. Today brings with it a major change in my facility, where one department is becoming two. Employees have been preparing for months for this change, with hopes that everything goes smoothly. In a large department where things don't always go smoothly on a regular day, we ...

Are you looking for an opportune time to volunteer overseas? Judging from the number of reports I receive from ADVANCE readers, and from organizations who are continually looking for therapists to join their travel groups, the demand-and desire-for lending a PT hand in parts unknown is growing. Some recent reports: Michael Tabasko, PT, MSPT, ...