Four months of waiting are finally over -- I finally received word about where I'll be for my yearlong clinical. It took every ounce of maturity and focus not to have a breakdown while I was waiting, but I'm happy that I kept myself together because I couldn't be happier about the placement. During the first six months of the rotation I'll be at ...

The following post was written by ADVANCE guest blogger Brian Knutsen, OTR/L, CHT, president of Buzzards Bay Hand Therapy LLC, located in Marion and Lexington, MA. SAN DIEGO -- One of Tuesday's hand rehab sessions, ''Infant Brachial Plexopathy: Nonsurgical and Surgical Management,'' presented by Susan V. Duff, PT, OTR/L, EdD, CHT, Gregory G ...

We recently had to attend the third year's presentations of their performance-improvement projects, the final requirement of the program and what looks like the most frustrating assignment to date. The annual project basically populates an existing database with key information regarding process of care and patient outcome information. From what ...

Yesterday I met with a 37-year-old woman who is recovering from a vertebral artery dissection. Other than being truly amazed by this woman's strength, resiliency, and most of all, her preserved sense of humor, one thought kept entering my mind during our interview for an upcoming cover story for ADVANCE for Physical Therapy & Rehab ...

Last week I interviewed for a part-time job at The Children's Institute here in Pittsburgh. The position is coordinator for an SCI wellness program offered during the evenings in the PT gyms at the institute. I would be supervising the participants who, free of charge, have access to the gym three times per week. They range in age from 13-25 and ...

There is no doubt that concussions are a hot topic in the sporting world these days, from youth competitions all the way to the professional ranks. In fact, ADVANCE just devoted a cover story to the subject in our Sept. 5 issue. The APTA has also been focused on concussion prevention, treatment and legislation. On Sept. 13, the organization ...

I can't believe I only have three days of work left. I have been thinking a lot about the transition from PT aide to PT student, and two changes are really sticking out in my mind. First, I am leaving the working world with an income to become a student with many loans. Second, rather than getting to interact with people and patients all day long, ...

I just returned from a trip to Louisville, KY, where I was lucky enough to spend three days participating in the national summit for the NeuroRecovery Network (NRN). For those who are not familiar with the NRN, it is a network funded by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation that delivers activity-based treatments to spinal-cord-injury patients ...

Can you guess the most dangerous college sport? Football? Nope. Rugby? Nada. Lacrosse? Not even close. The sport with the highest concussion rate is women's ice hockey. Surprised?  According to a study by the University of North Carolina, the concussion rate for NCAA women's hockey is 2.72 per 1,000 hours. The rate for men's ice hockey is ...

Are you reading this post on a laptop? Are you hunched over, shoulders in ears, as you furiously pound away at the keyboard. Or perhaps you're relaxing on your stomach, head and neck bent at an awkward angle. Trust me, you're not alone. At the office, I use a desktop, but at home, I frequently commit posture sins while surfing the Internet on my ...