Blogs are the new weapon to fight terrorism.

Thought it was interesting that even the military is looking at bloggers.  Hopefully there won't be a blog draft.  Then again, I could use the money to pay off my school loans.  

Response to "Emergency or Opportunity?"

I recently wrote a piece, "Emergency or Opportunity?", that highlighted the current HB 1055 bill that is making its way through Georgia's Senate.  I have just started this blog, so I did not expect many readers to see my post.  I was shocked and very humbled, however, when Paul Higgs, President of the Georgia Athletic Trainer's Assoc, provided an in-depth response to my posting.  

Being relatively new to athletic training (I only graduated and passed my licensure exam this past May) and even newer to the field of physical therapy, I greatly appreciated the time Mr. Higgs took to respond to my post.  It was a great learning experience for me, and I hope it will be enlightening for you as well.  

School Owned PT Clinics?

I am 3 months away from my first clinical education experience as a student PT, but worry and doubt has already set in for my class. One of the biggest worries my class has is they do not feel prepared to go out into the clinic. Again, I have not experienced the current clinical education model, so I am hesitant to comment. I do, however, have experience with another type of education model that I found to be very beneficial. This experience comes from undergrad where I majored in Athletic Training. During this program, I had class from 8-12 everyday, and then I went to the sport I had been assigned to that semester and worked with a staff athletic trainer from 1 until whenever the practice or game was over. It was a lot of time and work, but I loved this model because everyday I could take what I learned in lecture that morning and apply that learning to a real patient. Tulsa Community College is working on using this type of model for their Physical Therapist Assistant program, in addition to the more traditional model of sending students out to various clinics. Suzanne Reese, the professor at TCC behind this idea, feels a professor and student run clinic, " would create a learning environment students couldn't get anywhere else: students and professors working together to treat patients."  Nothing against community colleges, but if they can figure out how to provide the best learning environments for their developing professionals, shouldn't our major PT schools be able to do the same?  It would take some work, but I'm sure students would be willing to help out if it means better facilitation of their learning.

And people think PT is expensive

Direct access for PTs is being pushed heavily by the APTA.  Direct access will not only benefit physical therapy as a profession, it will benefit the consumer.  Don't believe me? Read this experience Rich Karlgaard (scroll about halfway down) had trying to get his son to a physical therapist.  Rich states, "Peter's problem was clear enough to my wife and me... An old flag-football knee injury had hung around too long, which led to muscle atrophy on the injured side. What Peter needed was physical therapy and strength training to build up his weak side."  Too bad it took 3 "specialists" and 2 MRIs (at over $14,000) before Peter could see a PT.   I understand the doctors wanted to be thorough, as muscle atrophy that extensive in an 11 year old is odd, but a physical therapist performing a thorough physical exam could have saved the family both time and money.  Insurance companies take note.  

Emergency or Opportunity?

In the past 24hrs I have received 3 emails concerning GA HB 1055, and the need for me as a PTAG member to take action in stopping this bill from passing.  This bill removes any trace of a connection of the scope of practice of athletic trainers to athletes, making a general statement about participation in exercises or activities, and particularly adding the words, "without respect to where or how the injury occurs."  The problem is, I am a certified athletic trainer as well as a student physical therapist, so part of me is glad that athletic trainers are winning in the fight to improve their marketability as professionals skilled in orthopedic rehabilitation.  I can see, however, the concern from physical therapists that athletic trainers are infringing on PT's scope of practice.  I feel though, that the passage of this bill could be advantageous to both parties if a little reason is used.

Obviously the advantage for certified athletic trainers (ATC) is the ability to treat patients other than athletes and possibly receive 3rd party reimbursement for their services.  This opens a lot of doors for ATCs in outpatient orthopedic clinics.  Believe it or not, this isn't bad for physical therapists, and here are several reasons why.  First of all, ATC own clinics are not going to spring up because of this bill.  Third party reimbursement is still shaky, so oversight by a doctor or (gasp) a PT is most likely needed.  This brings me to my second point.  The goal of APTA's Vision 20/20, as I understand it, is to push physical therapist to autonomous practice with direct access for the general public.  When this happens, as I feel it will, ATCs will be a great asset to the physical therapist.  From 2003 survey results, the average salary for an ATC in a outpatient PT clinic was $40,000.  This is similar to physical therapy assistants, but ATCs can offer much more than PTAs.  For starters, ATCs do not need to have as much PT oversight, as do PTAs.  The biggest advantage, however, is the ability for ATCs to be contracted out to local high schools, community events, etc. for medical coverage.  This not only generates additional revenue for the clinic, it gets the clinic's name out to the public, which will be important for physical therapists when they are an autonomous profession.

Therefore, it is my opinion that PTAG and the APTA should stop and think before urging everyone to cry "foul" towards their congressman.  A little competition can be a good thing, and in the end generally benefits the consumer, which should be our focus anyways.

Can a fruit change PT?

Next time you see a doctor, check their hip.  Most likely you will see a smartphone clipped to their side.  For the medical world, a smartphone is much more than a status symbol, but a powerful tool that helps them check drug interactions, look up billing codes, and even help make a diagnosis.  So far physical therapists have been reluctant it seems to embrace some technologies, but a recent article highlighting the release of the Apple iPhone's SDK and its potential for the development of applications aiding the medical field got me thinking about the possibilities for physical therapists.  How cool would it be to have pictures and descriptions of special tests, exercises, or even anatomy at your fingertips?  I'm just a student, so I would love anything that could make the diagnosis and treatment of my future patients easier.  What's your opinion?

Med Con Practical Demo

Well this might give away my PT institution, but graduation is overrated anyways, right? Here's a link to the video I promised. You can download it from there.  Let me know if anybody has any trouble.

Hello Blogging World

K, so this should be fun. This is my first attempt at blogging, so I apologize if I violate any codes of blogging.  Feel free to let me in on these codes as I break them, and I'll try not to do it again. I must warn you that I'm a "pot stirrer," but I'll try to keep my opinions within reason.  I was given good advice to "stir the pot in both directions to keep it from boiling over" (Thanks Eric), so I'll try and stay balanced.  I'm currently a student PT at an institution that will be left unnamed (I would like to graduate one day), so most of my posts will deal with physical therapy. I'll add some additional flavor here and there though. Feel free to comment.