Dr. Rehab
Los Angeles, CA
Female, 31
I'm a practicing PT with a Doctorate for the past 4 years now. Although it may not seem like a long time, I have gained extensive knowledge and experience in various PT settings. I've worked anywhere from outpatient therapy, home health, aquatic therapy, inpatient rehab, and private clients. I now also instruct on an online prep course for graduates seeking to pass their National Board Examination. PT is a very rewarding job, but can also SUCK, which explains my quest to find the ideal situation
Great question! Last year, I had a 20 year old girl suffer multiple injuries from a car accident. She came to me in a wheelchair with fractures to both of her legs, right wrist, four ribs, dislocated left shoulder, and whiplash to top it off. Naturally, her spirits were very low and often cried during our sessions. You can imagine how tough it would be to go from being a super active college kid, to essentially confined to a wheelchair. Well, we worked through her struggles with a lot of encouragement and effort. She essentially had to be taught how to walk again. It's amazing and pretty badass to see the transformation of any patient who gains their independence back by what you've done. Imagine a long montage with Rocky-type music in the background of me stretching her legs, mobilizing her shoulder, having a small celebration when she shakily stands up from her wheelchair alone - to taking her first steps without crutches - to me shouting at her to squat deeper while I add more weights. Yeah, it's pretty much a progression like that, just a lot longer with a lot of patience. She now competes and kicks ass in those cross-fit games!
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I wouldn't necessarily say rotator cuff injuries are more problematic than other injuries, unless of course, your job or a big part of your life consists of doing repeated overhead activities (pitchers, tennis players, etc). The healing process depends on many factors including severity of tear, if other structures were compromised, age, lifestyle, etc. If you had a significant tear, no amount of PT will heal it as you will need surgical intervention. If it's still causing you problems or interfering with your functional activities, then you may want to consider seeing an Orthopaedic surgeon for further diagnostic evaluation.
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I have heard of laser treatments, but know they are not as common as your typical therapeutic modality, such as heat, ice, traction, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, just to name a few. The use of therapeutic modalities are most effective in the acute stages of your injury, and can be used as a supplement to treatment to aide in tissue healing. However, it should never be used as a major part of your therapy. PT is most effective in conjunction with manual therapy (joint mobilizations), therapeutic exercises, and patient education. It's also the PT's job to inform you of these treatments and explain why they think you would benefit from it. Whether you are seeing your Physician, Dentist, Optometrist, etc., never be afraid to ask questions about your treatment plan or decision. It's your body and your health, and it's always a good idea to play an active role.
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There is definitely overlap between the two professions. OTs help people of all ages to improve their ability to perform tasks in their daily living and working environments. This sounds very familiar to PTs, but OTs can focus on things like showing a patient how to dress, groom, shower, etc. They do this by also working on mobility, strength, and functional capabilities. So there are many similarities, but each profession has a different focus. OTs are trained to modify the physical environment as well as training the person to use assistive equipment to increase independence. PTs are trained to identify and maximize quality of life and movement potential within the realms of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, intervention, and rehabilitation. Both professions are booming in this healthcare industry.
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Programmer
What lessons can you share about past and present start-ups you've worked with?
Professor
How do you prevent cheating and plagiarism these days?
Hotel Front Desk Agent
Have you ever had a suicide occur in one of your rooms?
You can pretty much tell if they didn't do their HEP (Home Exercise Program) if you ask them to show you, and they do it all wrong. I don't ask in a way to make them feel bad or lecture them like a student if they didn't do it. So most will be very honest about it. It's more important that they understand the benefits of doing their HEP and continuing with open communication and education throughout their time in PT. If both PT and patients are taking an active role with the rehab, then it's kudos all around!
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Fortunately, I have never had to come across a situation that would warrant such bad news. Plus, that depressing role really belongs to a Physician, who diagnoses a patient based on extensive tests, imaging, and medical management.
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Patient care certainly doesn't suck, as it is very rewarding and satisfying to work with patients and see them get better! The 'sucky' part is really the insurance aspect of the business. There are a lot of debates going on with the situation of our national healthcare system right now. What I can tell you about Physical Therapy is the ongoing decrease in re-imbursement from insurance companies for rehab services, particularly in the private sector. From my experience in a private PT owned clinic, it was a constant battle to fight for more benefits for my patients. A newly amended Senate Bill No. 924 would bar all physical therapists from treating a patient beyond 30 days (or 12 visits) unless the patient obtains a diagnosis from a licensed physician or podiatrist. If you know anything about rehab, it's not something that can be done quickly, nor should it. It's just another hoop for our patients who need skilled care to go through in order to get insurance companies to loosen their purse strings. It's not fair for an elderly person to have to go back to their physician, wait 45 min, only to get a piece of paper saying it's ok to continue their rehab. And with the constant reduction in insurance benefits, it forces smaller independent owned clinics to have to book their patients in 20 or 30 min time slots just to stay afloat. This reduces the amount of skilled care a patient will get directly with a licensed therapist. This results in an unhappy situation for everyone. For some, this is just part of the business to get through. But I'm spending half my day on the phone with an insurance provider, and writing notes documenting why my 75 year old post total hip replacement patient needs more than 12 visits so she can be functional and mobile again safely. It really isn't fair when I could better use my time on valuable patient care.
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