Therapy and Rehabilitation

What is Therapy and Rehabilitation?

Therapy or rehabilitation is a type of treatment that is intended to relieve or heal a disorder. The disorder can be physical, or a mental, or psychological disorder. A therapist is a person who is skilled in a particular kind of therapy with the hopes of treating or rehabilitating the sick of wounded or helping patient overcome physical defects. The main goal of a therapist is to help improve one’s well-being.

REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL

Depending on which field of interest you choose, there may be many different requirements for you when applying to graduate school. For example, when applying to graduate school for speech language pathology, you must complete a number of prerequisites as an undergraduate. If you fail to do so, you will not be able to attend graduate school at that given time. If you plan to go to graduate school for Occupational or Physical Therapy, you must also complete prerequisites. When applying to graduate school for such fields of study, schools may expect applicants to demonstrate clinical experience, leadership, community service, shadowing, and other experiences or attributes in addition to coursework. For the other fields listed above, such as athletic training, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, chiropractors, and therapeutic recreation, you do not need to attend graduate school to have a professional career in that particular field. But, it is encouraged.

INTERVIEW WITH AN ALUMNUS

Tim Reynolds '14

What was your major as an undergraduate? Did you ever switch your major? What made you decide to choose your particular major?

My undergraduate major was Clinical Health Studies, and was part of the Doctorate of Physical Therapy program for graduate school. I never changed my major, although I did choose to minor in Exercise Science.

What led to your current career? Was it due to past professional experiences? Past successes/failures? Opportunities that IC presented you with such as clubs/activities/volunteer work?

When I was in high school I had a shoulder injury from baseball, and had to go to physical therapy for several weeks. I had a great experience, and thought it would fun to work with various individuals during their rehabilitation process. I volunteered for several years at a physical therapy clinic prior to applying to college, and eventually went back to work in the same clinic that I volunteered at.

What does a typical day look like for you?

A typical work day starts with reviewing patient charts in order to prepare each patient’s plan of care/treatment focus for the day. I am currently completing a Spine Fellowship, so the majority of my caseload are individuals with neck or back pain, but I also treat patients of various ages and with different pathologies. New patient evaluations tend to be about an hour long, and follow up appointments typically last half an hour (this is without documentation time). In addition to treating patients, I help teach in the Orthopedic Residency Program that our facility offers, as well as at Ithaca College, so on those days I am able to step away from the treatment mindset and focus more on developing myself as an academic.

What do you like/dislike about your career? About the field?

Having the opportunity to spend one on one time with my patients is my favorite part of my job. A lot of times health care professionals are pressed for time, but every day I feel as though I can devote the time that my patients need in order to make progress. In addition to this, I like the autonomy of practice that the field of physical therapy offers. Whether it involves manual therapy techniques, rehabilitative exercises, or educated patients regarding their injury, I have the opportunity to design and execute a plan of care that I feel is best suited for each individual patient. While I am thankful every day for the work that I do, there are times/situations that are still frustrating. Documentation is a typical frustration, because of the extra time it takes/adds on to a normal work day. This can also be frustrating because insurance companies may not reimburse for our services depending on what we document. Also, patients sometime do not follow through on the exercises/recommendations that you provide them. When you invest your time to develop a plan of care to help someone, and they do not apply those tools for their betterment, it definitely can become a source of frustration.

What have you learned being in your particular field?

In addition to learning the various aspects of physical therapy, I have learned the importance of communication in healthcare. The simple act of listening and being compassionate can truly
make the difference in a person’s experience/healing process, and these skills are sometimes overlooked. I tell many new graduates that in my opinion 80% of being a physical therapist is your ability to talk to a person, and it is the individuals that are able to grasp this that succeed within the field.