Case Study: Physical Therapy Assistant

Physical therapy assistant is a health care professional who provides physical therapy services based on the direction and supervision of a licensed physical therapy assistant. This professional helps individuals of all ages who have medical issues and health-related conditions that restrict their ability to move and carry out functional activities in daily life. A physical therapy assistant can work in various settings such as private practices, hospitals, home health, sport facilities, schools, outpatient clinics, and nursing homes. The physical therapy assistant is also responsible for evaluating the changes in a patient's performance based on the physical therapy provided. The kind of care provided by a physical therapy assistant may incorporate teaching the patient to exercise mobility, the use of physical agents, strength and coordination, electrotherapy, and training for various activities like walkers and crutches ("Who Are Physical Therapist Assistants?" 2012). For an individual to become a physical therapy assistant, he/she is required to be licensed, certified, or registered by the state. In this case, the educational requirements and examination criteria are usually stipulated based on the particular state requiring licensure.

Your speed doesn’t matter, forward is forward. No matter where you are, life can give you a second chance. So, within every step back it is possible to take a step forward. No one is ever alone. Someone is always there to help when feelings of hopeless negatives sets in. Physical Therapist Assistants are necessary in hopeless situations to give you an ability to continue moving forward onto your full potential. A Physical Therapist Assistant can help you to manage someone else’s life, so that they can continue with life among the trouble that they have faced.

Have you ever bent down to pick something up or sprinted after your dog because he got loose? Not many people in today’s society pay attention to their body movement. They often take their body’s ability to move normally for granted. A person’s biomechanics are essential to everyday life, without being able to move properly one cannot perform everyday tasks. Unfortunately, there are people who are not able to do so and face many hardships in their life and may be in a lot of pain. Therefore, these people seek professional assistance to help them regain their ability to function normally. Usually, they end up in the care of a physical therapist and his assistant. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, physical therapist assistants

A physical therapist assistant plays a very important role by providing treatments to patients, under the direction and supervision of a physical therapist. They use physical therapy treatment procedures to help improve the mobility and relieve pain and disability caused by disease or injury. Some examples of the patients that call for a physical therapist to assist them include accident victims and persons with disabling conditions, such as, lower back pain, arthritis, heart disease, fractures, head injuries, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy.

Every story has a beginning, mine starts in Oak Hill, Ohio. I was born on February 18th, 2000 in Gallipolis, Ohio. I live in Oak Hill, Ohio and go to Oak Hill Middle/High School. I live with both of my parents (Sabrina and Kenneth Burton) and my little sister Amber Burton. My older sister goes to college now and does not live at home with us .I am a really nice, responsible, and hard working person. I have won many awards in both marching band and HS choir. Some of the awards range from the best dancer to one of the most dedicated members. I have not yet finished high school, but it is my senior year. After I graduate I plan on attending Shawnee State University to become a Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA).

This case study is about a patient, T.C., who I treated while a physical therapy assistant at an acute rehabilitation hospital. T.C. had terminal spinal cancer and at the time of admission had a fair prognosis to maintain function and strength enough to be discharged to his daughter’s home with home health care and family support, and he wanted to eventually go back to his own apartment. He was using a wheelchair as he was partially paralyzed from the waist down, and was able to use a transfer board to transfer from his wheelchair to bed and back.

The change agent experience that I chose to write about was an experience or revelation that I had towards the end of this semester. At Nebraska Methodist College I was enrolled in the Physical Therapist Assistant program, and for a while, I thought it was the right thing for me; however, as time went on I realized that it wasn't the right fit for me.

Although Collin, the PTA, had his own case load of patients, at Aquaworx there is always a DPT on site. Collin saw patients delegated to him by both of the DPTs. Collin told me that each of the PTs had different ways of doing things and even measured things in different ways. There was one instance where Collin was unsure of the exact way one of the PTs had measured a patients ROM. He was able to quickly ask the PT. This allowed

A current issue the physical therapists in the state of Georgia just confronted this year and successfully attained was gaining limited self-referral or direct access. Previously, physical therapists in the state of Georgia, under the old practice act were only able to conduct a physical therapy evaluation without a referral from a practitioner of the healing arts and provide services for the purpose of fitness, wellness, or prevention that was not related to an injury or disease (GA Physical Therapy Act, n.d.). Updating the Georgia Physical Therapy Act dealt with more than obtaining limited self-referral, it was to modernize the practice act to represent the contemporary practice of physical therapy with respect to what physical therapy means, term and title protection, and patient/client management expectations (Donnelly, 2015, February). This battle began in the beginning of January 2015, and final negotiations reached with the Georgia Orthopaedic Society (GOS) and support of the American Medical Association of

The Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Service (PM&RS) is requesting a (6) month exrtension for the Physical Therapist contract position (contract #V797D-40199 VA246-16-F-3856).

On August 31, 2012, a 35 year old named Kristen got into a terrible car crash. She had many injuries including a lacerated liver, sheared colon, bruised heart, pelvic hematoma, a concussion that lasted for four months, and 12 broken bones. She was told by a police officer that no one who responded to the accident thought she would survive. After her time in the hospital though, she went to see a physical therapist who helped give her hope. They started with standing for a couple seconds at a time with help from eventually walking again. Kristen has mostly recovered with the help of physical therapy and is so grateful. According to RUReady.ND, “Physical Therapists mainly design programs of physical treatments to maintain, improve, or restore

Not only is this unequal treatment insulting, but it is also biased and unfair. Unfortunately, much of this bias comes from physician groups who argue that PT’s do not know how to properly diagnose and, therefore; may inappropriately administer treatment to a patient with underlying medical conditions. However, this is simply not true. In reality, physical therapists have a very low rate of malpractice, and proper diagnosis of a patient’s condition is a fundamental part of what a PT does. In fact, PT’s are trained to recognize when a patient demonstrates symptoms that should be evaluated by another healthcare professional before therapy should be given. Since physicians go to medical school and obtain a Ph.D., it is easy to assume that they are the most knowledgeable and qualified in all aspects of healthcare. However, what many fail to recognize is that physical therapy school is just as rigorous and competitive of a program as medical school. As highly trained healthcare professionals, physical therapists “receive extensive education and clinical training in the examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, and intervention of patient/clients with functional limitations, impairments and disabilities” (“Direct Access”). Similar to physicians, PT’s are “well-qualified to evaluate a patient's condition, assess his or her physical therapy needs and, if appropriate, safely and effectively treat the patient” (“Direct Access”). In fact, just like medical students, graduates of professional PT education programs are considered doctors and hence earn a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. Therefore, due to their high qualifications and levels of expertise, physical therapists are more than capable to treat and evaluate patients correctly and should not have

The physical therapist first encounter with a patient often serves as a telltale of what to expect and how to go about the therapeutic relationship. The initial contact with a patient gives the therapist an impressive view of the tip of the iceberg, in a way it provides important gauges on how to navigate to and around a patient’s persona. PTs should be cognizant of the premise that the mind and body are inseparable, and these two realms work in synergy to define a person’s current health status. In our day to day practice, patients are referred to physical therapy due to their physical impairments and disability. With a life changing event as a result of a health condition patient may manifest signs and symptoms of impaired mental wellness-depression. As Fair (2011) has elucidated, diagnosing a mental health disorder is not within the PT scope of practice, but

Given the prevalence of back injuries within all sectors of the community, the potential roles / opportunities for physical therapists to improve community health is nearly limitlessness. Elementary teachers are at a particularly high risk of a lumbar injury because their work environment requires considerable lumbar flexion as well as prolonged periods of sitting to grade papers or develop lesson plans.26-28 After discussing her work environment with the patient, an educational opportunity was recognized to potentially help teachers prevent back injuries. A service learning project called Back Care for the Pre-School Employee had been previously developed during the tDPT course PT543 Emerging Professional Roles of Physical Therapy Practitioners.

DISCUSSION: Patients with cancer can benefit from physical therapy intervention at any stage of treatment. The patient discussed exhibited improvements in almost every measurement taken in the period of 8 weeks. Her lower and upper extremity strength increased, her balance improved dramatically, her gait speed increased by a factor of 6, she was able to return some of her previous activities, and there were no signs of lymphedema development. In short, the patient decreased a variety of the side effects that are associated with cancer and cancer related treatments by receiving physical therapy. The side effects of cancer related treatments often limit patient independence and decrease overall quality of life.