Per Henrik Ling: The First Physical Therapist

My first experience observing a physical therapist, commenced in the summer of 2014. At the time, I was given the opportunity to observe a physical therapist named Jennifer Moreland. Throughout my time observing her, I began to recognize she was not just a physical therapist with her patients. Many times, she took on the role of a consoler, cheerleader, friend and supporter for her patients. Reflecting back on this, I am able to see that the primary reason she has succeeded as a physical therapist; is due to her amiable, encouraging and empathetic nature. These character traits have allowed her to do more than heal patients' musculoskeletal problems. She has also been able to heal hearts, souls and minds by cheering, supporting, listening

Pediatric physical therapists work to help disabled children and their families grow and become stronger every day. For about a century now, doctors have been making a valiant effort to improve the lives of children. Though it is not the most popular practice, pediatric physical therapy is certainly important to the lives of millions. Since the beginning of pediatrics, new discoveries are constantly being made. Pediatric physical therapy has been making ground breaking developments and progressions in all of its elements since it became popular in the 1920’s.

Life can change in a split second when an unanticipated injury or disease hinders someone’s normal daily life. Modern medicine, physicians and families can only do so much but physical therapy can help recoup the life many of us take for granted. It often isn’t until we lose something that we as humans realize what we had such as the value of our body’s ability to take us through each day. A physical therapist is the person who stays with a patient for the duration of the rehabilitation process. A physical therapist leads the patient through the process of regaining physical strength and helps the patient regain control of their future. Much like many careers that involve interaction with individuals, physical therapy reaches beyond

OrthoOklahoma is an orthopedic medical clinic with a physical therapy branch that provides outpatient physical therapy care. The facility has a staff of three licensed physical therapists and a physical therapy assistant along with four physical therapy techs. I was able to observe all three physical therapists, Megan Ripley, Joe Ogle and Ken Roberts. At OrthoOklahoma, the most common patients are post-surgery from repairs of muscles, bones or joints. While shadowing these therapists, I observed cases of total knee replacement, total hip replacement, ACL/meniscus repair, rotator cuff repair, frozen shoulder, labrum repair, and other ailments from wear-and-tear and aging. This experience allowed me to talk to physical therapists about the ins and outs of their job, learn about different exercises and routines for treatment of injuries, and really get an idea of the work it takes to become a well-respected physical therapist.

Unit one has been a lot of history for the starting occupational therapy to some reasons why occupation therapy is around. It also hit on some basic terms to know that occupational therapist use. I have learned a lot as far as the history behind occupational therapy and the founders of this therapy service. One thing I found very interesting was that the actual process it took for occupational therapy to become a actual thing. Such as what occupational therapy is actually based upon: a holistic base. Being that occupational therapy helps with mental illness' makes the whole career a lot more interesting to me. Before taking this class I had no clue that occupational therapy was based on such high morals or standards.

My first Physical therapy observation experience was at TIRR Memorial Hermann in the Texas Medical Center. The therapy done here were for inpatients who went through a brain or spinal cord injury. On my first day I did not know what I was going in for. I only thought that PT was about orthopedic rehabilitation but in reality there is therapy for everything.

Physical therapy has a long and changing history. As a medical treatment, physical therapy goes back as far as cave dwellers, but was not considered a profession until World War I. During ancient times many places, worshiped the sun for its healing powers. Places such as Germany who worshiped and also set up fields where people lay in the sun to get well. Different therapies that were used throughout history contributed to physical therapy as a profession, hyper therapy, cryotherapy, hydrotherapy, and electrotherapy. As a polio epidemic swept the United States from 1915 through 1917, many therapists services were requested to help victims recover from the effects of this devastating illness. By the end of World War II, physical therapy was a widely accepted therapeutic practice. Near the 19th century in Britain, physical therapy was established, and all of the people being trained were women. The first

The day-to-day writing in the field of Physical Therapy varies depending on the audience. The audience determines the purpose of the writing and writing style. Physical Therapists (PT) use evidence-based exercises and activities to rehabilitate their patients in order for them to reach their unique goal. Since PT’s work with both medical professionals and patients, they must adjust their writing to be able to communicate effectively. PT’s are just one of the many people in the medical field that may work with a particular patient so it is important that the communication between the different layers of the medical field are precise and clear. Writing to a patient is also important because they are the person who is being directly affected

Predominantly, a physical therapist must be compassionate and caring. My family members and I are accustomed to taking care of one another, regardless of the age or circumstance. Along with these age differences come different opinions; because of this, at a very young age, I quickly understood the meaning of empathy. I have become accustomed to practicing compassion at home, that it has now become second nature to me.

Laying on the couch scrolling through the T.V guide, reading the information for shows and movies. Nothing seemed to catch my attention until I came across “Just Wright”- “Leslie Wright is a physical therapist. At a gas station she meets a basketball player, Scott McKnight. Scott becomes injured, an injury that could possibly ruin his career. Leslie encourages him and helps him get back in the game. Because Leslie helped Scott recover in such a short amount of time, many teams offered her the position as an athletic trainer.” As I watched it I could relate my career goal to the movie. “Just Wright” inspired me to become a physical therapist for athletes.

Physical Therapist has extensive education training. First, in order to become a Physical Therapist, he or she will need to take many years in college studying in areas such as Kinesiology, Anatomy, Biology, and Physical Fitness. Also, the students will need to receive extensive training in patient psychology. (“Become

Physical therapists work in various ways depending on the type of patient you're dealing with. A patient that is working to recover mobility lost after a stroke needs different care from a patient who is recovering from a sports injury. There are many types of fields

1.What is physical therapy? Physical therapy is difficult sometimes it just depends on which one you would like to do. There are many different types of Physical Therapy. There's Orthopedic Therapy, Pediatric Therapy, Wound Care therapy, Cardiopulmonary Therapy , Sports Therapy and many more. Ever since I was a little kid,I loved working or helping elderly people there tons of fun once you get to know them. My mom has worked in nursing homes since I was born she would take me and my brother to work all the time and I would ask people if they needed help because it was fun. I knew I wanted to do something to help the elderly get better or help them feel like they are at home.I choose this career because I love working with people especially elderly people. So far I think this is a good career and it's meant for me.

My area of interest in the field of exercise science is physical therapy. Consequently, the National Organization that I researched was the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). This organization uses the guiding principles of identity, quality, collaboration, value, innovation, consumer-centricity, access/equality, and advocacy to work toward and achieve their vision of “[t]ransforming society by optimizing movement to improve the human experience” (American - Vision). In addition to this mission, further research led me to discover the perks that this organization offers and the connections that it forms. This organization is one that can I can utilize and greatly benefit from in the future.

Some of the first known practices of physical therapy are from the early Greek and Romans. They had writings that said both the sun and water were beneficial. The Chinese, Persians, Egyptians, and Greeks said exercise and massage were beneficial. The first school of therapy was established at Walter Reed Army Hospital, Washington, D.C. after World War I