Hello world!!! Thank you kindly for visiting my blog where I will document my experience in physical therapy school through the lens of a high school track coach and former competitive runner. I’ve never done a blog before so I am excited to share all my random thoughts on anything and everything related to the injury prevention, rehabilitation, and general track and field related…as that is where I spend most of my time outside of school and studying.
For anyone who wants to know a little more about my story: Read all about me!
This past week was the start of my second semester in physical therapy school. Only three more years and I will be licensed!
The four classes in my spring schedule are:
Therapeutic Modalities, Kinesiology, Neuroscience, and Clinical Skills,
I am OVERWHELMINGLY EXTREMELY excited for this semester as each class covers topics that will be quite useful to me as a future physical therapist looking to go in the orthopedic branch. Here’s a little bit about my four classes and what I hope to take out of each one.
- Therapeutic Modalities: Electric stimulation, ultrasound, ice, heat, laser…. what is the best one to use, at which point in your patients recovery process, at what point in the treatment, for how long, at what power etc etc. I am thrilled to finally learn why and when we use “therapeautic modalities” when dealing with the athlete recovery. For years, I’ve understood that ice was more of a closer to instance of injury modality while heat was a use as a pre-workout get the blood rushing to an area type modality.As an owner of an electrical stimulation unit, (YES it’s legal to own an electrical stimulation machine as a non-practioner, go on amazon.com!) I believe there are huge benefits to using them, something I have learned through personal experience. Heat, ice… same thing. I’ve started forming some opinions on where these things should fit into a treatment, but first I want to learn the science behind why it’s being used to make any judgements!
- Kinesiology: I was warned by many that this class would be extremely difficult and would truly test your knowledge of anatomy; I can see after the first week why, although I’m up for the challenge and anything with math I will take advantage of. IMMEDIATELY, I started thinking about how cool it would be to know the physics behind how a person walks, runs, trains on uneven surfaces, and even properly picks their footwear! So often in runners, there always seems to be one side of their body that is weaker, tighter, less efficient in landing, and experiences more problems. Which muscles are trying to compensate and what does this mean for our center of gravity/mass and our available support?
- Neuroscience: We did not meet yet for this class but this is an area where I am seeking to make huge gains in. The neurological system is very complex. I’m hoping to combine this and Clinical Skills where we have been learning neurological examinations techniques to figure out why I would use the exam and treatment necessary to help my patient.
- Clinical Skills: How will we strategically plan our examinations, evaluations, prognosis/diagnosis, interventions, and outcomes pieces throughout our interactions with our patients? We are continuing to build our tool kit and are given the ability to practice with one another on a daily basis. From looking through the syllabus, some things I am looking forward to more than others are: therapeutic massage, joint mobilization, and therex. Most importantly, when to use and why?
Thanks for checking me out. I look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions as to how I can make this even better. Until next time!!
Dave
Coach, Runner, & Physical Therapy Student. 