What kind of internships are available?

In the field of physical therapy, internships is a very important aspect. Just to get into a good graduate school, you must have a good number of volunteer hours racked up. Once you are in graduate school, you get to stop observing and actually intern! The website Work the World talks about an opportunity to not only have an internship, but one in a different country. They allow anyone to apply who has completed a health course anywhere in the world. Most internships last four weeks, but you can go longer if wanted. There are some placement costs (about $350), but the reward and satisfaction of completing the internship is priceless. Below are some links to different physical therapy internship sites if you are interested in doing something like this:

Work the World

World Endeavors

The Education Abroad Network

Projects Abroad

An Interview with Nitin Chhoda

     In this interview with Nitin Chhoda, he talks about his Total Activation books, which help people to live a better, healthier and more active lifestyle. He talks about what he does to help his readers and even about his life in the past. He has gone from weighing 300 lbs to living a fit lifestyle, and he informs his audience on how they can do the same.

Nitin Chhoda: A remarkable physical therapist

                                

Nitin Chhoda is a well known man, not only in the field of physical therapy, but in the medical field as a whole. He has done some remarkable things in the medical field, changing how things work for the better. Although he is a licensed physical therapist, he focuses more on the marketing aspect of it. Nitin Chhoda has traveled all over the world to explain to people how they can further their marketing strategies in their private practice. He also runs a blog (Nitin 360) where he publishes his marketing tips. He is also the creator of Therapy Newsletter and Clinical Contact. Therapy newsletter is an automated newsletter marketing system. The system sends out two automatic newsletters per month to all of patients, without having to do a single thing. These newsletters come in different formats each month to keep things fresh and exciting for the patients. Clinical Contact is a web based broadcasting system, which reminds your patients of things such as their appointment times. This, according to the ‘About Me’ section of Chhoda’s blog, helps to “boost patient arrival rates and increase revenue.”

Another huge thing that Nitin Chhoda has contributed to the Physical Therapy Discourse Community is EMR’s, also known as Electronic Medical Records. An article published on Physical Therapy Schools’ website states that EMR’s have been created to help eliminate loss of paper records in cases such as natural disasters. Chhoda states, “For physical therapy offices that have their information stored on a web-based system, when disaster strikes, they can be up and running again in a short amount of time. Even if their office is totally gone, they can have a temporary location, download the files to new computers and take care of their patients’ needs quickly.”

 

The Latest Trend within Physical Therapy: Telehealth

     The physical therapy discourse community has evolved tremendously over the past few decades. Things used to be done very different in physical therapy practices. All appointments with clients used to be face to face, information was documented on paper and communication to patients/other offices happened through mail, phone or e-mail. Now, something called telehealth has come about. It is one of the things that have led to a huge breakthrough in physical therapy. Telehealth is the digital technology that helps to connect people in different settings. These people are connected by (but not limited to) video conferencing, remote patient technology and store and forward technologies. This is a great technological advance, because it cancels out most communication based difficulties. Telehealth is especially great in less populated areas, because there will be a smaller amount of outpatient offices, which might result in a patient having to drive a long way for a half hour to hour appointment. Now, physical therapists can offer their services simply through the luxury of a video conference call. A huge benefit of telehealth is that the patients are able to record their own blood pressure, oxygen levels, and other important vital signs which are then sent through the secure system to the physician in their offices. This is a huge breakthrough, because physicians can attain the necessary records of their patients without physically having to be with them and because the patients can keep an eye on their own blood pressure or oxygen levels whenever they feel is necessary without constantly having to wait on a physician for their assistance.

For more information about telehealth, watch the video below.

How to Dress for the Job

     If you look at the above picture, you can see that the attire is still professional, yet more casual than other professions. Usually, physical therapists sport the "khaki-pants-and-polo-shirt" look. Some places may have a uniform shirt, while other places may let you choose your own attire completely. As long as you look presentable and professional, physical therapists can usually choose their uniform themselves. 

What do physical therapists do?

     Physical therapists carry out a lot of responsibilities. First and foremost, a physical therapist helps their patient to recover from an injury using many different treatments such as: exercise, massages, heat, cold, electricity and much more. They also assist their patients in regaining their strength and mobility that they may have lost due to their injury. Also, physical therapists may act as a support system to their patients. Physical therapy is not an easy process to undergo, as a lot of the rehabilitation is painful for the patient. Physical therapists make their patients aware that it is supposed to hurt and that the pain only shows the injury strengthening and healing itself. This is a very important part of the job, because some patients may need a lot of encouragement to keep going, and physical therapists make sure their patients never give up. Some past times of physical therapists include going to sporting games and playing sports themselves. In doing so, they are in the environment that they are comfortable with (being with athletes). For further interest on what physical therapists do, you may watch the video from the American Physical Therapy Association below.

 

How Physical Therapists Communicate

     Physical therapists communicate on two opposite ends of the spectrum. When speaking to fellow physical therapists, they might use more medical and anatomical terms. One example of this is by using a word such as “hydrokinesitherapy.” When speaking to a patient, they might explain what the term is in a simpler way to understand it rather than using the actual term. An example of this would be saying that this is treatment by water exercise, rather than saying they are undergoing hydrokinesitherapy. Physical therapists must communicate with patients, their families, colleagues and the public through forms of written, verbal and nonverbal communication techniques. They must speak professionally and thoroughly so that their patients are able to understand what is being told to them.