Presenter: Olivia Gahwyler, Kinesiology, Global Public Health Scholars
For my Practicum for Global Public Health Scholars, I worked as an aid at my physical therapist’s office, Professional Physical Therapy. While working as an aid, I was required to work alongside my therapists and watch as he treats new patients. Also, I was responsible for assisting my therapist in monitoring the patient while they completed their exercises to ensure they were doing the exercise correctly and keeping form. While working with a patient, I also provided heat and ice for them before and after their treatment. The last task I had while I was working as an aid was to clean and keep maintenance of the therapeutic equipment, especially during Coronavirus where multiple are on and off of the machines each hour. I learned a lot of physical therapy and will be continuing my work as an aid over the summer of 2021.
Hi Olivia! This was awesome to hear about as I am also interested in going into PT. I didn't think so much about health literacy in relation to PT. That makes a lot of sense that it was even more difficult for people to do PT without being able to come into the office and be shown. Do you know how much the outcomes of patients' care changed because of the pandemic?
Was the physical therapist’s office able to use telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic? If so, how did that impact patients and their treatment plans?
Hi Olivia! Loved gaining insight on your practicum! I was wondering what patients came in to receive treatment for and what exercises they did to help?