House of Delegates

This year the House of delegates will be discussing several issues. 

The first being branding and name recognition. Many people feel that all the credentials behind physical therapists names "muddies the waters" for the consumer. The goal will be to drop all credential initials besides PT and an academic degree such as a Ph.D.

Another issue will be the creation of grants from APTA to stimulate educating youth about activity and physical therapy.

Lastly, there is an idea to allow students who have been members of good standing for two years, and who renew within a certain timeframe, to obtain free attendance to a national conference or preview 20/20.

THE SCARY SIDE OF DRUGS

Drugs, Surgery, and PT. Drugs and surgery continue to be at the forefront for many musculoskeletal diagnosis. However, the adverse affects of these two treatments can be scary and very costly. In an article titled, "The 10 Deadliest Drugs," a 2007 study by Furberg and colleagues was published, which looked at the adverse events of drugs reported to the FDA. From 1998-2005 1,393 deaths were associated with Acetaminophen, the 5th deadliest drug ~ Scary huh! This should be a wake up call to everyone. With these kind of numbers health care professionals need to be educating their patients as well as looking for alternate first line defenses for musculoskeletal problems... Enter Physical Therapy. 

WA STATE DOCTORS, PHYSICAL THERAPISTS BATTLE OVER REFERRALS

By Amy Lynn Sorrel, AMNews staff March 3, 2008.

A legal dispute in Washington state has doctors worried that their
ability to employ other licensed medical professionals -- and ultimately
compete in health care -- may be compromised. The owner of a physical
therapy group is suing an orthopedic practice, saying the doctors are
profiting illegally from referrals they make to physical therapists who
work for them. Columbia Physical Therapy also claims that state law
prohibits Benton Franklin Orthopedic Associates in Kennewick, Wash.,
from hiring physical therapists at all. Both sides are asking the
Washington Court of Appeals to clarify the issue. Judges have yet to
decide whether to accept the case.   [...] Physicians worry that a lawsuit will

 hurt competition and continuity of care.

Read the entire article in American Medical News:

www.amednews.com/2008/gvsc0303

Update on student relief bill HR 4137

As posted on earlier, here is an update on this important bill. HR 4137 is The College Opportunity and Affordable Act, which allows for federal loan repayment support for some professions. Congress recently revised this act to include Physical Therapists. This could be a great opportunity for those of us who enter the career swimming in debt.

"Physical therapists (PTs) who choose to work with children, adolescents or veterans would be eligible to apply for student loan forgiveness under legislation approved Thursday, February 7, by the US House of Representatives. Rep Joe Sestak's (D-PA) amendment to the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 (HR 4137) authorizes the US Secretary of Education to forgive a portion of qualifying student loan debt to PTs practicing in areas of national need."

Now the bill must make it through the Senate. If approved this could be HUGE! Stay tuned for updates.

See the original article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/92277.php

Brett Neilson

PTWA Student Liason

EWU and the Board of Directors meeting 3/1/08

EWU students would like to contribute to the PTWA Board of Directors meeting that is taking place tomorrow by giving feedback to Brett's question: "What will we as students need from our employers upon entry into the work field? What can be done?". Some of us at Eastern would like to go into a working environment that encourages learning and offers the ability to ask questions to fellow colleagues in order to provide quality care to all of our patients and not feel embarrassed to do so. As students, some of us have the impression that we need to be experts in our field from day one, and that if we are not experts we will lose respect from our peers and other health care providers. If an employer could foster an environment that reduced the fear of making mistakes we feel we would become better physical therapists sooner in our career. Employers could demonstrate that such an environment exists in their workplace by scheduling pt's every half hour or longer, not "dove-tailing" or scheduling a pt every 15 minutes. They could also incorporate weekly staff meetings where pt cases could be discussed (while still abiding by HIPAA laws). To some of the students at EWU this kind of workplace would be worth a few thousand dollars of our wages.

PTWA Spring Conference

PTWA Spring Conference

Friday & Saturday April 25 & 26, 2008

Bell Harbor International Conference Center
Pier 66, 2211 Alaskan Way Seattle

For more information check out:

http://www.ptwa.org/Conference.htm

2008 NAIOMT Annual

Conference & Symposium Agenda

Registration - 7:30am to 8:00am (please arrive promptly at 7:30am)

SYMPOSIUM (.8 CEU’S)
SPINAL MANIPULATION:  
THRUSTING PHYSICAL THERAPY FORWARD

General Session - AM:

Peter Huijbregts - bio 
“Manual Physical Therapy: The First 200 Years”

Tim Flynn - bio 
“Cervical Spine Manipulation: Responsible Use in PT Practice”

Laurie McLaughlin - bio 
“The Role of Focused Manipulation in Management of Back Pain”

Josh Cleland - bio 
“Regional Interdependence and Thrust Manipulation”

Erl Pettman - bio 
“Trigeminal Symptoms of Cervical Origin”

Panel Discussion

Lunch - Provided

Breakout Sessions – PM (Select 3):

Tim Flynn 
“Spinal Manipulation and Regional Interdependence – 
Where Does Diagnosis End and Treatment Begin?”

Peter Huijbregts 
“Dizziness, Headache, Nausea and Other Worrisome Symptoms and Signs:
The Spectre of Cervical Artery Dysfunction”

Laurie McLaughlin 
“The Role Focused Manipulation in Management of Back Pain: 
Clinical Reasoning and Case Study Presentations”

Josh Cleland
“Mechanisms of Manipulation”

Erl Pettman
“What is a Typical Posterolateral Disc Protrusion?  A Review of Current Concepts”

GET MORE INFO AT: NAIOMT.COM

NAIOMT Conference

2008 NAIOMT Annual Conference & Symposium

"Spinal Manipulation:

Thrusting Physical Therapy Forward"

The 2008 NAIOMT conference will be held in Portland, Oregon on April 11-14 and is titled "Spinal manipulation: Thrusting Physical Therapy Forward" The conference is featuring Tim Flynn, Erl Pettman, Peter Huijbrets, Josh Cleland, and Laurie McLaughlin. The cost is $75 for students if you register before March 1st and $100 after that. The topics will be:

Cervical Spine Manipulation: Responsible use in PT practice

The role of focused manipulation in management of back pain
regional interdependence and thrust manipulation
Dizziness, headache, nausea, and other worrisome symptoms: Cervical artery dysfunction
What is a typical posterolateral disc protrusion? A review of current concepts
And more...

"Although students are not allowed to attend the pre- and post-symposium courses on Friday and Sunday, students ARE welcome at the symposium itself, which is on Saturday.  The cost for PT students is $75, which is an absolute STEAL!  For any of you that have ever taken continuing ed courses (e.g. ATCs, CSCSs), this is an incredible deal...ESPECIALLY considering the presenters" - Karin SOMPTA VP

PT, PTA, and OT Job Fair!

Hello all Washington PT and PTA students,

The University of Washington DPT class of 2009 is pleased to announce their upcoming Rehab Job Fair. This annual event will be hosted on the UW campus on Saturday April 5^th from 1-5. We would like to invite all Washington PT, PTA, OT students and job seekers to join us. Last year's was a big success with lots of presentation boards, recruiters, free stuff and most importantly, some people finding there eventual employers!

This year we are expecting between 50 and 60 vendors representing PT and OT in all clinical settings from the greater Seattle area, other Washington areas, and other Northwest states.

The fair will be located at South Campus Center which is located south of the UW Medical Center.

(follow this link for directions: http://depts.washington.edu/sauf/scc/directions.php)

Attendance is free, parking is free (after noon) and plentiful in a parking deck located directly below the South Campus Center.

For more information or questions feel free to contact the us at Rehab_job_Fair_08@u.washington.edu.

-Sanatan Golden, PTWA Student rep at Uiniversity of Washington

Physical Therapist Education

Check out this blog! A physical therapy student from Colorado offers an interesting view of the structure of the DPT Physical therapy program across the country.

http://physicaltherapistrover.blogspot.com/2008/01/physical-therapist-clinical-education.html