REHABILITATION SCIENCES “Growth brings change” was my opening line in our 2019 magazine. Little did I know how much change we would experience in the year that followed and beyond. My thankfulness to God for the gift of the present and no knowledge of the future has deepened over these uncertain times. I am more confident now than ever that I know Who holds the future and there is no need to fear! God so graciously protected and provided for us during the pandemic. While we were forced to online learning only during the end of spring and summer of 2020, we were able to resume in-person classes and labs in fall of 2020. Of course, there were modifications to the way we taught, learned, and interacted; however, our family spirit and servant hearts shone through all the challenges we faced. I have always said our faculty, staff, and students are “the best,” and this past year they showed their best by rising to the occasion of being flexible, considerate, and patient during the constant changes. We are thankful for our alumni, parents, and friends who have lifted us up in prayer during these trying times, and we thank you for continuing to do so. We are blessed by your stories, so please keep us informed of your life milestones, and don’t forget to follow us on social media to keep up to date on what is happening here. I hope you enjoy reading the rest of our story in this edition of The Pulse.
Kim Ferreira, PT, PhD, MSPT ‘98 Associate Professor, Chair, School of Rehabilitation Sciences
Physical Therapy Campus Clinic By Bill Scott, PT, MSPT ‘96, BS ‘95
Assistant Professor, School of Rehabilitation Sciences
2020 brought many changes to all of our lives and forced all of us to be adaptable. Clinical experiences can be a challenge for many professional programs in good times. A pandemic nearly makes them impossible. As Coach John Wooden once said, “Adaptability is being able to adjust to any situation at any given time.” The Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program adjusted to the change in our environment and started a clinic here on campus. The clinic was designed to follow an integrated clinical experience (ICE) model that allows students to have hands-on experiences with patients while they are still receiving their didactic training. Students have the
opportunity to treat real patients from the community under the supervision of a clinical faculty member. First- and second-year students work collaboratively to practice patient interaction, evaluation, and critical thinking skills while receiving feedback from the patients and the instructors
in the clinical environment. While reflecting on his ICE experience, firstyear student Nathan Hunt stated, “I was really intimidated the first time I went through it but quickly found value in this experience. I am able to learn from those around me and feel more comfortable with my evaluation skills.” Second-year student Adam Frizzle reflected on his experience in the clinic: “I think it is a really valuable learning tool for us. It also forces me to teach the first-years what I know and in turn helps me learn better.” The clinic has opened the door for interprofessional interaction with other College of Health and Human Services programs. This summer, speech-language pathology students were given patient scenarios and became mock patients for the DPT students. The plan in the future is for all departments to reciprocate these experiences for each other to gain a better understanding of what it means to be a patient and how to interact in a professional way. The Pulse 2021 / 47
