Blog Posts
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How I Conquered Low Back Pain Burnout
POV it’s a Monday morning. You’re tired, you wish it was still the weekend, and you’re not quite ready to “PT” again today. You look at your schedule and to make matters worse first thing you have is an eval for . . . low back pain. You think “Ugh, this Monday is about to…
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Research Highlight: Application of “the PUSH Strategy”
This research highlight is for all my neuro nerds. I personally love working with the neuro population. They’re often some of my most motivated patients and it’s always fun to see their functional progress. No matter what your comfort or experience level, you’ve likely encountered a post-CVA patient with pushers syndrome. I think many of…
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4 Reasons I Love Being a PT
In the last post I shared what led me to choose this profession. I figured PT month was the perfect time to share my story. Well, I also figured it’s the best time to share why I love PT. It’s not to say there are no negatives to this profession. That’s definitely not the case.…
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My Story: Why I Chose PT
It’s that time of year again. Hoodies, pumpkin spice everything, Halloween, and all the cozy vibes. Yes folks, it’s October. The best month in my opinion, but it’s also my birthday month so I may be biased. However, October isn’t just my birthday month it’s also national physical therapy month! For some reason as this…
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4 Tips for Creating HEPs Your Patients Will Actually Do
It’s probably our biggest pet peeve as PTs . . . patients not doing their HEP. We’ve all been there. Patient comes into the clinic and says they didn’t do it and funny enough they still have pain! Or even worse they said they did it, but you can tell they are 100% lying. Unfortunately…
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APTA Certifications Explained: What Every PT Needs to Know
Making the journey to get an APTA specialty certification is both a testament to dedication and a pivotal step toward mastery of a branch in physical therapy. Oftentimes individuals who achieve these certifications are the ones who elevate those branches by taking our treatment techniques and knowledge to new heights. Many go on to become…
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The Evolving Role of PTs in Diagnostic Imaging
More states continue to expand PT practice acts to allow us to refer for diagnostic imaging. Maryland, Colorado, Utah, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, North Dakota, District of Columbia, New Jersey, West Virginia, and Arizona all belong to the “PTs allowed to order imaging” club. Iowa just became one of its newest members a few months ago.…
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PT Legislative Update August 2024
I’m very excited to give you the first PT Page legislative update! These legislative updates will be reoccurring just like the research highlights. If you missed the first research highlight I dropped back in June, you can read it here! Keeping up with legislative changes can be a bit tricky. There’s a lot of misinformation…
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The Great PT Doctor Debate
Should DPTs call themselves “Dr.”? I’ve seen some heated debates about this on social media and several discussion forums. Honestly in the first couple years of my career I wasn’t sure how I wanted to introduce myself. “Dr.” seemed a little stuffy to use with patients and I was worried about sounding like a big-headed,…
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Potential Pitfalls and Possibilities: AI and Physical Therapy
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you.* I know, I know, AI, could I have chosen more of a buzzword? However, there’s a lot of buzz for a reason. AI is here to stay whether we like it…
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Why I’m Loving Yoga in My PT Practice
I’ve recently had a renaissance with yoga in my own health and wellness journey. I’ve done yoga before but never got to the point where it was a staple of my routine. My renewed interest partially stemmed from yoga’s close connection to meditation (which I also started this last year) and partially because your girl’s…
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Research Highlight: Non-Surgical Management of ACL Tears Using Cross Bracing Protocol
In the last post, I introduced the new research highlights that would be happening from time to time on The PT Page. I told you you wouldn’t have to wait long! I saw this ACL research mentioned so much on socials and even had it recommended to me by a coworker I figured it deserved…
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Why Evidence Based Practice Isn’t that Easy (and what to do about it)
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you.* I think we’d all agree evidence based practice (EBP) is important in the physical therapy profession. This last November the APTA John Maley lecturer, Stacy Dusing, even called for the need…
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3 Ways PTs Can Help Improve Total Joint Replacement Same Day Discharge
Total joint replacement (TJR) same day discharge has become more common over the last few years for several reasons. First, COVID gave it a good push as a way to get patients out of the hospital faster to decrease the chance of infection. (No one wants a side of COVID with their TJR). It was…
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Implementing Models of Primary Care PT
If you read last week’s post you know I left you on a little bit of a cliffhanger. That post focused on the impact primary care PT could have on the healthcare system overall. I had a lot of fun with that one. The potential of primary care PT is something I am so passionate…
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How Primary Care PT Could Save the Healthcare System a S*** Ton of Money
It’s no secret the US Healthcare system has a spending problem. Musculoskeletal issues account for a large percentage of this with neck and back pain being some of the top spenders. It’s also no secret the US healthcare system has a primary care problem. There’s not enough of them, their schedules are packed, and on…
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What Every PT Can Learn From OT
April showers bring May flowers aaannndddd . . .OT month! I always wanted part of The PT Page to reflect on what we could do better overall as a profession. April is our often under-appreciated counterpart’s month. I figured now was a perfect time as any to consider what OTs may be doing better than…
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The PT Workforce Today and the APTA: Our Own Pain Cycle
There are several current factors that sometimes make being in the PT profession a bit painful – low recognition, poor debt-to-income ratio, working conditions that lead to intense burnout, you name it. One of the more triggering frustrations I hear and see discussed is the dissatisfaction with our national organization. Due to this dissatisfaction, most…
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5 Things to Actually Help Your PT Burnout
Burnout has become its own epidemic within healthcare over the last few years. It’s been a big topic of conversation on the internet and in the media. Due to the PT profession’s poor debt-to-income ratio, high productivity standards, and low recognition as providers we own a share of that burnout. However, most of the “solutions”…