Thinking back to my first day of Physical Therapy school, I never could have imagined what the next three years had in store for me. I imagined sitting through countless lectures, and practicing newly acquired skills with my classmates, but never in a million years did I anticipate working with actual patients until my first clinical rotation. Here at the University of Indianapolis, we have a group called the Community Patient Resource Group, or CPRG. This group consists of individuals from the community that have the conditions that we study in PT school, and they come into our classroom on a regular basis to allow us to see how the conditions really affect people as well as to grow comfortable working with actual patients. The most recent CPRG visit was centered on prosthetics. We had seven individuals with prosthetics and two prosthetists spend the afternoon with us to give us the opportunity to have a real world look at this patient population. What an eye-opening experience! In small groups, we had the opportunity to speak with each person, and gain insight on how their experience has shaped their outlook on life. We also spent time watching the individual don and doff the prosthetic, walk up and down the hallways (or in a couple of cases, run!).
In the first year and a half, we have had several CPRG visits throughout the curriculum. We have been visited by individuals with stroke, Parkinson’s disease, orthopedic concerns, and now individuals with prosthetics. I am so thankful to attend a school where they focus on preparing the students to work with patients prior to their first clinical rotation. - Chris Rakoczy
2nd Year DPT Student, Krannert School of Physical Therapy
Comments for DPT Students Work with Patients to Learn about Prosthetics