As a student going through physical therapy school, getting out and gaining experience in a particular setting known as your “clinical rotation” is where you learn the hands-on skills necessary to become a well-rounded clinician. Deciding where to get this training can be a tough choice. These experiences truly shape you and help you find areas of passion that you may continue in your future career in physical therapy. When Rehab Solutions became an option for one of my last few clinical experiences before graduating… It was a no brainer. For students, this clinic offers many routes of education in a variety of specialized areas of physical therapy. I was interested in pelvic health and oncology areas, while a few of my classmates were looking for vestibular and sports medicine experiences. We all found a great fit here.
After 9 weeks at Rehab Solutions, here are 9 things that I have learned:
- A Welcoming Team is Everything
- Being in a new place with new people can be intimidating. Everyone at Rehab Solutions made sure that we had everything we needed to get settled in. We were treated as valued parts of the clinic from day one and encouraged to seek out every learning experience that peaked our interest.
- The Patient Comes First
- Something clear from the beginning of my experience at Rehab Solutions was the emphasis on “above and beyond” patient care. This was shown by longer one-on-one patient visits and no productivity requirements. To give you a better understanding of this, many clinics have a goal or “quota” of patients to be seen, which really places the emphasis on money rather than the people. Not here!
- Specialized Care Makes the Difference
- Rehab Solutions supports their staff in taking their career in the directions they are passionate in and see a need for. This clinic alone has staff with specialized certifications in orthopedic conditions, pelvic health, oncology, vestibular rehab, and sports medicine. This broad spectrum, yet very specialized group aims to provide exceptional service to patients that is unparallelled in the area.
- One-On-One Time is Undervalued
- Unlike many other physical therapy clinics, Rehab Solutions has no PT Techs. Techs are unlicensed individuals that are, unfortunately, too often utilized to see more patients in order to meet productivity standards. All care at Rehab Solutions is delivered directly by a licensed physical therapist or physical therapist assistant, and I have personally seen the benefit this direct care provides.
- Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
- Rehab Solutions truly has a team approach to patient care in that they utilize all of their resources to best fit a patient’s needs. As a student, I had the opportunity to refer patients to another specialized therapist at the clinic to address a different injury or condition that they were experiencing, in addition to what I was seeing them for. This approach truly looks at the patient as a whole person rather than just a diagnosis. At Rehab Solutions, you have a whole team of clinicians behind you ready to meet your needs and help you succeed.
- Evidence-Based Care is and Should Always be the Standard
- As a student, the staff at rehab solutions pushed me to understand the evidence behind what I was doing. Our patients deserve the best possible care, and that includes using treatments that have been proven to work! Staff is encouraged to continue expanding their education to best serve all patients. It was enlightening to me, as a student, to see clinicians that continue to seek the best evidence regardless of how long they have been practicing.
- Serving the Community is a Benefit to All
- Throughout my time at Rehab Solutions, I have seen the company continually grow and expand programs that directly benefit the community. This includes event coverage for local sporting events, health awareness topics or monthly challenges, and classes for cancer patients, to name a few. Through what I have seen at this clinic, providing services to the community is a way to enjoy and engage in it even more
- Young Minds Do Not All Think Alike
- It is no surprise that with their welcoming nature and various clinical specialties, Rehab Solutions takes in several physical therapist students every year – and they enjoy it! Every clinician is willing to be involved in helping students grow and learn in their own way. As students, we were encouraged to seek great learning opportunities, even if they were not in our current area of study. Staff was always willing to facilitate learning at whatever level the student was at to best fit their needs.
- A New Direction is a Good One
- It was very exciting to see how Rehab Solutions continually searches for what else they can do and how else they can serve the patients in their community. Very recently, the company has expanded its patient population to include pediatrics. I have witnessed just a bit of the planning process to continue to grow this facet, yet I can see how much compassion and drive the members of this company have for this new direction – as they do with each new endeavor.
Rehab Solutions truly is a unique place, and I am so excited to continue my education and career with everything that I have learned in the last 9 weeks.