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By Kate Hunger

Physical Therapy students delivered a presentation last month during a session designed to educate medical students on physical therapy’s role in the healthcare continuum.

The Aug. 31 presentation by second-year DPT students Lisa Le, Sheena Caramba, Hannah Ramirez and Jessica Glover focused on two disorders the medical students recently had studied: muscular dystrophy and myasthenia gravis. The physical therapy students led the medical students in interactive demonstrations of exercises for patients with both disorders.

“The week after I got to talk to a couple medical students and they said it really opened their eyes to what PT can do,” Caramba said. “We made it interactive and memorable. They asked questions and we were able to answer them.”

The session was part of an interprofessional education course for medical students. Martha Acosta, Ph.D., PT, GCS, physical therapy assistant professor, worked with Long School of Medicine Elizabeth Hanson, M.D., assistant professor, to develop the presentation’s topic, Acosta said. 

Medical students also learned about physical therapy settings, the scope of practice and expertise, and the types of services and level of care that physical therapists provide. The presentation emphasized physical therapists’ evidence-based treatment approach and stressed the need for physicians and physical therapists to communicate.

“It went great,” Acosta said. “The PT students were really fired up.”

Acosta said plans are underway for medical students to offer a similar presentation for physical therapy students.