Pathways to Success

Garden Spot High School

Logan Martin – Physical Therapy Internship

This semester, I am a physical therapy intern at NovaCare Rehabilitation in New Holland. I work with a team of physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. Most of my time is spent observing and cleaning equipment. This internship is a great look at physical therapy and why it is so important.

On a typical day at NovaCare, I will work with 3-6 patients, not including any patients that other therapists see. Each patient has their own specialized workout plan to assist them in the recovery process. Even patients with identical injuries will have major differences in their workout plans depending on their preexisting strength levels and mobility needs. Each patient will receive 5-10 minutes of one-on-one time with a therapist. During this time the therapist will stretch and massage the injured area. After that, the patient will go through a series of exercises for about 40 minutes. Finally, to finish their appointment they will rest with heat and stimulation pads on their injury for 10 minutes. Heat and stim are a great help in the recovery process.

NovaCare is my second physical therapy internship of the year. Previously, I interned at Pivot Physical Therapy. Both offices have their own method of recovery, and I have learned to appreciate both sides. I could go on for hours about the differences in the offices, but for now, I will only give one example. At Pivot, there are only two physical therapists and a lot fewer patients, so there’s a lot more time for therapists to work one-on-one with a patient. This allowed both therapists to emphasize different massage and stretching methods. NovaCare has a lot more patients and triples the staff size, so most of a patient’s appointment is exercises they can do on their own while the therapist works with another patient.

So far, I have loved my time at NovaCare. I learn something new about human anatomy each day and even get to translate that knowledge into my life, especially as an athlete! I definitely see physical therapy as a career option in the future but have been leaning toward physician’s assistant or athletic training lately. No matter what I choose, the lessons I’ve learned at NovaCare will definitely keep me a step ahead in college.

medicalphysicaltherapy

jhackman • May 12, 2021


Previous Post

Next Post

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published / Required fields are marked *

Skip to toolbar