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The Profession of Physical Therapy Syllabus for 2015-2016
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Instructor Information

Instructor

Jennifer Hilbert (Curriculum Vitae)

E-Mail

j0343088@actx.edu

Phone

<p>806-354-6003</p>

Office Location

West Campus Allied Health 121

Office Hours

Friday: 8:00 am to 12:00 pm

Tuesday and Thursday afternoons are available by appointment

Course Information

Recording Policy

Disability Statement

Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact disAbility Services (Student Service Center room 119, phone 371-5436) as soon as possible.

Statement for Mental Health and Advocacy & Resource Center:

As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce a student's ability to participate in daily activities. Amarillo College offers services to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. If you or someone you know are suffering from any of the aforementioned conditions, you can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus by calling the AC Counseling Center at 806-371-5900. The AC Counseling Center website is https://www.actx.edu/counseling/ . Also, if you are in need of social services (affordable housing, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, childcare, medical/dental/vision, legal), please call the AC Advocacy & Resource Center at 806-371-5439. The AC Advocacy & Resource Center website is https://www.actx.edu/arc

Amarillo College Tutoring for Success Policy:

Administrative Drop Policy

N/A

Student Withdrawal Procedures

N/A

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The Amarillo College Privacy Policy is found at https://www.actx.edu/-amarillo-college-privacy-notice , and applies to all Amarillo College students.  If you have questions about this privacy statement or you believe that your personal information has been released without your consent, send email to humanresources@actx.edu .

Course

PTHA-1301-001 The Profession of Physical Therapy

Prerequisites

Course Description

Introduction to the profession of physical therapy and the role of the physical therapist assistant.

Student Resources Student Resources Website

Department Expectations

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Occupational License Disclaimer

Hours

(3 sem hrs; 3 lec)

Class Type

On Campus Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

Introduction to Physical Therapy, 4th ed. by Michael Pagliarulo

What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

 

 

 

Supplies

personal computer with internet access

 

Student Performance

This course is designed to provide students with a knowledge of the history, purpose, and scope of physical therapy and to help students recognize the roles and responsibilities of the physical therapist assistant in physical therapy and the health care delivery system.

 

Objectives: 
Given the course textbook, personal notes, handouts, and other material, the student should be able to do each of the following on a written and/or practical examination with an accuracy of 75% or higher as evaluated by faculty of the department: 
       

Musculoskeletal conditions

  1. List common conditions seen in musculoskeletal physical therapy.
  2. Identify major musculoskeletal interventions and their use.
  3. List the general goals of a therapeutic exercise program.
  4. Describe various physical agents used to address musculoskeletal problems
  5. Recognize musculoskeletal conditions.

Neuromuscular conditions

  1. Identify major neuromuscular disorders
  2. Identify major neuromuscular interventions and their use.
  3. Describe selected physical therapy treatments to improve neuromuscular control.

Integumentary/ Cardiovascular/Pulmonary

  1. Discuss the structure and function of the skin.
  2. Describe basic intervention principles and strategies necessary in complete patient care (including prevention, management, and education)
  3. List elements of a wound/burn assessment.
  4. Name specific interventions used in cardio/pulmonary physical therapy.
  5. Discuss major cardio/pulmonary illnesses.

Geriatric/ Pediatric

  1. Describe the general features of common pediatric conditions seen by a PT or PTA.
  2. Describe aspects of the patient/client examination that are unique to pediatric clients.
  3. Define the general features of physical therapy treatment approaches for pediatric clients.
  4. Identify reasons that a physical therapist would modify an intervention for an older person.
  5. Explain why interdisciplinary approach is important when developing a plan of care for an older person

Culture

  1. Identify personal values
  2. Identify personal stereotypes held toward individuals with different backgrounds and implement these strategies for change
  3. Identify strategies to address religious or cultural barriers to patient/client participation in physical therapy interventions for given case studies
  4. Adapt verbal communication to reflect sensitivity to cultural differences in a role-play situation

Roles

  1. Identify the members of the rehab team and their roles
  2. Describe the differences in role function and supervisory relationships of the PT, PTA and other healthcare personnel
  3. Describe the roles and relationship of the physical therapist and the physical therapist assistant.
  4. Discuss the provisions within the state practice act as it relates to the roles of and relationship between the physical therapist, physical therapist assistant, and supportive personnel
  5. Describe the physical therapist’s responsibility and accountability for the physical therapist assistant’s performance in the clinic.
  6. Explain the role of the physical therapist assistant in the provision of interventions.
  7. Evaluate skills needed for the role of the PTA and develop an action plan to achieve those skills.
  8. Describe the difference between patient-related and non-patient related activities.
  9. Identify career development and lifelong learning opportunities, including the role of the physical therapist assistant in the clinical education of physical therapist assistant students.

Introduction to APTA and its Policies

  1. Explain the organizational structure of the APTA.
  2. Name the other organizations involved in the physical therapy profession.
  3. Describe the benefits of belonging to the Association.
  4. Define each of the values identified in the APTA’s Values Based Behaviors for the Physical Therapist Assistant.
  5. Discuss opportunities for advocacy through APTA and TPTA.

Practice Act

  1. Identify legal practice standards, including federal state, and institutional regulations related to patient/client care and fiscal management
  2. Compare and contrast the Texas PT Rules and the Texas PT Practice Act
  3. Examine selected PT Rules and discuss interpretations/implications of these rules.
  4. Examine the relevance of various federal statutes on PT practice.

Ethical Code of Conduct

  1. Review the Standards of Ethical Conduct (APTA) and the Guide for Conduct of the Physical Therapist Assistant.
  2.  Examine a given professional code of ethics and identify the underlying values, principles, and rules.
  3. Define various ethical principles.
  4. Articulate the basis of one’s ethical decisions to self and others.
  5. Develop a plan of action for a given ethical problem
  6. Write a report on how your personal code of ethics and a given professional code of ethics would influence your behavior in a given ethical situation.

Reimbursement

  1. Discuss the reimbursement process in health care
  2. Describe reimbursement for Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance companies and health maintenance organizations. 
  3. Discuss recent health care reform initiatives
  4. Define how managed care organizations control health care costs.

Teamwork

  1. Describe methods by which group members communicate
  2. Complete self-assessment of personality.
  3. Discuss personality profiles on relation to effective teamwork.

Communication/ Patient Education

  1. List the various individuals with whom a PTA may have communication related to given patient scenario
  2. Identify the barriers to effective, accurate, and honest communication.
  3. Role play appropriate and inappropriate communication responses for a given scenario.
  4. Describe how oral and written comprehension levels affect learning.
  5. Develop and demonstrate a teaching activity addressing two different learning styles.

Evidence Based Practice

  1. Access literature from a variety of sources, including print and electronic media
  2. Use library resources to search and obtain research articles.
  3. Use various literature sources to identify information on a specific topic
  4. Describe the credibility of given Internet sources.
  5. Define statistical terminology.

Legal Issues

  1. Describe key signs of physical, emotional, substance, and sexual abuse.
  2. Identify circumstances requiring a report of fraud, abuse, or neglect.

Community Involvement

  1. Participate in a community event promoting access to and/or awareness of physical therapy
  2. In a professional portfolio, student will submit documentation verifying participation professional and community organizations

Students Rights and Responsibilities

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Log in using the AC Connect Portal

In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .

If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".

Expected Student Behavior

\ Learners must attend, prepare and study to be successful. Learners are expected to be present for all classes and are responsible for all information presented, assigned, and tested over in order to be successful in this course. It is the learner’s responsibility for turning in all assigned work, completing all projects, and completing all assigned readings for the course. It is the learner’s responsibility to read, understand and keep in possession a copy of the course syllabus.
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\ Students are to read the Amarillo College "Student Rights and Responsibilities" handout with emphasis placed on the Academic Information, Student Conduct and Responsibilities, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Education/Prevention Program sections. 
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\ Learners will not use pagers or cell phones in the classroom. All such devices must be placed on silent mode. Texting in class will result in the student being asked to leave the class and being counted absent for the lecture/lab.
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\ When asked, the student will attend class in professional dress including black, navy, or khaki pants for men and women or skirt for women, shirt with collar, shirt able to be tucked into pants at waist upon request, and closed toe white tennis shoe or colored dress shoe with heel not exceeding 1 inch with socks or hosiery to compliment pant/skirt. Amarillo College Badge/ID's are also part of the professional dress to be worn and are expected whenever the student is participating in off-campus program-related activities.
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\ Jewelry and cologne are to be kept to a minimum. No tattoos are allowed to be seen or show at off-campus activities. Piercings allowed are a single pair of ear studs for women only. All other piercings on men and women must be removed prior to entering off-campus sites. If professional dress code is not followed the student will receive a 0 grade for the day, will not be allowed to accompany the class on assignment and will not have an option to makeup the assignment.
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\ Courtesy and respect are expected between the learner and instructor. Learners are expected to be attentive to instructor and guests and oral presentations of other learners. Learners are to extend highest respect to patients/clients/others when making off campus contact. Lack of regard to this expectation at any time by any single learner or group of learners may result in immediate dismissal of the learner/s from the situation by the instructor, guest lecturer, or patient/client/other.
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\ Dishonesty in the classroom or in completing any assignment will not be tolerated.  Students demonstrating academic dishonesty as defined in the "Student Rights and Responsibilities" publication will receive a grade of "F" in the course and will be subject to all PTA Program policies regarding course failure.
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\ Student Grievance: A student who has a problem with the course or course instructor should make every attempt to resolve the problem with the course instructor.  If that is not successful, the student may appeal the decision of the instructor to the program director, Allied Health Dean, Dean of Instruction, and the Amarillo College President - IN THAT ORDER.

Grading Criteria

GRADING CRITERIA

"See Me..." Project                                                               5%

What Got You Here Assignments                                        10%

 Quizzes  (memory and reading)                                          10%

Professional Development                                                   10%

Tests (3)                                                                                30%

Final                                                                                      35%

 
The lowest quiz grade on the memory quizzes will be dropped
 
If the midterm grade is failing as indicated by the grade report, the student must contact the course instructor to schedule a planning meeting. At this meeting, the student will be expected to develop an action plan for successful completion of the course. This action plan should include a detailed study schedule, should identify any areas of weakness in understanding course content, and must include methods/strategies that will be used to correct the learning deficit. Failure to meet with the instructor or to complete the action plan will result in a 10 point deduction from the final grade.
 
THE INSTRUCTOR WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR REMINDING STUDENTS OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO COMPLETE THE MIDTERM PROCESS. THE INSTRUCTOR WILL TREAT ALL STUDENTS AS ADULTS AND WILL THEREFORE EXPECT THE STUDENT TO APPROACH THE INSTRUCTOR TO DISCUSS ANY CLARIFICATION OF THESE GUIDELINES.
 
Test/application exams will be available for review for one week following the return of the graded exam/application. The exam/applications will be kept in the instructor’s office; each student will need to set up an individual time to review the materials.
 
Students are responsible for correctly completing their scantron sheets. Once the scantron is turned into the instructor, no changes will be allowed on the scantron. Therefore, we strongly recommend you are careful with imprinting your responses.
 
If a student receives a failing grade on a practical or exam, the student must attend a tutorial session for the class.  The student will not be allowed to take any future exam/practical in the course until they complete the tutorial session.
Tutorial sessions for this course will be from 1:30 – 2:30 every Wednesday in room 165.  As previously stated, tutorials are mandatory if a student has failed a practical or exam but will be optional for all other students in the course.
Tutorials are part of an adult learning environment thus, no children, pets, spouses, roommates, etc. will be allowed to attend the tutorial sessions.
 
GRADING SCALE:
A = 100-92.5
B = 92.4-83.5
C = 83.4-74.5
 F = 74.4-0
Note: A grade of C or better is required to complete the PTA major.  

All assignments are due AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS TIME on the assigned due date.  NO LATE HOMEWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED.

 There will be NO make-ups on quizzes, homework assignments, or the final exam.  Absence of a test or application exam results in a five-point deduction from the earned grade.  All absences will be treated equally, regardless of the reason.  The student should expect to take the missed examination the day the student returns to school unless otherwise notified by the instructor.  It is the responsibility of the student to seek out the lead instructor and inform the instructor that he/she is present.  If the student fails to notify the lead instructor of his/her return to school, an additional five(5) point penalty will be applied for each day of the week that the student has returned to school and has not taken the missed exam.  The make-up test or make-up application exam may vary in format from the original examination.

 

Attendance

Attendance is required for successful completion of all lectures and labs in the Physical Therapist Assistant program.  At the beginning of each lecture and lab, students will be expected to sign the roster provided by the course instructor.  Even if a student is present in class and seen by the instructor, failure to sign in will result in the student being marked absent for attendance purposes.  If a student signs in another student, both students will be counted absent.  Each student will be allowed only one absence for lecture only courses and two absences for lecture/lab courses.  After the first absence for lecture courses and second absence for lecture/lab courses, a penalty of five points will be deducted from the student's final test grade for each subsequent absence.  For example, a student who misses 3 lectures in a lecture only course will have 10 points deducted from his/her final test grade in that course.  A student will be considered "tardy" if he/she arrives to class 1-10 minutes late or leaves before class is dismissed by the instructor.  Two "tardies" will be considered one absence.  Students arriving to class after 10 minutes will not be permitted to enter the lecture or lab until the next course begins.  Exceptions to this policy will only be made under extenuating circumstances and only if the course instructor receives the appropriate written documentation to support the event within  days of the absence. 

Full attendance of class time is also expected.  A student will be counted as “absent” if the student is out of class more than 20 minutes of a class time. For example, if in a given day a student arrives 10 minutes late to class, takes an extra 5 minutes for break and leaves class for 5 minutes for any reason(phone calls, appointments, bathroom breaks, illness), that student is then considered “absent” for the day. This type of absence counts in the total number of absences resulting in lowering of the final course grade. 

Calendar

Students are expected to bring 1 scantron form, unless otherwise instructed, for all major tests/exams.

The final exam for this course will be comprehensive.

  

Profession of Physical Therapy

Fall 2015 Tentative Schedule

Week 1            Musculoskeletal Conditions

Reading Assignments: Pagliarulo Ch. 8, Goldsmith Ch. 1

Week 2            Neuromuscular Conditions, See Me

Reading Assignments: Pagliarulo Ch. 9, Goldsmith Ch. 2

  •  “See Me…” Projects Due

Week 3            Integumentary, Cardiovascular, Pulmonary

Reading Assignments: Pagliarulo Ch. 10 and 11, Goldsmith 3

  • Memory Quiz #1
  • Reading Quiz over Ch. 8-11

Week 4            Geriatric/Pediatric

Reading Assignments: Pagliarulo Ch. 12 and 13 , Goldsmith Ch. 4

  • Memory Quiz #2

Week 5            Culture

Reading Assignments: Pagliarulo Ch. 7 (first portion) , Goldsmith Ch. 5

  • Memory Quiz #3
  • Reading Quiz Ch. 12-13

Week 6            Roles

Reading Assignments: Pagliarulo Ch. 2 and 3, Goldsmith Ch. 6

  • TEST #1

Week 7           Introduction to the APTA

Reading Assignments: Pagliarulo Ch 4, Goldsmith Ch. 7

  • Memory Quiz #4

Week 8            Practice Act

Reading Assignments: Pagliarulo Ch. 5 , Goldsmith Ch. 8

  • Memory Quiz #5
  • Reading Quiz Ch. 4

Week 9            Ethical Code of Conduct

Reading Assignments: Pagliarulo Ch. 5, Goldsmith Ch. 9

  • Memory Quiz #6

Week 10          Reimbursement

Reading Assignments: Pagliarulo Ch 6 , Goldsmith Ch. 10

  • Memory Quiz #7
  • Reading Quiz Ch. 5

Week 11          Communication/ Patient Education

Reading Assignments: Pagliarulo Ch.7 (second portion) , Goldsmith Ch. 11

  • TEST #2

Week 12          Teamwork

Reading Assignments:  Goldsmith Ch. 12

  • Memory Quiz #8

Week 13          Evidence Based Practice

Reading Assignments: Goldsmith Ch. 13

  • Memory Quiz #9

Week 14          Legal Issues

Reading Assignments: Pagliarulo Review Ch. 5 , Goldsmith Ch 14

  • Test 3

Week 15          Course Wrap up

  • Professional Development Projects Due

Week 16          Final

 

 

 

Additional Information

Instructional Methods:

Lecure, professional literature, reading materials

This class is taught by the Physical Therapist Assistant Department.

If you are in need of additional resources throughout the semester, please visit the following site https://www.actx.edu/resources/

Professional Development Projects:

Students are expected to select 3 professional development projects to be completed throughout the course of the semester.  All professional development projects are due by December 2, 2013.  A list of acceptable professional development projects as well as guidelines for completing each project will be posted in the Content section of the course.

What Got You Here Assignments:

During the course, students will be given weekly reading assignments out of the What Got You Here Won't Get You There text.  Many weeks, there will be an accompanying assignment in the form of a journal entry in the Instructor-Student Communication Journal or a post with responses in a discussion forum.

 

Syllabus Created on:

11/30/-1 12:00 AM

Last Edited on:

11/30/-1 12:00 AM