Summer learning: Class helps aspiring physical 治疗师 learn to 与患者沟通以获得更好的结果

In a classroom of physical therapy doctoral students who have deeply studied the body and techniques for helping people recover, the focus 对于一个特殊的班级来说，是欧洲杯押注网页思想和如何从一个 person's coping mechanisms to family interactions play a role in rehabilitation.

心理学课"健康职业残疾 “心理学”是一门春夏课程，已有近20年的历史 为有抱负的运动员提供了跨学科的见解 治疗师. 这门课由玛丽·鲍尔·鲁萨教授教授 专门研究健康心理学的心理学家.

Russa's goal is to impart to students the importance of psychological knowledge in a clinical physical therapy practice, helping to boost patients' motivation and adherence as well as setting the stage for 更积极的结果.

It's natural for students in such an intensive program to focus on 他们正在学习的机械，Russa说. 她希望学生们 understand the benefits of approaching patients with a holistic view.

"The idea is that we want to make sure when you go in to treat a patient that you see them not as an arm or a leg or a spinal cord or an amputation or a heart attack, but that you see them as a whole 罗萨说. “我们想向学生们强调这一点 they're treating this disability or illness in the context of a person who has their own coping strategies, their own life challenges, their 自己的家庭动态，自己的环境.

“能够与你的病人建立牢固的关系 和你一起工作能让你建立一个让你得到的联系吗 更好的治疗效果. 人们更愿意听你的 如果你想建立这种关系，就采纳你的建议."

In a recent class, Russa and the students also discussed the story of a police officer who was so badly burned in a car crash that 他的儿子 didn't recognize him, he was no longer able to hold a gun, upending his career in law enforcement, and he wasn't able to throw a ball with 他的儿子. 这种对一个人自我概念的影响是 “深刻的，”罗萨说.

美好的一天，感觉很幸运，一瞬间，一个 改变生活的时刻

Charles Pazdernik也经历过这种突然的转变 自我概念. 这位古典学教授已经讲了好几年了 to this class and answered students' questions about the aftermath of 他在2014年经历的严重自行车事故.

He told the class this summer that he had become a passionate urban cyclist who was in peak physical fitness, adding, candidly, that he “感到非常自满吗?.“7月的一天，他死了 bicycling along Fulton Street NE to the Pew Grand Rapids Campus when a driver pulled into his path near Prospect Avenue and everything changed.

帕兹德尼克的脊髓因此严重受伤 碰撞，导致最初的瘫痪. 他恢复了一些 还在使用辅助工具. 坦率，幽默，还有 perspective, Pazdernik recounted his journey, sometimes turning to his 女儿西娅，以更深入地了解家庭是如何受到影响的.

He also expressed his gratitude to physical 治疗师, who were so 对他的康复至关重要.

"There is a need for people in your position to meet people when 他们正处于一生中最糟糕的境地。 说. “令人难以置信的复杂性和判断力给我留下了深刻的印象 这个角色需要敏锐的头脑."

需要了解病人的脆弱和其他 psychosocial considerations is a central reason why this course has been part of the physical therapy curriculum, 说 Barbara Hoogenboom, professor of physical therapy and the curriculum chair for the department. 

“实际情况是，他们非常专注于成为一名理疗师 they've seen of being a PT is the doing – the manipulation of the arm or the leg, the stretching, the exercises – and they haven't always 考虑到所有的心理准备和 能够很好地与病人互动，成为一个 指导和指导，”胡根布姆说. 

This preparation also helps set the stage for what is expected of 胡根布姆指出，临床培训的学生. 她补充说 practicing physical 治疗师 must also be attentive to needs that could benefit from a referral to a different specialist, such as in 心理健康.

心理方面是理疗培训的重点 学生埃里克·埃尔南德斯-莫拉莱斯特别感兴趣 考虑在大学攻读心理学. 他说他有 seen the benefits of motivational interviewing, reflective listening and other communication skills when he has worked in a clinical setting.

“不仅你们的关系更好了，病人也更 willing to be open to your advice and to the recommendations you make 并真正坚持他们的计划，”埃尔南德斯-莫拉莱斯说. "This program really helps give you the whole picture of when you treat people you treat them as a person not just their diagnosis."

Student Katelyn Bonhaus 说 one of the reasons she is pursuing a career in physical therapy is because of her own experiences with 因为受伤，她错过了一个足球赛季. 她看到 the benefit of drawing both on the skills learned in this class and on that tough period in her life, which affected her identity, when 与患者互动.

“受伤后，很多时候病人都很害怕 thing that is important that I've experienced in working with patients 我们都经历过生活中的艰难，”邦豪斯说. “重要的是，能够在人们这样做的时候认识他们 they understand that we might be meeting at the worst part of your life but we're going to try to get you back to being functional and to 做你想做的事."