UW-Stevens Level Physician of Bodily Remedy (DPT) college students Caden Prahl and Amy Griffin work with a affected person on the UWSP Bodily Remedy Clinic housed on the Stevens Level Space YMCA as a part of their built-in medical apply course. (UW-Stevens Level)
An area on the close by Stevens Level Space YMCA serves as a neighborhood bodily remedy clinic, providing free consultations and companies for the general public and hands-on expertise for college kids inside the College of Wisconsin-Stevens Level’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program.
The graduate college students work on the UW-Stevens Level Physical Therapy Clinic as a part of their DPT Built-in Medical Apply course sequence, which begins at first of the two-and-a-half-year program and continues till college students start their full-time medical internships.
“We begin our college students’ in medical experiences instantly,” stated Chris Durall, a medical affiliate professor in UWSP’s DPT program. “Within the very first semester of this system, college students are working with sufferers and attending to their wants. As their training progresses, the scholars proceed to use their classroom studying in a medical context.”
The clinic is presently open from midday to 2 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, staffed every day by three first-year college students, three second-year college students who alternate roles because the bodily therapist, assistant and administrator, in addition to the supervising school. Second-year college students assist mentor the first-year college students, and a UWSP DPT teacher or volunteer licensed bodily therapist is on website for every session, teaching and providing suggestions to the scholars about their affected person care.
“Having glorious communication abilities makes for a superb bodily therapist,” stated Durall. “Our college students have to have stable interpersonal abilities to thrive within the clinic.”
Chris Durall, a medical affiliate professor within the Physician of Bodily Remedy program, supervises the college’s Bodily Remedy Clinic on the Stevens Level Space YMCA. (UW-Stevens Level)
Durall began working at UWSP in 2021 to assist create the brand new doctoral program and the medical expertise, which welcomed its first cohort in the summertime of 2022. Initially the clinic was supplied in a campus classroom, which proved to be tough as a result of area and parking wants.
“This system approached the YMCA about utilizing area there and so they’ve been very accommodating,” Durall stated. “We’re offering a service for below or uninsured neighborhood members, however we additionally see insured sufferers and assist them join with one other native PT supplier if wanted. We need to assist our medical companions locally.”
Ben Hoeger, a first-year DPT scholar from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is on the clinic on Wednesdays. He stated the YMCA medical experiences permit college students to hit the bottom working as professionals.
“It’s a little bit of a trial by hearth,” he stated. “We encounter completely different eventualities that apply our studying to actual life conditions. Our professors are distinctive, permitting us to attempt with safeguards in place. They guarantee affected person security but in addition permit us to use our studying and take a management position. We get suggestions instantly that helps us develop.”
Hoeger utilized to the UWSP program as a result of its concentrate on getting ready bodily therapists for working in rural communities, as he grew up in a rural space.
“I hope to offer remedy companies for individuals who could not have had native entry prior to now,” he stated. “I’ve all the time had an curiosity within the human physique, health and serving to individuals. Bodily remedy brings my passions and pursuits collectively.”
Caden Prahl, a second-year DPT scholar from Iola, earned his undergraduate diploma in well being science at UWSP. His profession path was impressed by his remedy from a bodily therapist after knee and shoulder accidents in highschool. He later shadowed the identical therapist and realized how he too might assist individuals get again to actions after accidents.
“The medical expertise on the YMCA has allowed me to apply my interpersonal and guide remedy abilities, assume on the fly, prescribe train plans, in addition to every little thing else that comes together with being a scholar bodily therapist,” he stated.
Caden Prahl, a second-year DPT scholar, works with a affected person on the clinic below the steerage of Medical Affiliate Professor Chris Durall. (UW-Stevens Level)
“The UWSP DPT program does a fantastic job exposing us to such all kinds of profession alternatives with the abundance of visitor lecturers who convey completely different views on the occupation,” Prahl stated. “This permits us as college students to find our personal skilled targets in bodily remedy in several disciplines that curiosity us most.”
Prahl added that Durall has been a useful mentor on the clinic.
“From nice conversations about medical apply on the walks over to the YMCA, to our mid-examination talks about what the following steps might be with particular person sufferers, Dr. Durall has been extraordinarily supportive of our studying. He’s tremendous educated and fosters a fantastic studying surroundings.”
Durall, who will retire in August, stated interacting with the scholars within the classroom and the clinic has been the spotlight of his profession.
“Seeing them turn into professionals over time and seeing their development throughout affected person interactions as they pull their coaching collectively could be very gratifying. I’m lucky to have the ability to share what I’ve discovered, and likewise to be taught from them.”
Be taught extra in regards to the UWSP Bodily Remedy Clinic on the Stevens Level Space YMCA or schedule an appointment at www.uwsp.edu/ptclinic, by emailing ptclinic@uwsp.edu or calling 715-346-2115.
Written by UW-Stevens Level
Hyperlink to unique story: https://www.uwsp.edu/news/community-physical-therapy-clinic-2025/
