Option I
Program Options
Option I: Three-Month Clinical Mentorship
Immerse yourself in a stimulating 13-week orthopedic learning environment. You will receive clinical course work, consistent 1:1 clinical supervision and small group tutorials. The Mentorship is given twice per year.
Cervical Rotation With Overpressure
The Mentorship is for you, if you want to:
- Expand and refine your skills in differential diagnosis and treatment of patients with disorders of the spine, shoulder, and knee complexes
- Accelerate the learning curve with immediate feedback from faculty members
- Advance your level of practice through systematic clinical reasoning
- Learn strategies to integrate throughout the rest of your career!
Program Design
Pre-Mentorship Independent Study Period
- Before you come to Kaiser Permanente, you will complete 6-8 weeks of directed reading in orthopedic physical therapy and in the basic and applied sciences.
Curriculum Hours
- 105+ hours of clinical work (Program begins with one week of instruction followed by course work approximately every other weekend)
- 55+ hours of 1:1 clinical mentoring and small group tutorials
- 26-hour work week with patient care
- Practical exams with patients, written and technique exams
- Completion of case study and clinical projects
Clinical Course Content
- Anatomical and biomechanical foundations of orthopedic manual physical therapy
- Detailed manual therapy examination and treatment procedures
- Clinical reasoning and Differential Diagnosis: Australian (Maitland Concept) approach to manual therapy
- Indications and contraindications to manual therapy
- Principles of technique selection, progression, duration, and effects
- Principles of overall patient management, including exercise and self-management
- Scientific basis of orthopedic manual physical therapy
Prerequisites
- Minimum of one year PT clinical practice, preferably in an outpatient orthopedic PT setting (More experience encouraged. Each year of experience you bring will help you gain more from our faculty.)
- Prior weekend course work in orthopedic PT or other relevant educational background
Certification
- A manual therapy certification, Level III, in Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy will be awarded to graduates. Graduate credit is available from affiliated universities.