Confusion about Shadowing/Volunteering

[itsallgood19]

I know every school is different, but can someone concisely explain what the volunteering and shadowing requirements are for PT school? I don't understand what "inpatient" and "outpatient" mean when people say they have hours in these realms...honestly I have only volunteered in the ER as a general hospital volunteer for approximately 50 hrs. and have not observed a PT yet but plan to. Do these hospital hours account for anything?

What are some examples of inpatient/outpatient and do you need hours in both settings or no?

thanks for any help!!

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[goyo1010]

I know every school is different, but can someone concisely explain what the volunteering and shadowing requirements are for PT school? I don't understand what "inpatient" and "outpatient" mean when people say they have hours in these realms...honestly I have only volunteered in the ER as a general hospital volunteer for approximately 50 hrs. and have not observed a PT yet but plan to. Do these hospital hours account for anything?

What are some examples of inpatient/outpatient and do you need hours in both settings or no?

thanks for any help!!

It is advisable that you get both inpatient and outpatient experiences.

Inpatient care refers to patients whose conditions require admission to a hospital. So these are the people who are in hospitals for major surgeries, infections, major accidents, etc. These people stay in the hospital until they are discharged. You see these patients during their stay in the hospital.

Outpatient care refers to care that does need an overnight stay at a hospital. A big example would be outpatient clinics, and in our case outpatient rehab clinics. Here are where most patients who have been discharged from the hospital go, or patients who are referred for PT for LBP, or ankle sprain, or OA, etc. These people come in, and get out after their treatment.

Three are a lot of areas in each setting. There's inpatient neuro, ortho, peds, wound care, cardiopum, etc. as there are outpatient versions of those areas.

Your ER observations only count if you were volunteering under or shadowing a PT. Your volunteering/shadowing hours only count if you were supervised by a PT-not an MD, a PA, a PTA-a licensed physical therapist. You can certainly put that you volunteered at a hospital ER in your resume, but those hours do not go toward your observation/volunteering section of the application.

 

[itsallgood19]

so, correct me if i'm wrong but if i wanted to complete inpatient care i would have to be stationed in one place the whole time in let's say a hospital (I don't understand how the ER wouldn't count as inpatient if that's when they are staying in the hospital and being admitted). Do you mean i would have to be on like a certain floor the whole time (i.e. the pediatrics floor of the hospital)? What would be an example of a position in a hospital that would count for inpatient care?? I would like to know so i can possibly talk to my supervisor about landing such a position. thanks for the help.

And also, for outpatient care what are some examples? Would this be like a PT building/center? If so, do these hours count under the hours that the PT has to fill out or does it have to be completely separate?

 

[okramango]

so, correct me if i'm wrong but if i wanted to complete inpatient care i would have to be stationed in one place the whole time in let's say a hospital (I don't understand how the ER wouldn't count as inpatient if that's when they are staying in the hospital and being admitted). Do you mean i would have to be on like a certain floor the whole time (i.e. the pediatrics floor of the hospital)? What would be an example of a position in a hospital that would count for inpatient care?? I would like to know so i can possibly talk to my supervisor about landing such a position. thanks for the help.

And also, for outpatient care what are some examples? Would this be like a PT building/center? If so, do these hours count under the hours that the PT has to fill out or does it have to be completely separate?

The reason the ER doesn't count for shadowing is because it is not under the direct supervision of a Physical Therapist. For inpatient PT shadowing, you would need to volunteer where PTs work. Right now I am volunteering in the "Inpatient Rehab Center" inside a hospital, where I watch PTs work with patients needing rehab for various issues such as strokes or accidents. Another department where you can observe PTs is "Inpatient Acute PT". You can see if the hospital where you volunteer has a Rehab Department, and contact them directly about shadowing PTs. I've found that to be more effective than trying to go through volunteer departments at hospitals.

For outpatient, yes, there are PT centers. You can do a google search in your area by just typing Physical Therapy and the name of your city. Some centers specialize in Sports or Orthopedic PT, or Outpatient Rehab. The hospital where you work might also run an Outpatient Rehab center for patients who have been discharged but still need PT. These are just a few examples, but I hope it helps!

 

[Nailey13]

In reference to your question about whether you would be restricted to shadowing on a single floor, in my experience you are assigned to a given PT for a given volunteering session and that PT will see patients throughout the hospital (they of course have their area of specialty and experiences - cardiopulmonary, neuro, orthopedic - but see a variety of different cases which take them all over). This may just be my experience though.