Different than PT?

[Liquidice07]

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Hey, if I decide to do medicine, I am most likely doing this specialty.
I have a couple questions though.
1) Is it all self - employed? I.E. you have to advertise yourself and get "customers"/patients to come in and see you?
2) How is it different from physical therapy or occupational therapy? What sort of things can you do as a physiatrist that a PT could not do? What sort of things can you do to actually significantly help the patient? Let's say someone has a "sprained" acl or something. Can you help that rehab better than a PT?

Thank you for all of your great insight!!!!!

 

[bkpa2med]

I'm sorry but your post is ridiculous. Look at the stickies on the top of the forum and you will find your answers.

What kind of question is "what can a physiatrist do that a PT can not?"

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

 

[PMR 4 MSK]

Hey, if I decide to do medicine, I am most likely doing this specialty.
I have a couple questions though.
1) Is it all self - employed? I.E. you have to advertise yourself and get "customers"/patients to come in and see you?
2) How is it different from physical therapy or occupational therapy? What sort of things can you do as a physiatrist that a PT could not do? What sort of things can you do to actually significantly help the patient? Let's say someone has a "sprained" acl or something. Can you help that rehab better than a PT?

Thank you for all of your great insight!!!!!

1) - no, you get to choose what you want to do - be employed by someone else, a group, hospital, whatever, or hang your shingle and run your own practice.

2) - answered many times on this forum, but the short explanation - MD (or DO) prescribes meds, prescribes PT, does injections, does surgery. MD orders tests like labs, xrays, MRIs and EMGs. MD comes up with a treatment plan, and PT may be a part of that. PT does modalities, manual therapy, exercise education and similar.

 

[DOctorJay]

I sure hope it's different, I was a PT and am now in PM&R residency.

 

[fozzy40]

I'm sorry but your post is ridiculous. Look at the stickies on the top of the forum and you will find your answers.

What kind of question is "what can a physiatrist do that a PT can not?"

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

This is actually a very common question among not only medical students but residents and attendings. While it is well-discussed here on several threads, I don't think that we should "hammer" anyone for asking an innocent question. As a medical student that is interviewing for PM&R, I hope that you would be more sensitive to this issue because it's a common question and it doesn't reflect well on the field if you give them a close ended response. I suggest you prepare to have your "elevator one-liner" because you are going to be asked this time and time again and doing it on SDN is the perfect place to start practicing.


To the OP:
This post answers a lot of the blurriness between the two fields:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=720053
&highlight=difference+physical+therapy

Part of the problem with the misconception of our field is that it's not accurately named anymore. We no longer do much physical medicine (use of modalities such as ice and heat) in our day to day practice. Most of our residency training is in rehabilitative issues i.e. diagnosing chronic overuse injuries, managing sequelae of orthopedic and neurologic injuries through skin, bowel, bladder care, and symptom management as the patient goes through the rehabilitative process. Physiatrists are trained in determining when and what therapies are beneficial for patients and how to write specific therapy prescriptions, which I think is different from the average FP, ortho, internal medicine prescription. Writing "low back pain" on a therapy prescription is similar to writing "sick" on a consult for surgery. We are trained to be more specific i.e. flexion based lumbar stabilization, focus on RT hip flexor and IT band tightness, and develop home exercise program.

Truth be told, physical therapists are much better trained in kinesiology, biomechanics, and exercise prescription. It's the physiatrists job to direct what kind of therapy the patient should get and any provide limitations for their therapy program.

I hope this helps.

As a pre-med, I encourage you to look into the field because it's one that is commonly overlooked. It's an awesome field and it's pretty hard to find an unhappy physiatrist😛

fozzy40

 

[alwayslight]

fozzy...if this was facebook...i would hit the "like" button.

 

[bkpa2med]

This is actually a very common question among not only medical students but residents and attendings. While it is well-discussed here on several threads, I don't think that we should "hammer" anyone for asking an innocent question. I suggest you prepare to have your "elevator one-liner" because you are going to be asked this time and time again and doing it on SDN is the perfect place to start practicing.

I don't mean to "hammer" anyone.
I use that analogy to compare Physiatry vs PT. There is a pretty good write up at the beginning of this forum that people of interest should read.
It's pointless to have 1,000 threads on this very same topic.

As a medical student that is interviewing for PM&R, I hope that you would be more sensitive to this issue because it's a common question and it doesn't reflect well on the field if you give them a close ended response

I am very sensitive to this issue but the OP is Pre-Health. I actively inform MS1s and MS2s on a day to day basis.

 

[fozzy40]

I don't mean to "hammer" anyone.
I use that analogy to compare Physiatry vs PT. There is a pretty good write up at the beginning of this forum that people of interest should read.
It's pointless to have 1,000 threads on this very same topic.

I am very sensitive to this issue but the OP is Pre-Health. I actively inform MS1s and MS2s on a day to day basis.

I agree that it can be frustrating getting repeat questions. Plus, I think that it's great that you are educating medical students about how great physiatry is! That same enthusiasm can surely help "Pre-Health" students as well.

As you know, PM&R is an awesome but not well known field with a lot of misconceptions in the public and within the medical community about what we do. We live on a slippery slope and everything that we do and say should represent who we are. Just my opinion...

 

[Ludicolo]

Does anybody else think that bkpa's avatar is eerily similar to the beating the dead horse smiley?