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- Thread starter star04
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star04 said:
Physical therapy would be tough to do from a chair but there are some areas where it might work. therapy in a burn unit could be done. There is a lot of wound debridement and patient education.
The orthopedic and neuro components would be more difficult. I am assuming you have a spinal cord injury. The lower the lesion, the more ortho you could do but neuro requires a lot of transfering of patients and probably would be near impossible.
PT requires the use of your body, probably in ways that I don't even realize. It might be better to use your intellect more than your body.
Good Luck!
The US ADA provides a requirement that an employer provide reasonable accomodations to allow you to do youe job. There are a lot of things you could do in the medical field, in a wheelchair. Some would be more difficult than others. The easiest that comes to mind right now would be to work in a lab, path asst, med tech, etc. If you want to take care of patients, office or hospital based PA/NP/MD practice are all possible. I think you would have trouble assisting in surgery, but that's really it as I see it. Pick something and go for it.
Pat
Pat
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I don't think you would be able to get into NP training, since the prerequisite is RN, which, at the basic level, will require you to do a lot of walking and lifting. I agree with the OP about considering lab work. I think working as a Laboratory Technologist or Hystology Tech might be feasible, though not entirely sure. There may be a research and academic opportunities to consider as well.
You can do pretty much anything within reason. I knew someone in California who went to PT school after becoming a paraplegic in an accident. I also worked at a rehab hospital with a PM&R doc who had just finished residency who was a quadriplegic. Don't be discouraged. 🙂
What about psych/counseling?
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optometry, orthotics, audiology, speech pathology, EEG/ERP Tech....hmmm....i'm sure there are prob a lot more
A career counselor can run some tests and can help lead you in the direction that is most suitable for your ambition and your disability. A community college counselor can help but you probably gain more sophisticated services from a university or private career counselor (masters or preferably doctoral level)
God bless
God bless
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Hey, thanks you all, for your replies. It's been a great help, but I have another question, is there anyway that I could maybe a Radiologist Assistant? I've always been kind of interested in the field of Radiology. Maybe even becoming a Radiologist, but all of the schooling is what gets me.
You could work in radiology as a PA, but the wheelchair may hinder you. Most PA's in radiolgy work in IR, which requires long periods of standing, doing procedures in OR type suites or at the bedside.
Pat
Pat
