Observation hours - Strategy?

[ammonihah99]

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I just started my sophomore year and want to get good quality observation hours and not be rushed about it. Through researching these boards, it seems that acute care is the most important, so I figured I'd start there first. I filled out an application and called a large hospital (Banner Desert MC/Cardon Children's MC for those in AZ) to get acute hours and they won't even be able to schedule an interview until late October. They also require letters of reference, a minimum of 40 hours in the gift shop, and a 6 month to 1 year commitment of a once-weekly 4 hour shift. I got time, so I don't have any problem doing any of these things as long as I get to work in the PT department, which doesn't seem like a sure thing. I just don't want to go through months of waiting and working in the gift shop to be placed somewhere outside of PT.

There is a local rehab center http://www.santemesa.com that looks maybe like a sub-acute facility, but I can't be sure because they mention skilled nursing (or is it both?). Then there's this one in Scottsdale http://www.***********scottsdale.com that says it's acute.

(Edit: I don't know why it won't let me enter the name of the one in Scottsdale. It's www.health south scottsdale.com without the spaces.)

Should I wait it out and go with the big hospital? Or would you recommend a more intimate setting like these smaller facilities? Should I even do acute first? If you could start over again, would you do the observation settings in a particular order?

 

[markelmarcel]

It seems like acute care is the hardest, especially in a hospital setting, but you could also try out a long-term care/rehab facility if there's any in the area. To be honest, I barely had any acute hours, but I had lots of other experiences so it made up for what I was potentially lacking with acute care.

 

[jgold72288]

Just wait it out for a little bit on the acute care and get outpatient in the meantime.

 

[Litlwarrior08]

I am in AZ as well. West side of the valley. ***********.com here is a link for the one in Peoria (the *** are ***********--it is odd that the link does not show up on the forum) http://www.***********valleyofthesun.com/default.asp They had a waiting list this summer, but I kept bugging them and got in earlier. Also check the senior rehab/geriatric homes... they do in and out patient and have different levels of services......Beatitutes is one. I had a heck of a time finding a hospital that was taking PrePT students. John C Lincoln also had a waiting list at both campuses. I contacted the PT depts first so the lead PT would know my name and desires. Luckily she does both campuses. Many of the hospitals make you go through the volunteer dept and orientation; finger printing, TB / drug testing, handbook, get the logo shirt, etc. I was tied into the 40 hour...1X per week for 10 weeks minimum. I was able to report to the PT dept. Right now I don't have time to ans. phones, act as hospital guide, etc. Good luck. Don't forget the public and special education sites......

 

[ammonihah99]

That's the thing, I don't know how many facilities are categorized "acute". When I think of acute I think of major hospitals. But there seems to be a bit of confusion as to what is acute care vs. inpatient. At least that's what I'm reading from these boards. People write that they have 100 hrs of inpatient observation hours, for example. Is it inpatient settings in general or specifically acute care that is the most important observation setting for applications? If it's inpatient hours in general then that helps widen the field a bit for me.

I don't know how the application works, as I obviously haven't filled one out, but on the PTCAS website it doesn't delineate between inpatient and outpatient, they separate settings into the 7 (or eight if you further separate rehab/sub-acute) categories with little mention of inpatient or outpatient.

 

[okramango]

I've been confused about the same thing. I've been trying to get hospital observation hours since last April. One hospital wanted me to volunteer in the gift shop for 50 hours first, and then maybe I could be transferred to PT. I decided to decline that one and keep looking. I've finally found a Rehab Dept at a hospital about an hour away from my home that will let me shadow.

However, this will be at an Inpatient Rehab facility in the hospital. Does this count as acute? Subacute? Many schools I am interested in say that they need a minimum amount of acute observation hours. I am wondering if inpatient rehab facilities in hospitals fall under this category.

 

[ammonihah99]

I'm pretty sure that all acute is inpatient, but not all inpatient is acute. PTCAS lists this for rehab hospitals:

Rehabilitation Hospital: Physical therapy is provided to individuals that are admitted to a facility or rehabilitation unit with the goal of providing intense therapy to improve the person’s ability to care for themselves (typically three hours or more per day).

But they list this for acute facilities:

Acute Care - Physical therapy is provided to individuals that are admitted to a hospital for short term patient care for reasons such as illness, surgery, accident, or recovery from a trauma. The goal in this setting is to discharge the person as soon as they are medically stable and have a safe place to go.

I think both are inpatient, but they go to a rehab hospital or sub-acute facility after they get fixed up at the acute facility. But I don't really have a clue, it's just what I read.

 

[okramango]

Thanks ammonihah99! That was really helpful. Many schools want acute experience, and that is definitely the hardest to get. I think if you have an opportunity to do it, then take the opportunity, but in the meantime it doesn't hurt to get other types of experience as well. It's great that you still have quite a bit of time. I'm applying next summer and one school requires 100 hours of acute, so I'm getting a bit nervous about that. Good luck!

 

[ammonihah99]

Did you find a school that requires specifically acute hours? I scoured the schools and could only find suggestions of obtaining at least more than one setting, but no mention of acute specifically.

 

[okramango]

Did you find a school that requires specifically acute hours? I scoured the schools and could only find suggestions of obtaining at least more than one setting, but no mention of acute specifically.

University of the Pacific wants at least 25 hours of acute: http://www.pacific.edu/Thomas-J-Lon...or-of-Physical-Therapy-DPT/Prerequisites.html

Samuel Merritt requests inpatient:
http://www.samuelmerritt.edu/physical_therapy/requirements

I've looked at so many schools that my head is spinning! You are right, though - most don't seem to specify a specific setting, but some that I'm interested in do specify acute or at least inpatient.

 

[ammonihah99]

Nice, thanks for pointing that out!

 

[ammonihah99]

Just an update, I called the volunteer office to get a straight answer and they finally said that if I pay my dues I can go wherever I want. Not sure how other hospitals do it though.

 

[Litlwarrior08]

what hospital / volunteer office? I didn't didn't have to pay any dues. First I have seen this. You really should not have to. Did you talk to someone in the PT dept. or Human Resource?

 

[ammonihah99]

Ha sorry I didn't mean actually PAY, I meant you have to work in the gift shop,etc. for a while and then once you show you are committed, they'll let you go wherever you want. There was just some confusion as to whether they would actually let me work in PT, or if the hospital would arbitrarily assign me somewhere. I read on another topic that there was no guarantee to be placed in PT in a big hospital, which would make working in the gift shop a waste of time.