PT Representation on TV

[kttdancer]

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I've been watching Grey's Anatomy and various other medical dramas for a long while and I often find myself annoyed with the way PT is portrayed. I realize these shows are focusing on the lives of the MDs but seriously.... They show the surgeons getting the pt. out of bed for the first times, they show the PTs giving up on treating a difficult patient and the surgeon being able to provide better rehab. It's just frustrating. I've pondered writing a letter to the shows expressing my frustration but I don't know how helpful that would be.

Anyone else ever notice these things on tv?

 

[GTT4DPT]

Breaking Bad had a pretty remarkable endorsement of PT during season 3. Spoiler Alert!

Hank is left wheelchair-bound after a cartel attack. His wife, Marie, gets into a shouting match with the doctor overseeing Hank's treatment. She demands the best physical therapy there is and gets the doc to admit begrudgingly that what insurance will pay for is not sufficient for a best-case-scenario recovery. She finds the best PTs in the area and pays cash for treatment using Walt's meth money (but believing that it's winnings from illegal gambling, I think).

So maybe this isn't how vision 2020 was supposed to play out...But the PTs were clearly portrayed as irreplaceable members of the health care team. A substantial commitment on the part of the patient was portrayed as necessary. Conflicts with insurance companies were illuminated. It's a well written show.

 

[mccomasg09]

.

 

[DPTHopeful2012]

I have always notice the condescending portrayal of PT on tv as well and then I remember watching that season of Breaking Bad and thinking to myself that one of the writers must have a relative who is a PT or have had a really great experience with a PT lol

Interesting... Now I wanna see Breaking Bad! I'm finally done with pre-reqs, so now I have time to watch TV 🙂

 

[greco13]

On Grey's I thought the PT that was helping Arizona (physician) after her leg was amputated was portrayed to be nice & motivating

I've been watching Grey's Anatomy and various other medical dramas for a long while and I often find myself annoyed with the way PT is portrayed. I realize these shows are focusing on the lives of the MDs but seriously.... They show the surgeons getting the pt. out of bed for the first times, they show the PTs giving up on treating a difficult patient and the surgeon being able to provide better rehab. It's just frustrating. I've pondered writing a letter to the shows expressing my frustration but I don't know how helpful that would be.

Anyone else ever notice these things on tv?

 

[PT Dad]

Walt rocks! Too bad this is the last season of Breaking Bad. Best series on TV since The Wire.

 

[kttdancer]

On Grey's I thought the PT that was helping Arizona (physician) after her leg was amputated was portrayed to be nice & motivating

You may have missed the part where it wasn't even a PT helping Arizona s/p amputation and it was simply the prosthetist. There was never a PT involved in the prescription of the type of prosthesis or pre-gait or gait training with it....

 

[NewTestament]

I I realize these shows are focusing on the lives of the MDs but seriously....

Since when does Hollywood portray anything accurately? They'be been maligning, misrepresenting, and distorting history and people for almost 100 years now.

Kevin

 

[greco13]

You may have missed the part where it wasn't even a PT helping Arizona s/p amputation and it was simply the prosthetist. There was never a PT involved in the prescription of the type of prosthesis or pre-gait or gait training with it....

oh.

 

[DancerFutureDPT]

Since when does Hollywood portray anything accurately? They'be been maligning, misrepresenting, and distorting history and people for almost 100 years now.

Kevin

👍

 

[UFGPT2014]

With all that PTs are able to do I think its imperative that we take HUGE steps in revealing our practice to the public via TV or any method. In general, a practitioner is as only good as its patients, meaning we need to gain the trust and respect of future patients through education to provide the best outcomes. If PTs don't become more aggressive than I feel all the gains ( DPT and autonomy) will be essentially pointless

 

[fozzy40]

There was never a PT involved in the prescription of the type of prosthesis or pre-gait or gait training with it....

Quick tangential question...is there a standardized curriculum in prosthetics and/or orthotics in DPT programs?

 

[Fiveoboy11]

Quick tangential question...is there a standardized curriculum in prosthetics and/or orthotics in DPT programs?

It looks like it's required to be accredited based on this document published by CAPTE, see page 32.

http://www.capteonline.org/uploaded.../EvaluativeCriteria_PT.pdf#search="orthotics"

Prosthetists are definitely the experts in prosthetics s/p amputation, not PT's and not vascular surgeons, but perhaps there's a few exceptions. For example, I was instructed by a PT in PT school who exclusively worked with amputee patient's. PT's need to have expertise in monitoring the stump, placing stump shrinker and prosthetic, stump wraping, positioning, gait training, scar massage, etc, and therefore this is most of the instruction vs chosing the prosthetic or whatever. The "entry level" requirements for a PT in this regard therefore would not include fabricating or chosing a prosthetic, but the "aftercare" for sure. Seems to me that the prosthetist therefore should chose the prosthetic for a particular patient, but not surpisingly it looks like they practice "as prescribed by a physician", in other words a physician that has nowhere near the level of expertise in prosthetics tells the prosthetist what to do. PT students are also taught to treat autonymously although collaboratively, not via "orders" within all realms of PT. PT's also know when to alert the prosthetist due to a problem.

Orthotics: I know lots of PT's who mold for custom orthotics and can do so independently.

In order to be an "expert" as a PT within the realm of prosthetics or orthotics it takes years of experience/training with these realms plus exposure in PT school.

 

[kttdancer]

PTs have training in the types of prosthetic available, the different components and what population they are appropriate for. Prescription of a prosthetic should be an interdisciplinary and collaborative effort between the physician (initial prescription), the PT (recommendations based on pt. mobility, prior level of function, pre-gait and gait training), the prosthetist (fabrication and providing additional expertise and recommendations about components), and of course, the patient!

 

[fozzy40]

Thanks for everyone's input. Just asking after a conversation some practicing PTs it sounds like exposure varied from provider to provider.

 

[_FNG_]

Here is APTA's response to the recent buzz/outrage about what was portrayed as "cutting edge PT for LBP" on the Dr. Oz show. If you don't know about this, an orthopedic specialist PT went on the Dr Oz show and described best treatment as US, tiger balm patches, and bumpy balls (face palm).

http://www.apta.org/Media/Letters/2013/2/5/

There have been other posts out there about there is no such thing as bad publicity but I'd love for the general public to better educated about the level of training PTs have and services that we're able to provide.

http://ptthinktank.com/2013/01/19/theres-no-such-thing-as-bad-press/

 

[Fiveoboy11]

PTs have training in the types of prosthetic available, the different components and what population they are appropriate for. Prescription of a prosthetic should be an interdisciplinary and collaborative effort between the physician (initial prescription), the PT (recommendations based on pt. mobility, prior level of function, pre-gait and gait training), the prosthetist (fabrication and providing additional expertise and recommendations about components), and of course, the patient!

Sure there should be collaboration. The end decision should be made by a prosthetist though in my opinion. Not the reverse order, i.e. "prescription" specifying particulars, followed by "collaboration" (which doesn't really exist as it should). No. It should go collaboration, then decision made by prosthetist, no useless prescription needed. The simple fact that prescriptions accompany a prosthetic patient lends toward non collaboration, i.e. just following the script, and this is not remotely in the best interest of the patient.

 

[fozzy40]

End decision should be person who wants to responsible for their health care spending. I've seen plenty of expensive that got reimbursed pretty well but function as a paperweight.

 

[Fiveoboy11]

End decision should be person who wants to responsible for their health care spending. I've seen plenty of expensive that got reimbursed pretty well but function as a paperweight.

What does this mean? That the gatekeeper model is good because it controls cost? No. The gatekeeper model is not good and it doesn't control cost either. What's the percent healthcare spending on prosthetist services? .001%? The paperweight you're talking about was probably an ill prescribed one, doesn't look like the one who made that decision was held accountable or knew what they were doing. And I see lots of failed back syndrome patients but not a whole lot of spending control or accountability for the failures and waste.

 

[fozzy40]

It means exactly what I said. Collaboration is key but there has to be someone make the final call for what is best for the patient. The cases I've seen were typically "evaluate and treat" from the prescribing physician who depends largely on the opinion of the prosthetist. Shockingly the shiny expensive one was told to be the best and it also reimburses the best. A K3 prosthesis for a K1 ambulator. Prescribing doc signed off trusting the recommendation.

No one said anything about failed backs.

 

[Fiveoboy11]

It means exactly what I said. Collaboration is key but there has to be someone make the final call for what is best for the patient. The cases I've seen were typically "evaluate and treat" from the prescribing physician who depends largely on the opinion of the prosthetist. Shockingly the shiny expensive one was told to be the best and it also reimburses the best. A K3 prosthesis for a K1 ambulator. Prescribing doc signed off trusting the recommendation.

No one said anything about failed backs.

Anectdotes are not evidence. There will be cases where non physician providers do something stupid, that in no way means that physician supervision is a solution. Take a look around, physicians do not control cost, they add to it exponentially more than everyone else, much of it being wasteful, take a look at the research. And yes someone did say something about failed backs, I did. That's a great example of a procedure that's exclusively decided by physician's and has a high fail rate, i.e. ongoing severe pain and disability. Not to mention one of the most expensive procedures there is, so an ill prescribed prosthetic by a prosthetist is nothing but a fart in the wind compared to it.

 

[fozzy40]

Anectdotes are not evidence. There will be cases where non physician providers do something stupid, that in no way means that physician supervision is a solution. Take a look around, physicians do not control cost, they add to it exponentially more than everyone else, much of it being wasteful, take a look at the research. And yes someone did say something about failed backs, I did. That's a great example of a procedure that's exclusively decided by physician's and has a high fail rate, i.e. ongoing severe pain and disability. Not to mention one of the most expensive procedures there is, so an ill prescribed prosthetic by a prosthetist is nothing but a fart in the wind compared to it.

🙄 Everyone knows your views on physicians. Anyhow, thanks for the input about my initial question.