UF Required Observation Hours

[Ember1211]

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So I'm planning on applying to UF this year and they require at least 10 observation hours in an ortho setting, 10 in a neuro setting, and the rest in specialty areas. So I'm currently sitting at 130 observation/volunteer hours from five different clinics. All of them mostly just ortho inpatient and outpatient. I'm worried about the 10 hours in neuro. During my time observing, there were maybe a few neuro-related cases here and there, but none of the places were exclusively neuro.

I'm currently in Orlando and have been looking into getting hours in at the orlando health brain injury rehab. The only problem is that the facility is a 30-40 minute drive and I'm just wondering if there is another option with less commute.

What would you all suggest as far as getting those required neuro hours? I know that we can claim up to 2 different settings for the same clinic. So I'm just wondering if I should find an outpatient clinic that sees some neuro cases or maybe even a pediatric clinic (assuming they see children with neurological development disorders).

 

[DesertPT]

As long as you can report (and hopefully document) that you have seen patients being treated for neurological conditions for the required number of hourse, I think you'll be fine. I would be surprised if they were required to be in a setting that was exclusivly neuro rehab. But I'd call the school to clarify since their requirements seem to be pretty specific.

 

[badgerPT22]

If you can check that you saw some neuro patients at any one of the clinics you observed in, you should be good. Usually neuro refers to stoke and spinal cord injuries, so if you saw patients with those that covers the neuro requirement. Most often its an inpatient hospital setting, you don't need to be in a specific neuro clinic.

 

[DesertPT]

Usually neuro refers to stoke and spinal cord injuries

Just to clarify so that the OP knows what kind of patients could count here, "neuro" refers to any patient with a neurologic condition. In addition to stroke (very common) and spinal cord injury (not so common) this could include traumatic brain injury, neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson's, dementia/Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, Huntington's, ALS, etc), brain tumors, damage to the nervous system by infectious disease, peripheral nerve disorders (Guillan Barre, myasthenia gravis, Charcot-Marie-Tooth, etc), balance and vestibular rehab, etc, etc.

These patients are seen in all settings across the spectrum of PT care, from the acute hospital to inpatient rehab (acute rehab or SNF/Long-term care) to home health to the outpatient clinic.

A very large percentage of pediatric physical therapy have a neurological condition of some kind, however most people usually just think of this as "peds" rather than "neuro". However the school may very well be willing to count peds neuro toward the "neuro" requirement, but you'd have to call and ask.

Once again, if there is any question the best thing the OP can do is call the school for clarification.