Physical Therapy Treatment of Musculoskeletal Disorders

TITLE:

Physical Therapy Treatment of Musculoskeletal Disorders

GRANT RECIPIENTS:

Lisa Kokx, Physical Therapy, Medical Center Campus
lkokx@mdc.edu
Ken Lee, Physical Therapy, Medical Center Campus
klee@mdc.edu

ABSTRACT:

This project will entail the creation of a DVD that includes video segments demonstrating physical therapy techniques utilized with orthopedic patients.
Students often find textbook descriptions and pictures of psychomotor skills to be confusing and difficult to understand. Professors demonstrate techniques in laboratory courses but students are often unable to fully learn the skills in the short time period allotted. It would be highly beneficial for students to be able to review the techniques outside of class as often as needed. This will improve student achievement on laboratory practical examinations as well as student performance in clinical affiliations. Student retention will additionally be promoted by providing students with a high-quality, visual resource that fosters successful attainment of skills.

PROJECT SUMMARY:

The project contains two CDs. Each CD has a Power Point presentation that includes multiple video segments. Approximately 50 video clips are included. The Physical Therapist Assistant Training Videos CD contains videos that demonstrate exercises and activities that are commonly used in the physical therapy treatment of individuals with musculoskeletal disorders. The second CD (PTA Gait Training Videos) contains video clips that demonstrate gait (walking) problems and treatment. Multiple students volunteered to serve as actors for the video taping and reported learning a lot by doing so.

The CD format was utilized as it was an appropriate format for the digital space requirements of the project as well as being cheaper to reproduce. Additionally, it was felt that more of our students would be able to view a CD as some did not have access to a DVD player.

(Note: To view the videos in the CDs, it is best to open the Power Point first.)

Please see below for evaluation.

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PROJECT RESULTS:

Students were taught the content in classes via lecture, demonstration, and some practice. Students were notified regarding the new CDs and shown sample video clips. Several copies of the CDs were made available for library or home use. Students were given the opportunity to “check out” the CDs. Unfortunately, many students did not avail themselves of this option. Later, students were tested for content mastery using both a written exam and laboratory practicum. No difference was found in overall student performance this year as compared to last year. This was likely due to the fact that many students did not take the opportunity to view the CDs. We believe this problem can be remedied by asking each student to purchase their own CD and making the CDs a part of the required “reading”.

Feedback was solicited from the students who viewed the CDs. They reported that the video segments were very valuable in their learning process. Not surprisingly, these students did very well on the examination.

A copy of the two CDs has been enclosed.

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PLANS FOR DISSEMINATION:

The CDs will be copied and sold by the campus bookstore.

Other faculty members within the department will be given a copy of the CDs. At the annual meeting of the School of Allied Health, faculty members will be notified of the proposed benefits of using video clips to improve student learning.

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