My boyfriend, knowing the crazy fan I am about anything PT, sent me this article containing a great interview with LA Lakers’ head physical therapist, Dr. Judy Seto.  I have heard about her through fellow PTs and was excited when she was made head PT of the Lakers.  Here’s part 1 of the interview with her, part 2 is to follow later this week.  

I think she gave great answers, and like how she emphasized that a therapist has to prove themselves and that you can’t just go and sign up to work with a pro sports team.  Hope that helps other individuals looking into doing PT get a better idea of what it actually entails.  

Here are some key Q and As from the article:

MT: Being able to have such an impact on a pro sports team is something that I’m sure interests a lot of folks in or looking to get into PT. What do you tell those that inquire?

Dr. Seto: People always ask me how I got started, saying that they want to work with pro athletes. But no one just jumps into doing this. You have to prove yourself. The Kerlan-Jobe doctors work with many athletes, and they’re not just going to hand someone over who is unproven when there’s a lot at stake. So when you first begin at the clinic, you might start working with recreational or high school athletes, some college or semi-pro, and gain the athletes’ and doctors’ trust. At a certain point you might get a pro athlete and the doctors and teams see how you do. If that relationship or treatment isn’t good, why would they send you another player? But as they start to trust you more and more, you get a reputation of being able to produce good outcomes for athletes. This type of professional relationship grows naturally, and isn’t something you can demand.

MT: Because some people aren’t used to seeing women behind the bench, where do the team doctors and training staff sit?

Dr. Seto: Right, it’s not fathomable for some people to think there are females working with NBA teams. It isn’t common. I think Houston had a female assistant trainer at one point but I don’t think there is any longer. I’m the only full time female physical therapist with an NBA team. But the players don’t care if you’re male or female, not at all. If you can help them, you’re the person.

MT: What does being the only woman working full-time with a training staff in the NBA mean to you?

Dr. Seto: It’s refreshing to know that people are asking me how I got my job, but they’re not just asking me what it’s like to be a woman in the NBA. They want to know about my expertise. That shows progress from where the position was, as barriers continue to be broken down, and perceptions change about women working in sports medicine. I remember my first supervisor telling me that because you’re a female in the sports medicine world, you have to be 10 times better than the guy next to you to be thought of in the same light. That’s just the reality of how it was … and I think he was right. It’s not something that you wish for, but you can’t change people’s perceptions immediately. Now, as long as you’re good at what you do, doctors and athletes could care less about you being male or female. Because I’ve worked with a lot of teams in various sports, they now just send me people because of my track record. And I certainly don’t take it for granted that the Lakers have added a full time physical therapist because it’s not role traditionally a part of a professional team’s training staff though that is gradually changing.

I can’t wait to make my dog, Bear, a therapy dog. Though he won’t be as skilled as the service/therapy dog discussed in this article, but we can build up to that :)

Here’s a link to the photos for a day in the life of a therapy dog:

http://www.philly.com/philly/health/A_day_in_the_life_of_a_physical_therapy_dog.html

Here’s a link to the article that tells you the dog’s story.

http://www.philly.com/philly/health/Not_your_typical_physical_therapist.html

I currently have a patient who is on the wait list to receive a service dog from the company mentioned in the article.  

Any other PTs or therapists have therapy/service dogs at their clinics?

The pic featured in this article (click here to see article), really makes me miss the bay area!  I used to run from Berkeley to Lake Merritt during my training runs for my half and full marathons back in the day.  

I definitely worked out the most when I was in undergrad at UC Berkeley, and then that gradually decreased in grad school at USC, and nowww that I’m actual Physical Therapist and need to promote healthy living and exercise, I feel like I have barely any time to exercise at all since I’m so tired from clinic, home patients, and weekend work!   

I wish I could do what Simon Wood-Fleming does, and go for a job around a nice area and then get back to work, but unfortunately don’t have a nice area or a shower at my convenience ha.  

How do other PTs keep up?  I have one crazy friend who is also a PT who is lucky enough to live a few miles from the beach and a few miles from work (her hospital is on the beach!)  So she can enjoy a nice workout more easily.  I can imagine that people that work 4- 10 hour days have a super hard time finding time to exercise.  Luckily my job involves chasing little kids all day long and that I have a dog that demands to go on jogs the second I step in the house, or else I’d be in big trouble!

I know we were taught about cognitive tests for people with possible Alzheimer’s or dementia, but I never actually considered looking at gait.  I haven’t come across any such patients yet, but here’s something else to consider with your differential diagnosis when you see a patient who comes in with a diagnosis of “gait disturbance” or “impaired gait.”

Here’s a snippet from the article:

Walking changes occur because the disease interferes with the circuitry between areas of brain. Savica ruled out other diseases, such as Parkinson’s and arthritis, as possible causes.

In the Mayo Clinic study, researchers measured the stride length, cadence and velocity of more than 1,341 participants through a computerized gait instrument at two or more visits roughly 15 months apart. Those with lower cadence, velocity and length of stride experienced significantly larger declines in global cognition, memory and executive function. 

Read more here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-07-15/walking-change-can-indicate-alzheimers/56223518/1

Those familiar with physical therapy politics know Mary Hayashi very well.  Here’s another article highlighting how much she wants to stop PTs from progressing in the medical field, and how PTs came out ahead again…

Here’s a snippet from the article:

California Physical Therapist Group Accuses Assemblymember Hayashi of a “Massive Waste of CA Taxpayer Dollars with Her Frivolous Audit of the Physical Therapy Board”

State audit vindicates Physical Therapy Board of Hayashi accusations and California Private Practice Group says her “$200,000 fishing expedition” yielded empty nets and, in effect, “stole” public funds.

Read on here: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/7/prweb9679543.htm

Yay for being slightly less unfit! 

Here’s the article:

Slightly more than 48% of adults aged 18 and older met the 2008 federal physical activity guidelines for aerobic activity in 2011, the highest percentage ever reported, says the early release of estimates for 15 selected health measures by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

As age increased, the percentage of men and women who met the guidelines decreased. In all age categories, women were less likely than men to meet the recommendations. In addition, just over 20% of adults met the guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities. 

For 2011, 8.9% of adults aged 18 and older reported having been diagnosed with diabetes, which was not significantly different from the 2010 estimate of 9.2%. The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes increased with age for men and women combined. For the age groups 55-64 and 65 and older, men had a higher prevalence of diagnosed diabetes than women. The age-sex-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed diabetes was 12.4% for non-Hispanic black people, 12.0% for Hispanic people, and 7.0% for non-Hispanic white people.  

Other measures in the report include lack of health insurance coverage and type of coverage, having a usual place to go for medical care, obtaining needed medical care prevalence of smoking and alcohol consumption, and receipt of vaccinations.  

CDC published the measures prior to final data editing and final weighting to provide access to the most recent information from the 2011 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The estimates will be updated as each new quarter of NHIS data becomes available.