Managing Post-Operative Conditions

Providing authentic didactic and clinical learning experiences that involve the management of post-operative conditions is a challenge for academic and clinical faculty alike. Even for a well-designed and well-resourced education program, it is difficult to provide students with consistent quality patient/client encounters that involve post-surgical conditions during clinical education. While these experiences can and do happen, often by chance encounters, not all students may have the same depth and breadth of educational opportunity. Further, providing students with a trusted and reliable source of information that is useful, cost-effective, easily accessible and one that covers contemporary surgical techniques and rehabilitation protocols is daunting.  

The Post-Op App

To address these challenges, and to provide faculty and students with up to date information on the surgical intervention and post-operative rehabilitation protocol for 25 common musculoskeletal conditions, the team at PhysioU has designed and released the new Post-Op app as an easy to use reference guide.

The app covers seven body regions including four upper extremity regions (Head & Neck; Shoulder & Arm; Back; Elbow, Forearm, Wrist & Hand) and three lower extremity regions (Buttock, Hip & Thigh; Knee; Leg, Ankle & Foot).  Each body region currently includes 2-5 conditions which commonly require surgical intervention and a post-operative rehabilitation protocol.

Overview of Common Surgical Techniques

Each condition includes a brief text description and image of the surgical technique.  For example, the surgical overview of a bunionectomy includes the following description and image.

Sequentially Phased Rehabilitation Protocols

Following the overview of the surgical technique, a sequentially phased post-operative rehabilitation protocol is provided.  Each phase of the protocol includes a typical timeframe to complete the phase, the patient-centered goals of the phase, common problems that may be experienced during the phase (along with suggested interventions to address each problem), any patient precautions to be aware of during the phase, and finally objective and subjective criteria for progression to the next phase of the rehabilitation protocol.  For example, the progressive loading/strengthening phase (Phase 2) following a lumbar fusion is provided here.

Providing Patient/Client-Centered Education

Finally, and most importantly, multiple patient education sections are interwoven throughout each surgical overview and each phase of the corresponding post-operative rehabilitation protocol. These sections include lists of common patient-generated questions and appropriate clinician responses.  While these Q&A sections can be used to help students learn to communicate effectively and appropriately with their patients/clients, by using the Resource sidebar, this information can also be directly shared with the patient and/or their family member via email to encourage compliance and participation in their own care and recovery.  For example, the following shows the patient education section from Phase 4 of the Rotator Cuff Repair - Advanced Strengthening and Dynamic Stability.

To explore the Post-Op app and many more e-learning apps and simulations, sign up for your free faculty access and start transforming your classroom with PhysioU today!

Deep Dive: Diagnostic Imaging Simulation

Join Dr. Michael Wong, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT, Founder of PhysioU, and Dr. Tracy Moore, PT, DPT, ONC, for a 1-hour session on "Best" practices for using these apps in your classes.

00:00 Tracy Moore Introduction

01:45 Partnership with JOSPT

03:20 Webinar Overview

04:30 Common Challenges

07:45 How are you applyinng content into your Diagnostic Images class

19:13 Diagnostic Images Simulations

46:50 Mini Sims

58:00 Using Simulations in your course

Helpful Links: Complimentary Educator access | Educator resources | Set up a Demo

Deep Dive: Neuro Rehab App and Neuro Sims

Join Dr. Michael Wong, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT, Founder of PhysioU, and Dr. Tracy Moore, PT, DPT, ONC, for a 1-hour session on "Best" practices for using these apps in your classes.

00:00 Michael Wong Introduction

01:16 Webinar Overview

02:18 Why PhysioU?

06:38 NeuroRehab app

32:05 Neuro Simulations

56:05 Key Academic Drivers

58:33 Comments, Ideas, Questions

01:10:10 Macro Sims

Helpful Links: Complimentary Educator access | Educator resources | Set up a Demo

Sneak Peek Into Wound Care: Simulations and New E-Courses

Join Dr. Michael Wong, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT, Founder of PhysioU, and Dr. Tracy Moore, PT, DPT, ONC, for a 1-hour session on "Best" practices for using these apps in your classes.

00:00 Michael Wong Introduction

02:20 Tracy Moore Introduction

04:35 Why PhysioU?

13:05 Graded Exposure for Motor Skill Training

18:15 Wound Care Simulations app

41:38 A La Carte E-Modules

Helpful Links: Complimentary Educator access | Educator resources | Set up a Demo

Key Academic Drivers for the Post Pandemic Classroom

We are all keenly aware of the unique challenges of teaching during the pandemic and in the “post-pandemic” era.  The classroom landscape has changed in many ways for nearly all of us, not to mention the implications for staffing, budgeting, and implementation at the program level. This is why PhysioU is focusing on our 4 Key Academic Drivers–to help faculty and students thrive in this new and evolving classroom environment:

#1 Reduce Financial Burden for Students

Graduate education costs, along with the cost of just about everything else, is rising steadily.  Students often have to pay the price as the cost is passed down to the learner. As educators, the responsibility falls to us to balance cost savings with efficacy when it comes to the resources we require our students to purchase.

While there is definitely some material students can learn well from textbooks (think pathophysiology, human anatomy, and other non-motor skill subject areas), we have been able to carefully phase out many resources in our own classrooms in favor of PhysioU’s video library within our apps and e-learning content. In the long run, the cost of a 3-year PhysioU subscription while also eliminating some traditionally required resources, saved close to $1200 per student at some of our adopted programs. As we continue to build more content into the suite, the savings per student will only grow higher.

#2 Video-Based Resources for Millenial Learners

Millennials love videos. Between social media, video chat, streaming services, and all the like, every industry is driven by video-based resources. Especially in the post-pandemic era, videos are an essential part of every classroom, especially for the acquisition of motor skill development and emotional intelligence.  

All of our videos are filmed in professional quality with a team of expert clinicians demonstrating the key motor skills for entry level programs, based on the most up-to-date literature. We take the heavy lifting out of filming, organizing, and distributing videos. This allows faculty to focus on innovating and scaffolding their students' learning experience rather than getting bogged down with re-verifying links to old videos each semester. Students are also able to preview these videos prior to class time, improve their retention of the information, and ultimately decrease anxiety surrounding motor skill acquisition. 

#3 Clinical reasoning development

Clinical reasoning development is arguably one of the most critical aspects of any entry level program.  Developing good clinicians hinges on the students’ ability to think critically, independently, and effectively–this is why PhysioU has focused so much on weaving clinical reasoning development into all of our apps, simulations, and e-learning content. 

We have built over 90 e-learning and simulation modules based on Bloom’s Taxonomy to naturally guide students through a low-stakes learning experience, all designed to optimize the understanding, synthesis, and eventual clinical application of their didactic coursework. Faculty can use PhysioU’s downloadable learning reports to track their students learning and use them directly through the LMS as assignments to ensure continued engagement throughout the semester. 

These learning reports allow students and faculty to see the past 5 attempts a student has made, their highest score, time spent, and the simulation completed.  Assign shorter microlearning activities ahead of your lab or lecture to ensure students are engaged with the upcoming material or assign it afterwards to confirm understanding and help students review. Whatever you deem appropriate for your classroom, PhysioU is here to support you as you help to cultivate strong clinical reasoning skills in your students.

#4 Supports Students Across the Entire Curriculum

Our last key academic driver is to support students across the entire curriculum. PhysioU is a constantly growing library of evidence-based resources, built to solve the challenges of today’s classrooms. 

One classroom at a time, we have built apps and simulations spanning the entire curriculum in the hopes that both faculty and students have the high-quality resources they need to enhance teaching and learning, support students during clinical rotations, and help bridge the gap from graduating student to new clinician. PhysioU is built to support students from day one through their professional journey into the clinic.

Sign up for your free faculty access to transform your classroom with PhysioU today!