Boulder Run Physio is a PT experience unlike any other physical therapist’s office that I have entered. While most clients at a standard outpatient clinic are people in their 60s or 70s trying to stay mobile, active, and healthy, the Boulder area features a demographic that is much younger and fitter. To add to this, my supervisor, Kurt Roeser, is a semi professional runner and has many connections to the professional teams in the area. This results in much of the clientele at the clinic being a revolving door of professional athletes in running, biking, and Ironman events. This is much of the reason that I decided to intern at this clinic. My goal is to eventually specialize in elite runners once I am working in a clinic myself, and this experience will help me build connections in that world so that I can work in my desired population.
My week was spent doing many of the standard tasks of an intern at a PT clinic: watching the therapist conduct treatment on each client and chat with both parties before cleaning up the table after the treatment has finished. I put away pillowcases and wipe down any surfaces that the patient has been in contact with. I am also in charge of demonstrating any unfamiliar exercises to the patient that they will be doing in their rehab routine. As I grow more comfortable with these tasks, I hope to do some of the treatment on patients that I am more familiar with, mainly soft tissue massage therapy as that does not require the same licensing as many of the other treatment options.
Many of the patients this week were in for hip and low back pain, but the visits go about the same regardless of what the patient is feeling. Kurt begins with soft tissue massage around the joint in question before moving that joint through its range of motion passively. The goal is to increase the range of motion in the joint by the end of each visit. If the patient has an exercise routine that they are working through, I help them through it while Kurt prepares the equipment for dry needling, which is a treatment that many of the patients end their visit with. We then clean up the treatment room and repeat with the next patient. While none of my tasks are hard in any way, I am struggling a little bit to chat with the patients and not just sit awkwardly and watch as they go through treatment. I am sure that with practice and as I get more experience in the clinic, conversation will come easier to me. Overall, this was a great first week of my summer internship and I am excited to see what the rest of the summer brings!
