Overview of Health Science Internship

1. HLTH 4200 INTERNSHIP
OVERVIEW
Abby Jones
*All pictures were taken after a photograph consent form was signed by the patient or a legal parent/guardian.

2. HLTH 4200 Internship
■ I completed my Health Science internship at 2 different physical therapy clinics for a
total of 180 hours. I completed 90 hours in Greenville at Kidnetics, which is pediatric
physical therapy. I had never shadowed or observed pediatric physical therapy prior to
my internship, so it was a great to get to experience this setting.
■ My other 90 hours were completed at University PhysicalTherapy and Sports Medicine
(UPTSM) in Fike Recreation Center. Here, I worked with the student population and a
few middle-aged and geriatric patients.A lot of the students that came in played club
sports or participated in intramurals. I want to work with athletes in the future, so this
opportunity at UPTSM allowed me to gain experience in the field I want to eventually
practice in.

3. KIDNETICS
Mission: “Team members work in conjunction with the child's family, physician, and school
to extend all therapies into the child's environment and maintain a continuum of care. At
KIDNETICS, we strongly believe in family-centered care and consider the patient's family
an active team member in all of our programs and services.”

4. Kidnetics
■ Kidnetics is an affiliate of theGreenville
Health System and offers services of physical
therapy, occupational therapy, and speech
therapy.
■ The 9 physical therapists at Kidnetics work
with kids ages birth to 21 years of age with
gross-motor deficits and disabilities ranging
from Cerebral Palsy to Spina Bifida to
torticollis/plagiocephaly.
■ Each child is evaluated and the therapist
creates a comprehensive treatment plan
where they can focus solely on physical
therapy, or refer the child to other therapists
as well.
These pictures were taken outside of Kidnetics.

5. Play
■ Some of my favorite times and
experiences at Kidnetics were when I
had the opportunity to help with the
therapy sessions. I really began
loving working in peds as I developed
relationships with the parents and
kids. One of the major predictors of
health outcomes is the patient
provider relationship.
Throwing a ball with a patient to assist in exercises
Keeping a patient pre-
occupied while we
worked on sitting to
strengthen her core.

6. Linen Bins
■ One of my jobs was to restock the
linen bins when they were empty or
were getting close to being empty.
■ A combination of towels and sheets
had to be placed in the bin and put
away in the cabinet for physical
therapists to use when needed.
Refilling an empty linen bin

7. Cleanup
• After every session, I would help
cleanup the area by putting up
toys and equipment used.
• Before putting the toys and
equipment away, I had to make
sure to disinfect them using a wet
wipe.
• Any mats or tables that we used
also had to be wiped down.
Putting away a ladder during a
session
Putting
away toys
after a
session
Wiping
down a
therapy
table after
use

8. Entertainment
■ One of my jobs was to also entertain. I
had to use things like bubbles and
basketball to keep kids happy as we
tried to get them through their
therapy sessions.Acting like a Ninja
Turtle or pretending to go through the
Bojangles drive-thru were also kid
favorites.
■ During our pool sessions, I often had
time to speak with the parent present
for the session. If I wasn’t talking to the
parent, I was probably engaging in a
water gun war with the patient.Babies and kids love bubbles.
Blowing bubbles can be a
good way engage kids in
reaching and walking
exercises.
PT, Peter, in the pool with a
Cerebral Palsy patient doing
some stretching and
mobilizations

9. Aiding with Exercises
■ At times, I got to aid in the therapy
session. If the parent was okay with
me assisting on certain things like
climbing up stairs or helping the
child walk or simply aiding them in
sit to stand transitions, I took
advantage of the opportunity.
■ These few simple opportunities to
get involved were really exciting for
me.
Assisting this little girl with stair
negotiation

10. LearningTechniques
■ This is called the football carry (don’t
worry, I am holding a baby doll, not a
real baby).This is a technique used
to work with babies with torticollis.
■ Therapists utilize the football carry
to work on stretching the
sternocleidomastoid and to
strengthen the sternocleidomastoid
as well as other neck muscles.

11. Case Study: Cerebral Palsy
 I completed my case study on a patient
that has Cerebral Palsy. I had the
chance to work with him both on land
in the pool setting.
 Though the patient’s progress was
minimal during my time there, every bit
of progress he makes is seen as huge
gains to his family. Keeping the patient
healthy and keeping him from going
backwards is a win as well.
 I presented my case study to two of
Kidnetics’ physical therapists that I
worked closely with during my
internship.
We have worked with my case study patient in the pool
and on land. We, just recently, tried biking with him.

12. Research Project
■ While at Kidnetics, I also conducted a
research project on Hydrocephalus
Shunts.
■ Many of our premature patients
have these shunts implanted to
regulate the amount of cerebral
spinal fluid (CSF) in the skull.Too
much or too little CSF can be
dangerous to the health of the child.
■ I also presented my research on
Hydrocephalus shunts to two
therapists at Kidnetics.

13. UNIVERSITY PHYSICAL
THERAPY AND SPORTS
MEDICINE
Mission: “Our team of highly trained professionals uses the latest healing
technologies to restore you to pain-free health, quickly and easily. We
thoroughly evaluate & treat all of the contributing root factors related to your
issue. “

14. UPTSM
■ University PhysicalTherapy and Sports Medicine is a
fairly new private practice as they just opened their
doors in August 2016. UPTSM is located in the Fike
Recreation Center on the Clemson University campus
At UPTSM the patient population is generally
composed of students, university faculty and staff, as
well as others in the local community.
■ The services provided by the physical therapist group
consisting of Dr. Joe Cannisi, DPT, Dr. Dana Van Pelt,
DPT, and Sally Moser, PTA, are outpatient orthopedic
and sports medicine related.
■ UPTSM takes pride in being able to offer the most
innovative technologies and latest evidence-based
rehab.Their physical therapy services for patients
include: spine rehabilitation, hip, knee, and ankle
rehabilitation, aquatic rehabilitation, bio
mechanical analysis, orthotic foot supports, LASER
therapy, and soft tissue therapy using the Graston
Technique.
UPTSM is located in Fike Recreation Center
Here is an inside look of the outpatient clinic. Therapy tables and
the Alter-G are shown in the background.

15. Treatment Modalities
■ Along with getting to observe
different therapeutic treatment
modalities such as the Class IV
LASER, the ATM2 Back Project,
STM, the GrastonTechnique, the
GameReady, and the Alter G Anti-
GravityTreadmill, I also got to
experience them personally.
■ Each of these has different features,
settings, and techniques that can
benefit the rehab of your patient and
the healing and strengthening
process.
Observing the different techniques of the Class IV LASER

16. Application ofTherapeutic Exercises
■ One of my roles was to take a
portion of the case load through
their exercises.
■ I would check to make sure they
were using correct form.
■ Towards the end of my internship, I
began creating progressions as well.
I would check with Joe to make sure
the patient was ready for the
progression I came up with and after
approval, I would take the patient
through the progression.
Single leg balance with a ball toss
Left: hip extensions with a physioball; Right: transverse abdominis press
downs

17. Alter G Anti-GravityTreadmill
■ I make sure that each patient that is getting in
the Alter G has the appropriate size shorts to
put on.Then I lift the bar to the appropriate
height (should be even with their iliac crest).
■ Once the bar is set at the right height, I zip
them in. I get the parameters from Joe or Sally
and get them going.
■ With the Alter G, we can modify the percent
body weight, the incline, the speed, and
direction.
■ This is an extremely expensive piece of
equipment and is also one of the most
innovative pieces of equipment.Very few
physical therapy clinics have access to an Anti-
GravityTreadmill, so to get to work with and
learn more about the features and capabilities
of it on a daily basis was a unique part of my
internship.
Setting the parameters of the Alter-G

18. Cleaning
■ After Joe or Sally does manual work on
the patient or any sort of treatment, I
clean the tables off and the
instruments used.
■ After patients finish working in the
Alter G, I use a certain cleaning
solution to disinfect and wipe down
the shorts.
■ I also refill the cleaning solution bottles
when they are getting low or are
empty.
■ If we are low on towels or rags, I will
run to the front desk at Fike and get
more.
Cleaning a therapy table

19. Other Duties
■ During my time, I have also learned
how to measure range of motion
using a goniometer as well as how to
complete a patient evaluation by
collecting subjective and objective
data.
■ I create hot packs for patients that
are going to be connected to STM.
■ I also get patients set up on the
Game Ready and fill it with ice.The
Game Ready can compress and ice
an area simultaneously.
Checking
patient’s knee
flexion using a
goniometer
Sydney creating a cervical hot pack
Patient set up in the Game
Ready

20. Behind the Scenes
■ Every day I create evaluation and
assessment packets. I also schedule
appointments and take co-pays. I
make copies of insurance cards and
driver’s licenses.
■ During this process, I learned the
proper protocol for evaluations and I
also was able to study the case load
and the plan for rehabilitation of the
case load.
Filling out an evaluation as Joe completes proper
diagnostic testing

21. Case Study:ACL Reconstruction with a
meniscus repair
■ Along with my case study at Kidnetics,
I also completed a case study at
UPTSM. My case study patient had an
ACL reconstruction with a meniscus
repair using a patella tendon graft.
■ As part of my case study, I included
progressions we could use in the
patient’s rehabilitation plan in the
coming weeks to decrease pain while
negotiating stairs, increase muscle
tone in her right lower extremity, and
develop cutting and jumping control.Measuring knee flexion on my case study patient using the
goniometer.The stationary arm should be aligned with the
head of the femur, the movable arm should be aligned with
the later malleolus of the fibula and the fulcrum should be
at the lateral knee joint.

22. Research Project
■ I conducted research on RedcordTherapy.
Redcord is a form of suspension therapy
that I was unfamiliar with, but was
interested in learning more about.
■ RedcordTherapy follows the Neurac
approach to restore function to and reduce
pain of inhibited muscles.
■ I presented my research on Redcord to Joe,
Sally, and the athletic trainer, Gage.
■ Along with my research project, I also
completed an interview for UPTSM to
promote their student internship and
shadowing programs.
Completing an interview to show to future UPTSM student
interns and observers

23. Conclusion of Internship Experience
■ I had amazing experiences at both Kidnetics and University PhysicalTherapy Sports
Medicine. I enjoyed getting to know and spending time working with all the physical
therapists. I feel that these experiences have helped prepare me for physical therapy school
and my future profession.
■ Kidnetics allowed me to explore a setting that I had never experienced before. I learned
how to work with kids and how to manipulate the environment around them and come up
with supplemental activities to make sure we are reaching the goals and working on the
muscles and movements needed to reach these goals. I learned proper terminology the
developmental milestones kids are supposed to be reaching. I began to really enjoy peds
and getting to know these kids and their families.
■ I learned a lot at University PhysicalTherapy and Sports Medicine. I think it really reinforced
why I want to be a physical therapist and my desire to work in the field of sports medicine. I
gained so much knowledge and understanding of the modalities, techniques, and
evaluation process.