Home Study Course

Oregon Physical Therapy Association - 503-262-9247

Medical Screening for the Physical Therapist
Home Study Course

- On-line Registration Form
- Event Brochure and Registration Form

Course Description

These courses are intended to be stimulating and practical with an interactive format. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, speech language pathologists, and physical therapist assistants may find this course information useful in their practice settings.

Course content is not intended for use outside the scope of the learner’s license or regulation. Clinical continuing education should not be taken by individuals who are not licensed or otherwise regulated, except as they are involved in a specific plan of care.

Medical Screening Course – 12-Hour
The 12-hour course is designed to introduce the physical therapist to the presentation of illness and the concept of differential diagnosis. The standard techniques of the medical history and physical examination will be explored in detail. Realistic case-based presentations will be utilized to prepare the participant to recognize situations requiring referral to a physician. Particular detail will be focused on the differential diagnosis of pain syndromes, highlighting conditions requiring emergent and urgent physician referral. In addition, a summary of diagnostic imaging modalities will be reviewed, with emphasis on their sensitivity and limitations. An overview of pharmacotherapy will be provided as well, with emphasis on medication that could influence response to physical therapy.

Medical Screening Refresher – 6-Hour
The 6-hour course is designed as a refresher for the therapist who has completed the initial 12-hour Medical Screening course. A more condensed overview of the basic components of the history and physical examination, update in imaging and pharmacology will be presented. More detailed case-based presentations will allow refinement of the therapist’s skills in differential diagnosis and appropriate referral. Cases will include typical and atypical presentation of disease, how to recognize unstable and potentially catastrophic illness with minimal symptoms, and techniques to elicit psychopathology that may enhance a patient’s symptomatology or impair their response to physical therapy.

Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will have an understanding of:

the types of musculoskeletal pain, pain sources and innervation.
the concept of referred visceral organ and structure pain that can present as musculoskeletal pain and the most common serious disorders which may appear to be musculoskeletal in origin.
regional medical differential diagnosis of serious musculoskeletal pain problems including cervical, shoulder, thoracic, chest lumbar, SI, hip and leg.
dermatological disorders related to injury, infectious conditions, cancer, and other skin disorders, which may produce pain.
medications and side effects.
infectious disease, including upper respiratory tract infection, gastroenteritis, urinary tract infection, meningitis, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and HIV infection.
first aid issues in the therapy department, including asthma, cardiovascular disorders, blood pressure assessment, hypertension, syncope, diabetes, hypoglycemia, and allergic reactions.
radiology and imaging techniques.
the parameters of scanning exam for skin, neck, chest, abdomen and inguinal regions.
practical skills to deal with patient emotions and attitudes and to decrease stress.

Instructors

Richard Gicking, MD, FACP, received his medical degree from George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C. and completed his Internal Medicine residency in 1995 at the Legacy Internal Medicine Program, Portland, Oregon. Prior to joining the Legacy Clinic at Good Samaritan in 1997, Dr. Gicking maintained a very busy primary care clinic serving a large rural logging community. Dr. Gicking has served as the Vice Chair of Medicine at Legacy Portland Hospitals since 1999. He also currently serves on the Patient Care Committee and Managed Care Committee for the Legacy Portland Clinics and the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee for Legacy Portland Hospitals. Dr. Gicking’s current internal medicine/ geriatrics practice includes outpatient continuity care as well as hospital management for general adult populations and frail elderly panels as well as hospital teaching and supervision of Medicine residents and medical students.

Jill Pruett, MD, received her medical degree from Cornell University Medical College, New York, New York and completed her Internal Medicine Chief Residency in 1997 at the Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon. Dr. Pruett began her practice at the Mullikin Medical Center prior to joining Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in 1999 where she is a hospitalist and Legacy IM Program ward attending. Dr. Pruett is board certified in internal Medicine and belongs to the American College of Physicians and National Association of Inpatient Physicians.

Important Information

Home Study Basics - How Does It Work?

Use the enclosed form to order your DVD set from OPTA.
OPTA will mail you a confirmation letter, DVD set, course handouts, timecode postcard, exam, and evaluation form.
View the full course and fill in the timecode postcard while viewing the material.
Complete the exam.
Mail the timecode postcard, exam, and evaluation form to OPTA for verification of codes and scoring of exam.
OPTA will mail you the CE certificate, upon receipt of your timecode postcard, passing exam, and completed evaluation form.

Test Policy
You can receive one test per purchased course if requested at the time of purchase. Simply check the box on the order form that says "I am taking this course for CE credits and will need a test administered as a part of those requirements."

It is the policy that OPTA will not release the test answers to individuals who have taken the Medical Screening course. The questions may be used again on future exams; therefore, giving out the answers would jeopardize the credibility of the exam. It is our desire to provide quality education to the physical therapy profession. We believe the Medical Screening course is a valuable tool that enables physical therapists to practice in a knowledgeable manner when working with Direct Access.

Individuals wishing to complete the examination for CE credits will have one attempt under one purchase price. If an individual does not pass with a passing rate of 80% he or she will need to retake the entire course.
Test results will be provided upon completion of the test and will be mailed within 3 weeks.

Technical Information

The home study (DVD) course is fully compatible with Windows operating systems.
The DVDs are designed to play on the DVD drive of your PC, MAC or your home DVD player. Each DVD has a very simple beginning menu with the option of “Play All” or you can go to one of the specific sections that is contained on the DVD. You can stop at any point and return to the menu.

Please note that you must have a DVD driver or player in order to view the course.

Continuing Education Credits
Your course completion certificate will be mailed to you after viewing the full DVD set, completing the timecode postcard and exam and returning both to OPTA for verification of the timecodes and scoring of exam. This is mandated by the Oregon Physical Therapist Licensing Board to ensure the full course was viewed. Medical Screening Course: You will receive a course completion certificate for 12 CE hours. Medical Screening Refresher Course: You will receive a course completion certificate for 6 CE hours.

Purchasing Information

You can receive one test per purchased course if requested at the time of purchase. The individual purchasing the course MUST be the individual who completes the test. Therefore, the registration must reflect the actual user’s personal information.
The purchase price includes access to the course and materials, as well as a test for CE credits (limit one attempt).
If attempting to purchase for more than one person with one credit card, each course must be purchased individually so that each user’s information is entered along with their individual ID numbers. Personal course information does not have to match billing information.

Questions?

Contact OPTA at 503.262.9247, toll free 877.452.4919 or email info@opta.org.