Show At Physical Therapy Students Focus on Patients By Dona Bierman Contributing Writer Each fall a new group of students in the Physical Therapy Assistant program program program pro pro- gram begins 15 months of technical studies During the first few classes the instructor Ken Freeman has his students tell the class about them them- selves He has them share their strongest and weakest weak weak- est character traits their tolerance for sitting i in hard classroom desks and their favorite flavor of ice cream Sharing their character traits may be intimidating but divulging their favorite ice cream is non- non threatening Freeman explained All of this information seems trivial but it allows allows' me to begin understanding why students do what they do Freeman said He includes in his teaching the model of illness associated with behavioral medicine Simply this model demands that we look at the biological psychological and social dimensions of a persons person's experience as we attempt to cure dis- dis Nearly everyone on campus has multiple demands on his or her time With the number of traditional non-traditional With the number of nontraditional nontraditional non trad students there are inevitably issues such as child care financial security while attending school or physical disability Ken Freeman a Physical Therapist Professor ease or increase functional capacities capacities capaci capaci- ties Freeman said According to Freeman the most successful and empathetic doctors nurses and therapists operate within this model Most medical teams fail to provide satisfactory treatment because they focus on the biological or physical dimension of the pain experience and neglect or even ignore the social and psychological aspects of the persons person's life Freeman explained students there are inevitably issues such as child care financial security security security rity while attending school or physical dis dis- dis- dis ability Freeman explained Furthermore Freeman stated As educators ft it It may be a temptation to focus solely on the psychological psychological psychological issues of information mastery or skill development We must be careful to recognize the social issues of raising a ly Iy or working while attending school can am interfere with eft effective learning We have to understand that physical difficulties such as a low back pain or migraine headaches have an impact on a persons person's ability to concentrate and to learn leam Freeman said While more advanced courses are being offered this summer a new group of s students t u den t s beg begin i nth the e tee technology h no I 0 gy program this fall |