During their first semester in PT 5000 Psychosocial and Ethical Aspects of Health Care, DPT Professional students spend 48 hours in a wheelchair to get a sense of what it’s like to live in a world designed for people without full use of their legs.
Students also learn which adaptive equipment such as canes, walkers, crutches, etc. are best suited to address the patient’s functional limitations.
Learning the mechanics of such equipment and attempting to view the world through their patient’s eyes helps prepare our graduates to work exceptionally well with the growing number of individuals living with disabilities.