Physical Therapy Aide Program Course Description

This course focuses on standard ethical practices and hygiene for individuals engaged in the fields of manual therapy or rehabilitation.

Ethical practices taught include informed consent, right of refusal, confidentiality and personal, professional and legal boundaries.

Hygiene practices include universal precautions, preventing the spread of pathogens, and ensuring the safety of patients and staff in the clinical setting.

In this course, the student will be introduced to the general concepts of human anatomy and physiology and how structure relates to function.

The overall study of cells, tissues, and an overview of the body systems and broad anatomical and physiological concepts will be covered. Additionally, the student will gain a general understanding of the skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems in this course.

Terminology related to diagnosis and treatment, as well as identifying and understanding medical terms in general will be part of the course material. The student will gain an understanding of the relationship between the anatomy and physiology concepts and systems covered in this course with the practice of massage therapy.

In this course, the student will gain an anatomical and physiological understanding of the integumentary, endocrine, cardiovascular and lymphatic/immune systems of the body.

The student will gain an understanding of the relationship between the anatomy and physiology of the systems covered in this course with the practice of massage therapy.

In this course, the student will gain an anatomical and physiological understanding of the respiratory, gastrointestinal, urinary, and reproductive systems of the body.

The student will gain an understanding of the relationship between the anatomy and physiology of the systems covered in this course with the practice of massage therapy.

This course covers procedures in a medical office. Students will be introduced to the rehabilitation team operations within various clinical settings. This course also focuses on the rules of etiquette, standards from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and ethics as they are applied to office and telephone interaction. Additionally, students will become familiar with the creation and maintenance of accurate electronic medical records as they pertain to a physical therapy practice.

Patient scheduling and in-take while providing a high standard of patient customer service will be emphasized in this course and an overview of patient safety will be discussed.

Furthermore, the student will be introduced to the concepts of marketing and other sound business practices in a clinical or a massage setting should the student chose work in that capacity. Finally, job seeking skills will be presented and applied including, resume writing, interviewing and professional letters.

In this course the student is introduced to the theory and application of therapeutic exercise as it is related to the rehabilitation disciplines.

The course will cover the benefits, contraindications, and applications of therapeutic exercises to assist patients in recovering from a loss of functional capacity by improving range of motion, stability, and increasing strength as part of the active care plan or home exercise plan outlined by the supervising practitioner.

This course introduces the student to the discipline of kinesiology and the study of movement.

The student examines the physiological and biomechanical theories of dimensional massage in the rehabilitation of the physically active individual.

Presents principles and techniques of and dimensional massage commonly integrated into the treatment/rehabilitation plan for the major joints and spine.

This course introduces the student to the basic skills and practice of massage therapy and healing through massage. Topics covered are professional boundaries, standards of hygiene, contraindications, Swedish massage, massage palpation fundamentals, deep muscle techniques and an introduction to the human anatomy as it relates to the massage session.

Skills include basic massage techniques, kneading techniques, palpation, timing, sequencing and body mechanics. Additionally, this course covers topics in history of therapeutic massage, the history of Russian medical massage, the history of Swedish massage, and the developments of each as they evolved as a healing modality.

The student will also learn about the massage equipment, environment, and creating that “total” massage experience. Also, the importance of safety in any massage environment will be emphasized.

Specifics are included to illustrate how one should be diligent in protecting the client and oneself at all times: obtain the knowledge required to enable you to practice safely.

Upon successful completion of MT100, students will have the opportunity to practice the full body therapeutic massage routine they have learned in MT100 on clients in the massage clinic.

This will provide the student with an invaluable opportunity for experiential learning and they will be able to receive client feedback and gain confidence as therapists and develop their communication and professionalism as student therapists under the supervision of the clinic coordinator.

Clients will complete written evaluations of the students and the students will be expected to maintain records and perform client intake and document soap notes in accordance with clinic policy.

This course focuses on the development of knowledge and massage techniques to affect deep layers of tissues and specific muscular structures.

Topics include the use of pressure and monitoring pain. Physical skills focus on body mechanics, palpation skills, stretching techniques and deep tissue massage techniques.

Upon successful completion of MT102, students will have the opportunity to practice the deep tissue therapeutic massage routine they have learned in MT102 on clients in the massage clinic.

This will provide the student with additional opportunities for experiential learning. The student will be able to receive client feedback and gain further confidence in his/her therapeutic skills.

Additionally, the student is able to further develop their communication skills and professional demeanor as student therapists under the supervision of the clinic coordinator.

Clients will complete written evaluation of the student’s deep tissue massage skills and the students will maintain records and client intake and document soap notes in accordance with clinic policy.

This course introduces the student to the basic skills and practice of pre and post athletic event rehabilitative massage therapy. Emphasis is placed on applying Russian sports massage to areas of the body to be exerted before an athletic event, as well as, therapeutic massage after athletic activities. Topics covered include Theory, application, benefits and contraindications to Russian sports massage therapy, as well as specific application methods of pre and post event rehabilitative massage.

Furthermore, the student will be introduced to the theory and application of various stretching techniques employed in the rehabilitative and bodywork disciplines. The methods covered will instruct the student on the benefits, contraindications, and applications of facilitated and active stretches, including straincounterstrain, proprioceptive neurological facilitation, and range-of-motion stretching and how they may be employed to improve a patient’s mobility, balance, functional capacity, and overall performance.

This course concentrates on recognition and treatment of common musculoskeletal pathologies; covers identification of dysfunctions, creation of specific treatment plans, and ways that manual therapy affects both the diseases themselves and their consequences.

Additionally, the course provides the student with an overview of the contraindications involved when providing patient care across a variety of clinical settings.

The focus will be on contraindications to manual and rehabilitative treatment protocols with instruction on how these can be extrapolated to additional clinical environments.

This course introduces the student to thebasic skills and practice of physical therapy as it relates to the physical therapy aide.

Topics covered are the history of physical therapy, professional boundaries and standards of hygiene. An overview of physical therapy facilities, medical terminology and charting methods are also learned.

This course introduces the student to the various types of physical therapy modalities used in physical therapy and rehabilitation.

Body mechanics, therapeutic exercise, gait training and basic treatment methods are learned. In this course the student will also be introduced to the use of physical agents for rehabilitation in the physical therapy setting.

Instruction will be provided in the benefits, contraindications, and process of application for hot and cold therapies, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, mechanical traction, postural restoration, and body mechanics in the physical therapy setting. Students develop skills in utilizing these modalities and procedures in assisting with the comprehensive implementation of a physical therapy treatment plan.

This course introduces the student to various types of massage as it pertains to specific regional injuries and extremity assessment and rehabilitation as part of a comprehensive physical therapy treatment plan.

Topics will focus on manual traction, segmental spinal mobilization and manual treatment of the distal extremities including the elbow, wrist, hand, ankle and foot, including benefits, contraindications, theory and applications of regional therapeutic massage and manual therapy for the distal extremities.

This course provides in-depth instruction in the science of injury and rehabilitation and the use of physical agents based on evidence based outcomes in rehabilitative physical therapy practice.

Topics covered include theory, practice, contraindications, and expected outcomes when applying physical agents within in a program of rehabilitation.

This course helps prepare the student to take the M-BLEX exam in order to become certified as a massage therapist with the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC).

Topics covered will include the application process, study skills, an overview of study aids and how to use them, a review of the topics that may be encountered on the exams and opportunities to take practice exams to help the student with test-taking skills.

Students will be working as a physical therapy aide in a clinical rehabilitative setting under the supervision of a physical therapist or chiropractor. The extern will perform direct patient care activities and indirect patient care activities at the discretion of the supervising practitioner.

Activities may include application of therapeutic massage, use of physical agents, cleaning or organization of supplies, ordering of equipment, patient transfer and transport, record-keeping and proper documentation of care.

The supervising practitioner is tasked with managing and evaluating the student's performance weekly to provide the student the needed input for successful employment in a rehabilitative clinical setting upon graduation.