Perspectives Spring 2015

PERSPECTIVES • SPRING 2015 45 touched by the different back- grounds of the selected stu- dents, their desire to serve, and the uniqueness of this program. Then I thought about the stu- dents’ need for patient contact and the simultaneous need of JCHC patients for their skills,” Dr. Price stated. “What better place to bring students, teach- ers, and patients together with a diverse set of medical issues to solve? As I grow in my profes- sion, this is what I call a com- pleted circle. I am thankful for all those involved, but especially to the Levin family, who in- cluded me in the moving white coat ceremony.” Lance Cherry, Ed.D., PT, OCS, assistant professor, who helps oversee the faculty sched- ule, communicates with the clinic staff and organizes the volunteer translators for the PT Department, provides the back- ground on how the partnership was able to transition from an idea to reality. “Dr. Price intro- duced us to Kelly Bell, JCHC executive director, and after a few meetings, everyone agreed that the NSU Tampa PT faculty members should become the physical therapy providers for the clinic,” he explained. “We consulted with Rebecca Rosen- thal, J.D., PT, associate council for the HPD’s Office of Legal Affairs, and completed the re- quired paperwork with the state to be volunteers at JCHC. Seven of our eight faculty members are now registered volunteers, and we send two faculty mem- bers to the clinic every Friday. There also is an open invitation for students to attend since scheduled clinical rotations are considered part of their inte- grated clinical experiences.” Prior to this partnership, physicians referred only those in greatest need to physical ther- apy because there was often a long wait time with a partnering hospital. The first order of busi- ness was to educate the physi- cians and nurse practitioners at the JCHC about referral to PT services. According to Dr. Cherry, “Patients are referred to PT by any physician or nurse practitioner working at the clinic. A referral is placed in the chart, and the patients are sent to the referral coordinator, who helps them schedule their ap- pointment,” he said. “We see all types of patients—from people with orthopedic problems such as low back, neck, or knee pain to people with neurological con- ditions such as stroke. Many of the JCHC clients are diabetic or have a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and metabolic syndrome. Educating patients about the need for exercise is thus an integral part of every PT intervention at the JCHC.” The two challenges for this program are the limited number of patients we can see once weekly, leading to a two- or three-week waiting list, and the fact that 75 percent of the pa- tients speak only Spanish. When asked how the program deals with a primarily Spanish-speak- ing clientele, Dr. Cherry replied that “Most of our faculty mem- bers are not bilingual, so this Continued on the next page... PT-3 Jackie Potter describes what she feels when she palpates the cervical region to Dr. Mary Blackinton while PT-2 and interpreter Katherine Chavez looks on.