DPT 5020

Credits: 5 cr.

Course Description:
This course provides students with an introduction to acute care clinical practice.

Included in this course are topics related to the clinical anatomy and kinesiology of the hip and knee, especially as they relate to degenerative joint disease and potential subsequent total joint procedures. Related to this, students learn manual muscle testing, goniometry, sensory and proprioceptive testing, muscle length testing, special testing of the hip and knee and assessment of a patient’s functional mobility, as these skills are essential to a typical acute care examination.

Cadaver dissection of the hip and knee is also an integral part of coursework. The primary pathologies covered in this course are hip arthroplasty, hip fractures and total knee arthroplasty. Students are instructed in infection control procedures, as well as in measuring vital signs.

Students also learn how to interpret and begin to make clinical decisions about basic lab values, vital signs, infection control, post surgical complications, and surgical lines and tubes. The application of the basic concepts of normal gait, as well as patient handling skills such as gait training and transfers are taught and assessed.

By the end of the course, the students will apply and integrate appropriate tests and measures to perform an initial PT examination for a patient in an acute-care setting.

Prerequisites:
Successful completion of prior DPT coursework.