The Monday Memo
November 18th, 2019 PITT DPT STUDENTS
Pets and PT
Much like human medicine, veterinary medicine is seeing a shift in practice to more preventative care versus reactive treatment. In 2003, the Canine Rehabilitation Institute established a program of Canine Rehabilitation offering a Canine Rehabilitation Therapist Certification (CCRT) that requires one to be a licensed physical therapist in order to qualify for enrollment. Today, there are two places where you can become certified in canine rehabilitation, the Canine Rehabilitation Institute and the Univeristy of Tennessee. UoT also has certification programs for equine rehabilitation, equine taping, canine fitness training, canine osteoarthritis case management, canine pain management, and nutrition case management
Canine Therapist, Francisco Maia, PT, DPT, CCRT offered practical insights for those interested in pursuing canine rehab in an interview published by Emma Lam of CovalentCareers. His advice included: If possible, shadow someone who already works in the field to learn more about animal rehab. Additionally, successful animal rehabilitation therapist needs to know how to educate the family/owner about diagnosis, rehab programs, prognosis, and HEP. Lastly, the rehab concepts are more or less the same as human physical therapy – you just need to learn how to integrate animal anatomy and physiology with your physical therapy knowledge.
Lee, Emma. “How to Become an Animal Rehabilitation Therapist.” CovalentCareers, 17 May 2017, https://covalentcareers.com/resources/animal-rehabilitation-therapist/
-Anonymous SPT