In this unit, you will join the team of physical therapists at the Garcia-Newgard Memorial Hospital Outpatient Center. Working with a cohort of five patients, you learn about and model the skeletal and muscular systems as you explore the patients’ conditions. Along the way, you meet other physical therapy patients at the outpatient center, help diagnose their conditions, and provide treatment and relief. In the problem, you apply your knowledge and skills to develop a comprehensive plan to address your cohort patient’s condition and get them back to the activities they love and the quality of life they want.
Table of Contents
- 1.1.1 Meet the Patients
- 1.1.2 Language of Anatomy
- 1.1.3 Held Together by a Thread
- 1.1.4 Looking Inside Bone
- 1.1.5 Skeletal Scavenger Hunt
- 1.1.6 Break a Leg
- 1.2.1 Causes of Contraction
- 1.2.2 Makeup of a Muscle
- 1.2.3 Building Muscle
- 1.2.4 Mind Over Muscle
- 1.2.5 Joints in Motion
- 1.2.6 Restoring ROM
- 1.3.1 Personalized Plans
Unit 1: Road to Rehabilitation
In this unit, students join a dynamic team of biomedical professionals dedicated to helping patients with illness or injury progress through rehabilitation, getting them back to doing what they love. Students explore the human skeletal and muscular systems as they gain the knowledge and skills they need to design a solution for their assigned patient—involving physical rehabilitation, assistive devices, and overall strategies for physical and mental well-being. Throughout the unit, students gather medical evidence and information about their patient and use what they learn along the way to help them develop a comprehensive health and wellness plan for the patient.
Lesson 1.1 Beginning with Bones
In Lesson 1.1, students meet five patients with medical conditions or injuries that need physical therapy or rehabilitative care. As they explore the medical history of each patient, students practice the language of anatomy, using directional and regional terms and terms for body cavities and planes, to reference the patient’s injury or condition. Students investigate tissues of the human body, focusing on the structure and function of bones. They use their knowledge of the skeletal system to analyze a patient’s fracture and explore biomechanical engineering solutions to repair the fracture.
Lesson 1.2 Muscles and Motion
In Lesson 1.2, students model the physiology of muscle contraction as they assist a patient suffering from chronic muscle cramps. They build muscles on a Maniken® skeletal model, demonstrating how the orientation of a muscle relates to the role the muscle plays in the body and how a patient’s muscles are impacted in injury or illness. They use physiology sensors and probes to monitor muscle strength and design an experiment to test muscle fatigue. To help a patient with a knee injury, students measure and analyze range of motion of the joints, perform diagnostic tests on a dynamic knee model, and practice kinesiology taping techniques guided by an athletic trainer.
Lesson 1.3 Relief Within Reach
Now that students have studied the skeletal and muscular system, they are ready to design a comprehensive solution for their patient in the outpatient center. To create a personalized care and rehabilitation plan to give to the patient, their caregivers, and future healthcare providers, students analyze the patient’s medical data available in a patient medical portal along with the data they have collected in the unit. Students consider and demonstrate the importance of empathy and respect in patient care as they design a plan to help the patient manage their condition, progress forward, and maintain the activities and lifestyle they love.