July 17, 2017
11 month-old Max Sharp receives physiotherapy from Masters level students at the Vi Riddell Pain and Rehabilitation Centre while mom Ashley looks on.
Story & Photo by: Janet Mezzarobba
Max Sharp is like any other 11-month old baby, spending most of his day playing and being loved by his family.
However, when he was just weeks old, Sharp was diagnosed with a severe visual impairment. This caused him to develop a muscular condition in his neck called Torticollis.
Sharp began working with specialists at Alberta Children’s Hospital (ACH) to address his condition. He also benefited from working with students studying to become occupational therapists and physiotherapists.
“The Student Led Program is a group-based learning experience, which differs from a regular student placement that focuses on one-on-one learning with a preceptor,” explains Jodi Boucher, Discipline Lead, Physiotherapy and Therapy Assistants, ACH. “This allows students the opportunity to take leadership roles in learning with their peers, gain clinical and problem solving skills, develop work-readiness skills, and build team collaboration through peer to peer interactions.”
The Student Led Program offers masters-level students the opportunity to work with patients in clinical settings, under the supervision of a senior therapist. The students work with teams of their peers for six to eight week intervals.
“It's always great to have a team working towards a common goal,” says Ashley Ferguson, Max’s mother. “The more people involved, the more ideas and improvements can be applied to patient care, which is wonderful.”
The Student Led Program began as a pilot project with occupational therapy students. As the learning model grew in popularity, the Vi Riddell Pain and Rehabilitation Centre expanded the program to include physiotherapy students.
“It is a unique, collaborative, family-centered program that benefits both the students, as well as our patients and families,” says Vanessa D’Souza, Alberta Children’s Hospital Physiotherapist.
The program uses a combination of peer support and individualized learning, allowing students the opportunity to collaborate and work together as a team, while learning how to work with unique patients and families who have various health conditions and medical needs.
“In addition to having the students provide the intensive treatment these patients require in a timely manner, the program allows the students to gain valuable experience by having them work with the very patients they will one day treat,” adds D’Souza.
Cassandra Harrison is a Masters of Science in Physical Therapy student at the University of Alberta and one of the participants in the Student-Led Program. Harrison, who worked with baby Sharp, says the program and experience was invaluable.
“The program offered me knowledge and exposure to the many different avenues I can take with my future practice.”
Throughout her time working with Sharp, Harrison provided education, exercises, and developmental activities to help him with his Torticollis.
“Working with so many different types of pediatric patients has given me a well-rounded experience. I know my dream is to work with children – this program helped solidify that for me,” says Harrison.
To date, more than 100 students in both occupational therapy and physiotherapy have participated in the Student Led Program. These students have offered more than 400 assessment and treatment sessions to children and families.
Plans are currently underway to expand the program to offer regular clinical placements to students in other Allied Health fields including speech language pathology, and social work.
For more information on the Student Led Program, contact Laura Benard at Laura.Benard@albertahealthservices.ca.
