Health Science Explorers Take on Northwestern Unniversity

Major Trip in our program on Wednesday, March 26th, 2014. We had the privilege to partake in a college tour sponsored by Northwestern on the Magnificent Mile. We visited the 

Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences Northwestern University Feinberg Medical School.

This event was led by actual professors from Northwestern's Physical Therapy (PT) program and several current graduate students! Chandi Edmonds and Tobey DeMott Yates are both teachers in the PT program. They started our visit by asking us how our day was and then describing about history of the program. We were able to hear from two graduate students about the types of classes they were taking and what the day-to-day looks like as a student in the program. We collectively asked and even answered from our hosts and created a new bond with them that day.

Purple is one of the university's colors so our new friends loved our purple After School Matter shirts. After our Meet & Greet, we watched a news piece via ABC about an older man who had been told he was paralyzed but was determined to complete a race up the Willis Tower's staircase. The video taught us that we can improve our bodies through physical therapy and that it can help recapture one's life. 

This field trip was different from other one. We usually are taking notes and asking questions or just listening to speakers. However, we were the only group participating in this program, which was a bonus, and the instructors took us around their campus. We visited the Accelerated Rehabilitation Center and watched as physical therapists worked with actual patients. We saw what it would be like if you were hurt and how the therapists would work with you. After our tour, we participated in an activity where we had to jump off a stoop and then jumped up trying to touch the ceiling. The activity was recorded on a camera and we watched the video in slow motion to see how our body moved. This is an actual activity a Physical Therapist would use because it can tell the doctor where a patient went wrong. 

We concluded our trip with some final questions and even a demonstration of how a physical therapist would check a patient's leg who was experiencing pain. Northwestern offered our team a great lunch and a brighter understanding about physical therapy & therapist clinics. It was an amazing experience!