Program of the Day: Florida International University

Written by: Harold Castedo-Garcia, SPT

PT Day of Service has created an amazing opportunity for the entire physical therapy to unite for one day with one goal: Impact the world for the better. With the help of all our faculty, students, and key members of the community, we, at FIU Physical Therapy have come together to deliver our contribution. Following our program mission to contribute to the health of our community, we will be volunteering at the Miami Kids Triathlon.

Working with a young population will allow us to have an exponentially positive effect as we encourage the youth of Miami to continue to engage in healthy lifestyles, and with over 30 participants, we plan on making this event nothing short of awesome. 

On a larger scale, our inspiration to join PT Day Of Service is to be a part of a widespread humanitarian effort that is coordinating to improve the lives of people worldwide at least for a day. However, as excitement continues to buzz amongst our peers, it is beyond doubt that October 17th will have a resonating effect in our global community.

FIU DPT Students, Class of 2017

Program of the Day: University of Alabama at Birmingham

The PTDOS team is proud to introduce our Program of the Day: University of Alabama at Birmingham! Check out what they have planned for October 17th, below, and lookout for social media updates all day on Wednesday, Sep 30th, from University of Alabama at Birmingham DPT students under the #PTDOS. 

Written by Brandon Pendegraft, SPT

UAB’s Department of Physical Therapy is so excited about our involvement in PTDOS!  Service is a pillar of our program and its importance in our profession is stressed to the students through service-learning opportunities that our professors have built in to our curriculum.  The UAB faculty strives to teach us how to be leaders and innovators in the provision of exemplary clinical service, application of new discoveries, and service to address the needs of the individuals and society.  We have been so fortunate as a department to be able to plan and coordinate events for this day in Birmingham and so excited to give back to our community.  

A major goal of our planning committee was to unite students, faculty, and clinicians around the state of Alabama.  We also saw this as a unique opportunity to serve side-by-side with students from different schools and clinicians from all backgrounds.  To do this, we sought out opportunities of a wide variety and made strong efforts to get the word out around the state.  We have been overwhelmed by the excitement to get involved.  To date, we have students from 3 AL DPT programs as well as several faculty and clinicians signed up to serve in Birmingham, totaling to over 70 participants!  We can’t wait to continue growing this number and the excitement.

For PTDOS, UAB will continue to serve at Equal Access Birmingham (a UAB student-led medical clinic) and as a part of the I Can Do It, You Can Do It Program.  We have also found opportunities to modify a home through adding a wheelchair ramp, build tricycles with AMBUCS, serve at Ronald McDonald House, Red Barn, FairHaven Community Center, COA Weight Management Clinic, and help in the build of a fully ADA compliant UAB Habitat House. 

We are so excited about giving back and using our unique skills as Physical Therapists on PTDOS.  We have no clue the impact that we can make through small actions and gifts of service that we have planned, but we cannot wait to share our stories and here about the successes all around the world. 

Learn more about what the University of Alabama at Birmingham students and faculty are doing via on PTDOS: http://www.uab.edu/shp/pt/125-uncategorised/113-pt-day-of-service

Ambassador Spotlight: Nai-Jia Yao of the Asia Physical Therapy Student Association

Why are you passionate about service?

There is more happiness in giving that in receiving. Helping others is an ability. It also represented what you have and how much you can give – not only the material life but also the spirit. Moreover, we can learn how to communicate and cooperate with partners, how to interact with participants and get some time for reflection from different viewpoints.

Tell us your favorite service memory

I participated in Traditional Medicine Services of National Taiwan University for three years, and also was the leader of physical therapy team (PT team). This volunteer medical social service was aimed to provide medical care and health education in rural area of Taiwan. The area we served in Taiwan was in the mountains. Every morning, people can wake up with birdsong and enjoy the beautiful landscapes. We also tried to live and work as the aboriginals in their church to understand the residents’ life styles and possible reasons of their diseases.

The most special point is: this service was composite of Chinese traditional medicine, western medicine and physical therapy. Therefore, we can not only provide the service for residents but also interact with other professions. It is a great opportunity to promote PT – from general population to clinicians!

Nai-Jia participating in the Traditional Medicine Services event at the National Taiwan University

How has servant leadership impacted your professional career thus far as a student?

In National Taiwan University, teachers and students have been taught to share what we have and help others all the time. We have lots of opportunities to join services when we were students, such as volunteers of sport competitions, World Figure Skating Championships and Boccia. With these experiences, people are reminded to give, share and think for others. Meanwhile, there are more possibilities and opportunities for PT were created, because people know more about what PT can do and these physical therapists have related experiences as well.

What are your service plans/ideas for PTDOS?

We plan to combine PTDOS and the activities we hold in National Taiwan University (for example, the service for athletes provided by volunteer PT students). I hope the service spirit could be reminded again through this act. As a founding member of Asia Physical Therapy Student Association, we will also promote PTDOS in Asia region. Looking forward to the results and event photos of PTDOS after Oct 17!

PTDOS Podcast: The Importance of Giving Back with PT Day of Service

Click here to listen to the full podcast

Reblogged with permission of Karen Litzy of Health, Wealthy, and Smart

Originally posted on August, 31, 2015, by Karen Litzy

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Ghandi

This great quote from Ghandi is perfect for this week’s episode.  Often times we find ourselves so entrenched in our own lives that we forget there is a whole world out there that can benefit from the unique skills we have to give.  That is why I am so thankful for my guests in this week’s episode! Dr. Josh D’Angelo and Dr. Efosa Guobadia are physical therapists and the co-founders of the Global PT Day of Service. They are a breath of fresh air and after listening to this podcast you are going to want them as your new BFFs!

In this episode you will learn:

• What inspired them to create the Global PT Day of Service (and it is a good one).
• How their mutual friendship and respect for each other is a great example of how to live your life.
• Their take on why PTs should be giving back to their communities and how it can help move your business forward.
• Some examples of what they will be doing for the Global PT Day of Service.
• Their vision for the future of the Global PT Day of Service.
• How easy it is for you to get involved in the Global PT Day of Service.

This was such an inspiring interview and I hope that after listening you head over to the Global PT Day of Service, sign up and get ready to be of service to the people in your community. I hear so often that people in our communities don’t know what physical therapy is and what we do for our clients/patients. Getting out there in the community and using our unique set of skills, meeting people in the community and being of service to others sounds like a great way to spread the word about physical therapy!

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” – Mohammed Ali

Thank for listening and have a great week!

Karen

Click here to listen to the full podcast