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