UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 37, Page 6
July 18, 1996
Physical therapy residency recognized as model

     This past year I've been learning about the tough problems in
physical therapy and how to be 'quarterback' with a team of
specialists who are involved in rehabilitation," David Russ, the first
sports physical therapy resident at the University, said.
     The residency, supported by the Medical Center of Delaware and
Schweizer's Therapy and Rehabilitation, a subsidiary of the center's
holding company, is breaking new ground as a model for others.
     It is one of only four such residencies in the country sponsored
by the Sports Physical Therapy Section of the American Physical
Therapy Association, with four additional ones approved but not yet in
place.
     The residency is a cooperative undertaking, with Russ working
under the tutelage of Lynn Snyder-Mackler, physical therapy, and
orthopedic surgeon Michael Axe, a clinical associate professor in the
program. Others involved include Kevin Waninger, director of the
University Sports Medicine Program, and Keith Handling, head athletic
trainer.
     "One of the exciting parts about the residency is being able to
follow a patient through the whole rehabilitation process, from
beginning to end," Russ said.
     For example, when a baseball pitcher was injured, Russ was
involved at the start of his treatment. After the initial therapy, it
became clear that surgery was required. Axe arranged with the Medical
Center of Delaware to permit physical therapy students in the
operating room so that Russ observed the surgery first-hand.
     "This is important for students and residents in this field," Axe
said. "Therapists get an actual view of the involved tissues and how
the muscles are reconstructed. Tests also can be performed under
anesthesia that otherwise could not be carried out."
     Russ then was involved in the postsurgery recovery and
rehabilitation period, prescribing therapy and home exercises. The
happy ending was that the pitcher was once again on the mound this
spring.
     The purpose of the residency is for Russ to become a consultant,
with experience and knowledge of complex cases beyond the common kinds
of sports injuries, Snyder-Mackler said. The variety of experience he
is exposed to in an intense, one-year residency in an educational
format would ordinarily take him several years in routine practice. As
a result, his qualifying boards can be moved up in a shorter time.
     Russ' residency takes him to the University's physical therapy
clinic, the training room, a sports injury clinic, the student health
center, plus time in the office and operating room with Axe. In
addition, Russ has teaching responsibilities with sports trainers and
carries out a research project using the UD motion analysis and muscle
performance laboratories.
     A graduate of Stanford University, Russ received his master's
degree in physical therapy from Delaware in 1993, and then practiced
at Johns Hopkins University.
     "While at Hopkins, I was leaning more and more toward the sports
therapy area," he said. "My goal now is to combine a clinical and
academic career so I am enrolled in the doctorate program here. The
residency program has provided me with an experience and background in
sports orthopedic rehabilitation that is invaluable.
     "There is no substitute for doing," Russ said.
                                                   -Sue Swyers Moncure