Clinical rotations bring much-needed services to small communities while enhancing the skills of future UNLV graduates.
Michael Carpio, is one of 17 students in UNLV’s physical therapy program whose clinical rotation placed them in a rural town this summer. Carpio worked at the Mesa View Rehabilitation Center in Mesquite. (Josh Hawkins/UNLV)
ne minute, you’re treating an elderly patient recovering from joint-replacement surgery, the next you’re working with patients who injured themselves on their farms or at work inside the mines.
As a small-town physical therapist, one must possess a knowledge of the rural milieu and remember that no two patient encounters are ever the same.
For UNLV’s physical therapy students working on their rural rotations, this is not only paramount to optimal patient care, it is critical to their instruction.
“The ability to think clinically and individualize a plan of care for a specific function has expanded my understanding of the need for physical therapy in rural areas,” said Michael Carpio, a second-year physical therapy student completing his clinical rotation at Mesa View Rehabilitation Center in Mesquite (pop. 21,000).
Carpio is one of 17 physical therapy students from the class of 2025 to complete his summertime rotation in a rural location.
According to Lisa Taylor, director of clinical education inside the School of Integrated Health Sciences, the physical therapy program’s work in Nevada communities, including our rural communities, is embedded in its mission. Students are required to complete one of their four clinicals in an underserved or rural area. These clinical experiences are often reported by students as being extremely valuable to their growth as future clinicians.
Read more about these experiences for physical therapy students here: https://www.unlv.edu/news/article/physical-therapy-students-broaden-their-skills-through-rural-clinic-experiences?utm_source=unlvtoday&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=unlvtoday-20230905
