National Congress of Physical Therapy Delhi NCR October 10-11 2015

National Congress of Physical Therapy (NCPT) at Ghaziabad on October 10-11, 2015. An opportunity to Learn and Interact ..

Website: http://www.ncpt2015.com/

For Registrations Contact:

M: +91 9990002179 / 9868418040

E-Mail: ncptphysio@gmail.com

USA Process for Physiotherapist - An Insight

When a graduate from a foreign physical therapy program wishes to work in the United States, there are a number of steps to be taken to make this wish a reality. This section will provide an overview of those steps.

A. Licensure

Since the US does not give national physical therapist licenses, you will need to choose one state in which you wish to be licensed and work. (If you later move or work across a state border, you will need a license in the new state prior to beginning work in that state.

Each state licensure board has its own set of rules and requirements for applying for licensure. Although state rules are similar, they are not identical. There are important differences.

The most common is the H1B visa, which requires: 

The Healthcare worker Certificate

You may need a healthcare worker certificate depending upon the type of visa you are seeking. The requirements for a physical therapist seeking a healthcare worker certificate include: 

The FCCPT:

Gather information about your state’s licensure process. A good starting point is at the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy’s website, www.fsbpt.org . Choose “Licensing Authorities” from the menu, and you will find the contact information for all 53 states and jurisdictions. In many cases you can also download the rules and regulations as well as the application instructions from this site.

Apply for a license. Contact the state licensing board where you wish to work to learn the specific requirements for licensure.

Below are the basic requirements of most states:

Complete an application.

Receive verification of substantial equivalency to US first professional degree in physical therapy or state requirements.

Receive authorization to test for the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE).

Pass the NPTE.

Some states also require:

-Verification of eligibility to practice in country of education

-Passage of English proficiency examinations

-A period of board-approved, supervised practice either before licensure or immediately after licensure

-Finger printing and criminal background checks

-A United States Social Security Number

Depending on the state, this may be required prior to application, prior to licensure or within a set time after licensure.

B. Immigration

Determine the type of visa or immigration process you will fall under. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website (www.uscis.gov) provides some insight into these requirements. As a foreign national, you will need a visa that allows you to work in the US as a non-citizen.

-A sponsor and an employer prior to issuance of the visa

-A healthcare worker certificate.

-A personal appearance at the appropriate government office of issuance.

You may also choose to apply for permanent resident status (green card) or citizenship, depending upon your personal needs and eligibility. Student or Dependent/Spouse visas may have restrictions on work, so be certain that you understand the restrictions.

-Verification of graduation from a foreign physical therapy program that is recognized in the country of education by the appropriate ministry

-Verification of eligibility to practice as a physical therapist in the country of education, and that all existing licenses are in good standing

-Determination of substantial equivalency of education to the current US education for Physical therapists.

-Passage of the TOEFL examinations

C. Credentialing Process

Find a credentialing agency that meets your needs and is accepted by the state in which you wish to be licensed. 

The FCCPT would be happy to assist you in this endeavor to meet the requirements of licensure and/or immigration.

FCCPT is a credentialing agency that authenticates and verifies all educational and regulatory documents.

FCCPT has been authorized by USCIS to issue the healthcare worker certificate.

FCCPT also provides educational credential reviews for jurisdictional licensure and CMS provider requirements.

The credentials process is a comparison of the foreign curriculum to the current US standards, and when appropriate, to previous standards to match the year of graduation.

-Reviews only post-secondary education to determine equivalency.

-Uses the Coursework Tool developed and validated by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy.

-Credentialing does not include review of continuing education taught outside of the college or university system.

-Does not evaluate or equate work experience.

D. Planned Learning and Assistance Network

If the curriculum that you followed does not meet the required standards for US education, it is possible to supplement your education with additional college or university coursework. The FCCPT offers a service called the Planned Learning and Assistance Network (PLAN). This service helps you interpret your report, and develops options for you to choose from to meet the requirements for equivalency.

Link: http://www.fccpt.org/Jurisdictions/WhereDoIStart/

Update by Physiotherapy Jobs Portal: www.physiotherapyjobs.co.in
-India's first and exclusive registered Job Portal for Physiotherapists.

Brain-Computer interface with Physiotherapy enables paralyzed man to walk :

Novel brain-computer interface technology created by University of California, Irvine researchers has allowed a paraplegic man to walk for a short distance.In the preliminary proof-of-concept study, led by UCI biomedical engineer Zoran Nenadic and neurologist An Do, a person with complete paralysis in both legs due to spinal cord injury was able – for the first time – to take steps without relying on manually controlled robotic limbs.

The male participant, whose legs had been paralyzed for five years, walked along a 12-foot course using an electroencephalogram-based system that lets the brain bypass the spinal cord to send messages to the legs. It takes electrical signals from the subject’s brain, processes them through a computer algorithm, and fires them off to electrodes placed around the knees that trigger movement in the leg muscles.

Study results appear in the open-access Journal of Neuro Engineering & Rehabilitation.
“Even after years of paralysis, the brain can still generate robust brain waves that can be harnessed to enable basic walking,” said Nenadic, an associate professor of biomedical engineering. “We showed that you can restore intuitive, brain-controlled walking after a complete spinal cord injury. This noninvasive system for leg muscle stimulation is a promising method and is an advance of our current brain-controlled systems that use virtual reality or a robotic exoskeleton.”

Months of mental training to reactivate the brain’s walking ability and physical therapy were needed for the study participant to reach the stage where he could take steps. Wearing an EEG cap to read his brain waves, he was first asked to think about moving his legs. The brain waves this created were processed through a computer algorithm Nenadic had formulated to isolate those related to leg movement. The subject later was trained to control an avatar in a virtual reality environment, which validated the specific brain wave signals produced by the algorithm.

This training process yielded a custom-made system, Nenadic said, so that when the participant sought to initiate leg movement, the computer algorithm could process the brain waves into signals that could stimulate his leg muscles.

To make this work, the subject required extensive Physical therapy to recondition and strengthen his leg muscles. Then, with the EEG cap on, he practiced walking while suspended 5 centimeters above the floor, so he could freely move his legs without having to support himself. Finally, he translated these skills to the ground, wearing a body-weight support system and pausing to prevent falls.Since this proof-of-concept study involved a single patient, Do said, further research is needed to establish whether the results can be duplicated in a larger population of individuals with paraplegia.

“Once we’ve confirmed the usability of this noninvasive system, we can look into invasive means, such as brain implants,” said Do, an assistant clinical professor of neurology. “We hope that an implant could achieve an even greater level of prosthesis control because brain waves are recorded with higher quality. In addition, such an implant could deliver sensation back to the brain, enabling the user to feel his legs.”

Christine King, Po Wang, Colin McCrimmon and Cathy Chou of UCI contributed to the study, which received support from the National Science Foundation (grant 1160200).

News Source: http://news.uci.edu/health/uci-brain-computer-interface-enables-paralyzed-man-to-walk/

www.physiotherapyjobs.co.in

September 22- Physiotherapy Jobs in Gulf and India

September 22- Physiotherapist Vacancies in Gulf, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi NCR, Chandigarh, Kolkata.

For details register in Physiotherapy Jobs Portal www.physiotherapyjobs.co.in
– Updated on September 22, 2015
Website: www.physiotherapyjobs.co.in

-A Registered Job Portal for Indian Physiotherapists for Job Search, Assistance and Career building
(Service Tax Code & Registration Number: DSFPS4451BSD001)

Indian Cricket Team Fitness

Indian Team’s fitness standards have improved, says Team India Physiotherapist Patrick Farhart

Insisting that fitness standards in Indian cricket have improved over the years, the team's Australian physiotherapist Patrick Farhart says he closely monitors each member of the squad as the body-types of players differ considerably.

Farhart, who took on the Indian team's physio assignment before the Sri Lanka series for a two-year period, is one of the most sought after names in his field. After replacing India's long-standing physio Nitin Patel, Farhart is busy chalking out the senior team's fitness regimen.

"It is interesting because even within the Indian team there are differences between the South Indian and North Indian boys. Genetically and structurally they are very different. For instance, the Punjabi boys are strongly built but most of them have very flat feet," Farhart told BCCI TV.

"So, to be able to identify the exact differences and then make recommendations on changing these to lower injury risk, we need to have a look at the data and watch the guys closely over a period of time," he added.

On being asked about the improving fitness standards of Indian players, Farhart said, "You are right, the standards have improved greatly. I have seen that during my eight years in the IPL with KXIP. I think a lot of the Indian players have seen the amount of work that some of the young overseas players put into their fitness and learned from that.

Having worked with IPL sides Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab, Farhart has a fair idea about the average Indian cricketer, but is keen to know more in order to up the fitness standards of the senior players.

"It definitely did help because dietary habits, lifestyle, genetics and body structures here are very different to what we see in the western countries.

"There has been a lot of research and studies done on the risk factors with regards to injuries to cricketers in South Africa, England and Australia and those findings do not necessarily hold true for Indian players," he said.

"There are a lot of things we need do in India to investigate and establish effective systems for monitoring these players' fitness based on their training and playing routines, and their bodies' responses to these routines.

Farhart admitted that the managing a fast bowler is a bigger challenge in cricket.

"I have only looked at four Indian fast bowlers closely so far, during the Sri Lanka series. One of the things we need to do is to examine closely over a long period of time how these guys train, how they recover from training and matches, and how training and matches affect their bowling techniques and bowling speeds," he said.

News Link: http://zeenews.india.com/sports/cricket/indian-fitness-standards-have-improved-claims-physiotherapist-patrick-farhart_1759151.html

                                   www.physiotherapyjobs.co.in

 

Parkinson's Disease Exercises

Exercise like golfing is shown to improve Parkinson's symptoms:

Research shows exercise improves strength, balance, coordination and flexibility in people with Parkinson's, a chronic, neurodegenerative disease that impairs movement and afflicts an estimated one million people in the U.S., the second highest among neurological disorders only to Alzheimer's, according to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. 

Some studies show exercise may even slow the progression of the disease, which has no cure.Along with yoga and Tai Chi, golf is among the sports particularly beneficial to people with Parkinson's because it involves a great deal of balance, coordination and rotation, according to Roxee Jones, coordinator of Altru Family YMCA's Parkinson Wellness Recovery program, the organizer of last week's golf clinic.

Full Article: http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/local/3843373-exercise-golfing-shown-improve-parkinsons-symptoms

Research Update: Study reveals connection between fitness level, brain activity, and executive function

Study reveals connection between fitness level, brain activity, and executive function

Published on September 10, 2015

The aging process is associated with declines in brain function, including memory and how fast our brain processes information, yet previous research has found that higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness in older adults leads to better executive function in the brain, which helps with reasoning and problem solving. Higher cardiorespiratory fitness levels have also been found to increase brain volume in key brain regions. 

A new study from a team at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois reveals the connection between brain activation, cardiorespiratory fitness, and executive function in older adults, finding that dual-task processing in a core executive function brain region is associated with higher cardiorespiratory fitness and dual-task performance. 

“Previous studies have shown that there’s a relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and behavioral performance in older adults. Other studies have looked at cardiorespiratory fitness and brain function, but really linking all three of those hasn’t been quite been done as explicitly as we did in this paper,” said Chelsea Wong, a M.D./Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois and first author on the paper, published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. 

We know that as people age, executive function declines, so we found that with higher cardiorespiratory fitness, you can enhance executive function performance behaviorally as well as executive function-related brain activation.- Chelsea Wong

The team, led by Art Kramer, Beckman Institute director and professor of psychology and neuroscience at Illinois, examined brain imaging and fitness level data from 128 adults between the ages of 59-80. 

With functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans gathered in the Beckman Institute’s Biomedical Imaging Center, the researchers found that certain regions of the brain were activated more when performing two simultaneous tasks compared to a single task.

“The reason we looked at dual-task specifically is because it’s a measure of executive function, which is required for multiple cognitive processes, such as working memory, task management, coordination, and inhibition,” said Wong. “We know that as people age, executive function declines, so we found that with higher cardiorespiratory fitness, you can enhance executive function performance behaviorally as well as executive function-related brain activation.”

The team found the overall relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness levels and higher executive function may be partially explained through activation in a region of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex and the supplementary motor area (ACC/SMA).

“We analyzed areas of the brain that were activated while the participants were completing two tasks, and found that the ACC/SMA activation was associated with higher cardiorespiratory fitness. It’s an important area for higher level functions, such as conflict monitoring, multitasking, and dual-task processing itself,” said Wong. 

“This research adds to our growing understanding of the relationship among physical activity and cognitive and brain function—and suggests that we can improve our brain health by changing our lifestyle even as we age,” said Kramer. 

This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging.

Article Source: http://beckman.illinois.edu/news/2015/09/fitness-level-brain-activity-executive-function

Physiotherapy Jobs Portal Team in BPN Physio Walk 2015 at Bangalore

Physiotherapy Jobs Portal Team Members actively taking part in the Successful 6th Year Bangalore Physiotherapists Network (BPN) Physio Walk 2015 at Bangalore.

A Grand Moment !!

Physio Walk 2015 : Bangalore Physiotherapists Network (BPN)

Grand and Successful Consecutive 6th Year Physio Walk by Bangalore Physiotherapists Network (BPN) with wide Media Coverage and Great Response by the Physios and Public.

Physio Unity Yields Results !!

Physio Walk 2015

Physio Walk 2015: Register for the 6th Consecutive Bangalore Physiotherapists Network (BPN) Physio Walk on September 13 (Sunday) 7.30am at Cubbon Park,  Near UB City,Bangalore. 

WhatsApp/Call Dr.David Arunkumar J PT@ 9844276236 to Register your name for a free T-Shirt and for the Physio

Walk & be a part of the grand event. All are Welcome!

Physiotherapist Vacancies in Gulf and India- September 09 2015

September 09- Physiotherapist Vacancies in Gulf, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi NCR.

For details register in Physiotherapy Jobs Portal www.physiotherapyjobs.co.in
– Updated on September 09, 2015
Website: www.physiotherapyjobs.co.in
-A Registered Job Portal for Indian Physiotherapists for Job Search, Assistance and Career building
(Service Tax Code & Registration Number: DSFPS4451BSD001)

World Physical Therapy Day Message 2015

Physiotherapists are the Pain Management Experts , Movement Science Specialists
 & the Movement Scientists! 

We provide Mobility with Stability by Fulfilling Potential through Preventive, Habilitation  & Rehabilitation of Pediatrics to Geriatrics!!

A day to be proud of... We are the Physiotherapists!!!

Happy Physiotherapy Day to all Physiotherapists working day in and day out to make this World a better place to Live!!!!

Physiotherapist Vacancies - September 01 2015

Physiotherapist Vacancies in Kuwait , UAE, Saudi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, Gurgaon, Mohali.
For details register in Physiotherapy Jobs Portal www.physiotherapyjobs.co.in
– Updated on September 01, 2015
Website: www.physiotherapyjobs.co.in
-A Registered Job Portal for Indian Physiotherapists for Job Search, Assistance and Career building
(Service Tax Code & Registration Number: DSFPS4451BSD001)