Dr.
Edelle Field-Fote will discuss, “Up to Standard: aligning practice,
research, and the ideals of our profession,” at this year’s Annual Irma Ruebling
Distinguished Speaker Series, presented by Saint Louis University’s Program in
Physical Therapy on Thursday, March 21 at 5:30pm.
Dr. Edelle Field-Fote is a professor
for the departments of physical therapy and neurological surgery at the
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the director of the
Neuromotor Rehabilitation Research Laboratory at the Miami Project to Cure
Paralysis. In anticipation of Dr. Edelle Field-Foote’s discussion, we
interviewed her with some simple questions to discover how she became
interested in the current field she is in, what challenges and rewards present
themselves in her field, and what advice she would have to students desiring to
pursue a similar career.
How did you
initially become interested in working with patients with spinal cord injuries?
One of my first
patients as a new PT was a young man who was my age and had a SCI from an ATV
accident. His being so close to me in age really made me understand that
SCI is one of those life-changing injuries that affect all aspects of your life
for the rest of your life. And it can happen to anyone at any time, even
healthy young people with their whole lives in front of them
What are the most rewarding aspects of what you do? The
most challenging aspects?
The more
rewarding aspect is when people who have been in studies tell me that the gains
they made in function really changed their lives, that they regained the
ability to walk onto a plane by themselves rather than being wheeled in by the
airport transporter who doesn’t know a thing about people with disability, or
being able to go out to dinner by themselves and order whatever they want
because they regained sufficient hand function to be able to cut their own
steak and not have to ask the waiter to do it or order something else so that
they don’t have to ask for help. The biggest challenge these days is the
greatly limited availability of federal dollars for research.
What would your advice be to students interested in
pursuing neuro-based research careers?
While people with neurological disorders
make up a relatively small proportion of the total number of people who receive
PT services each year, PTs typically work with these individuals for a longer
period of time than we do with other clinical populations. Because of
that we have a large impact in their lives, and develop strong bonds – because
of that I believe that working with people with neurological disorders is the
most rewarding area of practice.
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