Please describe your department.
“The Department of Rehabilitation Services includes physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language pathology and orthopedic technology. At Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH), we provide care to our inpatient services in an academic, tertiary medical center affiliated with Harvard Medical School, where there are nearly 750 beds. We also have two ambulatory clinics, one on the main campus and another clinic at 850 Boylston St. in Chestnut Hill. In addition to providing exceptional care in all of our disciplines, we have several subspecialty services staffed by therapists who are nationally known for their expertise, along with many certified clinical specialists. Some of our specialty programs include; Women’s Health Physical Therapy, Comprehensive Dysphagia program, and Sports Medicine to Brookline Public Schools (in collaboration with BWH’s Orthopedic department), to name a few. Our patients vary from neonates to the geriatric population. BWH has subspecialty services in essentially every medical and surgical specialty, including a world-renown transplantation service, cardio-vascular surgery, and orthopedic/rheumatology services. In addition to providing cutting edge, evidence-based care, we are nationally recognized for our research in Rehabilitation, and for our published Standards of Care. Just Google keyword, “Physical Therapy Standards of Care” or “Physical Therapy Protocols”, and our website is the first hit. Our clinicians enjoy opportunities to be involved in many stimulating activities that range from clinical research, clinical education (both professional preparation, including involvement with year-long paid clinical internships in physical therapy), as well as post professional clinical education opportunities. Many of our staff are faculty or teach at several of the area’s academic institutions. In fact, it is quite possible you have attended a clinical presentation given by a member of our department.”
Describe the “culture” of your department.
“It is about our colleagues. Our staff is deeply committed to their patients and passionate about their profession. Our department has a very broad and deep range of experience and expertise that affords us the ability to provide mentorship, and the clinical resources necessary to effectively treat some of the most complex and complicated patients in the country. Each of our disciplines has individuals in leadership positions available to them to ensure that adequate resources are available for collaboration and to support their professional development. Whether you are a new graduate starting your professional career, or an experienced therapist pursuing post-professional education or specialization, we are able to support your continued professional growth and learning. The members of our leadership team have at least 10 years experience in their respective disciplines. Our Vision and Mission emphasizes our commitment to excellence, evidenced-based care, and individual professional development. While we are “clinically serious” we also have “serious fun” doing it!”
Why do you think your department is different from other Rehab departments in other hospitals or facilities?
“I place a high value on staff involvement in charting the department’s direction, mission and goals. As a team, we have committed to Departmental Retreats that focus on assessing our department’s strengths, opportunities for improvement, and articulating our Mission, Values and Vision statement. Unlike other departments, we are not driven by “productivity expectations” as our major performance metric. Instead, we are driven to providing the very best care we can, with a genuine commitment to evidenced-based, measurable outcomes. We recognize that our patients’ have varied and unique needs. Just as important, we recognize our staff possesses varied and unique abilities reflective of their experience and the type of patient they are responsible for. We provide a great deal of flexibility, encouragement and support to individuals desiring to pursue post professional degrees or clinical specialization.”
You spoke about professional growth, are there truly opportunities to learn and earn more?
“Yes, absolutely! Our department has a unique career laddering program that offers the possibility to be promoted to Senior Clinician and/or Clinical Specialist roles. The ability to achieve this success is based entirely on merit and achievement and not on the number of budgeted positions available. We also support four year-long paid clinical intern positions (in physical therapy) in collaboration with MGH/IHP. We are currently in the process of developing physical therapy residency programs in Cardio-Pulmonary Physical Therapy and Women’s Health. Many of our staff are involved in clinical research, with several published articles to their credit.”
“Also, on our inpatient service, our team members have the opportunity to rotate through teams which are organized by specialty area. Orthopedic, cardiopulmonary, oncology, and burn-trauma (we are a level 1 burn-trauma unit) are just some of the clinical teams we have. This structure facilitates exceptional learning opportunities.”
In your opinion, what about your team makes them stand apart?
“They are very talented and dedicated to their profession and our patients. Our Women’s Health Physical Therapy program is one of the very few that exist in the country. This program started only about two years ago when we hired a nationally known physical therapist with expertise in this area (Rebecca Stephenson, published, and currently President of the International Society of Women’s Health Physical Therapists).”
“Our department is committed to individual recognition. We hold an annual recognition award event which includes the awarding of “Rehabilitation Services- Person of the Year” award. We encourage staff to be present at professional meetings, which on average we have about 6-8 doing so each year. Many members of our department are actively involved in their professional associations.”
What type of employee is most successful in your department?
“The professional that is attracted to our Hospital is person that wants to excel, and we support that. Those who are pursuing or who have earned post professional academic degrees in their profession or who teach in one of the academic institutions and are committed to sharing their knowledge, find a very supportive environment at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. More than six of our “Stars” have been recently published. Many of our staff have patients referred to them for care specifically by renowned area physicians. Our “stars” thrive on treating/managing the tough clinical patient. They have exceptional critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities. They know their strengths, see their weaknesses as opportunity, and they readily utilize the resources available to them from their peers. Our staff is comfortable saying what they don’t know, and we have an environment where the champions invite their peers to ask questions. It is this type of environment supports the transparent care of our patients.”
What are the shift requirements for working in Rehab?
For our inpatient service we do require some weekend and holiday coverage rotations (about 1 every 4-5 weeks plus 1 holiday a year.) There is a weekend/holiday stipend.
How can Therapists learn even more about your department and your opportunities?
www.brighamandwomens.org/RehabilitationServices
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