TDPT 7104 - Differential Diagnosis and Clinical Reasoning for Physical Therapists – Complex Patients

This course is designed to prepare the student with the knowledge and expertise to competently screen for systemic diseases and interpret clinical findings in patients with multi-system impairments. The focus of the course is on systems interaction and evaluating movement impairment due to interaction among major body systems including musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, pulmonary, hematological, gastrointestinal, renal, hepatic, endocrine and immune systems. This course also prepares the students to differentially diagnose movement related impairments from other medical conditions that can mimic symptoms of neuromusculoskeletal problems. This course prepares the student for practicing in direct access environment and enables them to make sound clinical judgment for initiating a physical therapy intervention, delegation or providing appropriate referral when the patient care is beyond the scope of physical therapy practice. The course will emphasize incorporating principles of clinical prediction rules and properties of diagnostic tests such as sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios and predictive values for making accurate diagnostic decisions according to the best available evidence.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:
Prerequisite: Admission to the Post-Professional Doctor of Physical Therapy program

Hours:
3