UBC Master of Rehabilitation Science Blog

RESEARCH RELAYS for rehabilitation practice

Relay – either as a noun or a verb may involve passing information from one person to another — one practice to another — one location to another — often with a goal or destination in mind. Also associated with ensuring good connections and speed. All of these we hope to accomplish with this new webinar series brought to you by the UBC Rehabilitation Science Online Programs.

Please join us for one or all of these FREE webinars where graduates from the Master of Rehabilitation Science Program present their major project research. By relaying their results and any further work they have done in the area, we invite you to pick up the ‘virtual baton’ and discuss how it could influence your practice and work setting. Make new practice connections in just one hour!

CLICK HERE to register at least one week prior to session date

February 10 – noon to 1 pm PST
Parents’ Experience in Role Negotiation in the Family Centered Care Model of Infant Services
Presenter: Karen Hurtubise

February 24 – noon to 1 pm PST
Comparison of the Norwich Regime to the Static Splinting Protocol for Extensor Tendon Injuries
Presenter: Clare Faulkner

March 2 – noon to 1 pm PST
Development of a Points-based Caseload Measure for Community Based Pediatric Therapists
Presenter: Kathy Davidson

April 20 – noon to 1 pm PDT
Successful Intraprofessional Relationships between Therapists and Therapist Assistants
Presenter: Jennifer Stephenson

May 4 – noon to 1 pm PDT
Processing Strategies Parents Use to Synthesize Healthcare Data Related to their Child
Presenter: Karen Hurtubise

May 25 – noon to 1 pm PDT
Pediatric Feeding
Presenters: Janice Duivestein & Astrid St. Pierre

CLICK HERE to register at least one week prior to session date

Paul VanWiechen who is beginning his major project research in the MRSc program was contracted by the National Post to write a bi-weekly column called “Educated Exerciser” in the Body and Health section of the paper.

Paul wrote…
Over the coming months, I’ll share what some of the people at the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, the American College of Sports Medicine and others are doing to help us think differently about being active.
You can read more of his first column which appeared on October 18 at: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/heart+smart+workout/5564892/story.html

Paul VanWiechen is an exercise physiologist and director of exercise physiology at Cleveland Clinic Canada which provides executive physicals and wellness counselling in Toronto.

Congratulations Paul!

The Online Technology 4 Occupational Therapy group is sponsoring a 24-hour conference on World Occupational Therapy Day. Check out the program and consider viewing one or more sessions. Recent (2010) UBC Master of Occupational Therapy grad Doug Herasymuik is presenting on his international fieldwork experience.

The program site has a link to an international clock so you can schedule your time. Last year, the sessions were very stimulating and it was interesting to see how well the technology worked around the world. Although I couldn’t participate in many of the sessions due to work priorities, I did stay ‘tuned in’ for the day – was like having the radio on and tuned to a station just for OT! It’s definitely worth a try.

Another hectic September is drawing to a close and despite some glitches everyone seems to have survived and is settling into the term. We experienced the fewest Vista difficulties so kudos to everyone at UBC IT Services for both pro-active strategies and quick fixes. They work long hours and many weekends to help deliver a trouble-free learning environment.

Thanks to everyone for accepting the Permanent ULRS (PURLS) into your studies. Respecting UBC copyright we no longer post PDFs of e-readings in the courses but if logged into the UBC library with our CWL ID the readings are just a click away with the PURLS. More kudos to Administrative Manager Andrea Walus, work study students Michael Haack and Judy Cu, and librarian Charlotte Beck for the countless hours spent finding and testing the PURLS, especially for off-campus access.

This Fall we admitted 26 new learners to the online programs: 8 Master of Rehab Science Learners; 6 Graduate Certificate learners (many we hope will transfer into the MRSc or MSc program) and 12 McMaster learners. We also welcome McMaster instructor Aileen Costigan who brings her enthusiasm and a keen interest in augmentative communication into her teaching in RHSC 501/ RS 705 Evaluating Sources of Evidence – all the way from Ithaca College in New York State. She joins returning instructors: Sandra Bressler, Dale Graham, Wilma Jelley, Ben Mortenson, Karen Pontello, Sue Stanton and Darene Toal-Sullivan.

An ability to read and think critically, create stimulating opportunities for learning, and a passion for learning are among the characteristics of effective teachers that Mary Clark possesses in spades.

I was thrilled to learn that Mary, the Associate Director of the Rehabilitation Science Online programs, and an online course instructor, was to be awarded one of only three University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine Clinical Faculty Awards for Excellence Teaching. The award was one of very few presented in person at the annual Faculty awards reception held at Sage Bistro at UBC on May 31.

Dr. Michael Nimmo, Director, Clinical Faculty Affairs Presents Award to Mary Clark

Mary began teaching courses in the Faculty of Medicine in 2006 when she designed and taught RHSC 581, ‘Writing to Enhance Practice’, an elective course in the online, UBC, Master of Rehabilitation Science program. Since then she has led the ongoing development of RHSC 581 and the Graduate Certificate course, RHSC 503, Reasoning and Decision-Making to ensure they remain current. Keeping up with the latest knowledge and research to inform course development and teaching is as important to Mary as contributing to knowledge development through research.

Rehabilitation Science online learners recognize well how Mary’s facilitation style in discussions and feedback on assignments helps them to apply their new knowledge to practice, and contributes positively to their learning experience. As one learner said, “she went above and beyond any expectations I had of a prof – and that made me feel that my learning was important to the whole university faculty, not just myself – or her.”

We are very fortunate to have Mary as a member of the Online Programs’ administrative and teaching team.

Please join us in congratulating Mary on this important award.

Sue Stanton, Director, Rehabilitation Science Online Programs

The Golden Gala will celebrate 50 years of UBC Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy.  The event will take place Saturday, May 28 at 7 pm at the River Rock Hotel and Casino in Richmond.  There will be lots of food (including a sushi station, hor d’oeuvres and a chocolate dipping station), entertainment, and a no-host bar.  To learn more about this event, click here.

What is so great about learning online? I think that is a question a lot of our prospective learners ask themselves when looking into our program. Quite a few of the inquiries that I get this time of year relate to this very issue.  Most of the learners are interested to hear that they are not required to be in Vancouver for any of their courses and can still maintain their full-time work status. The learner’s experience is just as rich if not richer for some than in the traditional face-to-face lectures. Job Postings magazine recently featured our program in an article, the cyber campus, and discussed whether one can still obtain the social and networking experiences with studying at a cyber campus.

See what our learners say about the program.

For more information on admissions see the Master of Rehabilitation Science program website.

Learners who completed the course Evaluating Sources of Evidence last Fall, are starting to post their Critically Appraised Topics (CATS). CATS begin to provide direction for practice by asking a clinical question, reviewing the literature and summarizing the best available research evidence on the subject. Download any of the following or previously posted CATS on the Master of Rehabilitation Science program website.

Brown, J. (2010). The Effectiveness of Removable Walking Casts and Total Contact Casting in Decreasing Healing Time of Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Evans, A. (2010). Support for aerobic exercise training in heart failure (HF) patients.

Holuboff, B. (2010). Does mobilization of the acutely ill elder on day of admission decrease their risk for developing delirium?

Richter, A. (2010). Is BAT or mCIMT more effective in producing improvement in affected UE ADL performance post stroke/CVA?

Shah, M. (2010). There is evidence to suggest that inpatient rehabilitation helps improve functional outcomes for elderly patients with hip fractures

A common New Year’s Resolution among health professionals is to consider some type of upgrading or new learning. Each January there is a jump in the number of emails requesting information about the Master of Rehabilitation Science program. Although the application deadline isn’t until April 30 it is wise to start contemplating a master’s early, as the paper work itself can take a few weeks.

In addition to the information for prospective learners on the MRSc program website, I recently came across an article that captures many of the same experiences and pay-offs that our graduates report. It is written by a neurosurgeon who returned to do a professional master’s in bioethics.
Back to School Days by Mark Bernstein in Academic Matters, October/November 2010.

It’s definitely worth a read.

MRSc Grads: Clare Faulkner, Claudia Hernandez Riano, Jennifer Stephenson and Maureen Duggan. Unable to attend: Caroline Jones, Meg O'Brien and Peter Rowe

There was great debate at this year’s reception: which is harder to overcome — the horizontal sheets of rain that characterize November in Vancouver, or the 6 inches of snow and slush that covered Vancouver during Convocation week? For the graduates who had planned to attend the reception, and had slogged their way through master’s and doctoral programs, the weather was nothing in comparison. For the online Master of Rehabilitation Science graduates, the desire to meet their fellow learners face-to-face overcame any worry about the weather.

Instructors, faculty, family, friends, fellow students and alumni joined the graduates to celebrate their accomplishments. Sue Stanton welcomed everyone and began the formal presentations by suggesting to the graduates that their convocation become another anniversary, “to reflect on, to celebrate, and to recall upon in the future.” Dr. Ross MacGillivray the Vice-Dean, Academic Affairs, Faculty of Medicine brought greetings from the Dean of Medicine Dr. Gavin Stuart, and recalled his various graduations of the past while congratulating those who would cross the stage on Friday. Dr. Lyn Jongbloed recognized both the Doctors of Philosophy Allan Kozlowski and Marc Roig, and presented flowers to Master of Science graduate Rochelle Stokes who was able to attend. The Urban Poling Activator Award was presented by Mandy Shintani and Graham Watts to Sarah Neil. This new award recognizes students who are researching rehabilitation and cancer research.

MRSc Grads’ Speech
Four graduates Maureen Duggan, Clare Faulkner, Claudia Hernandez Riano and Jennifer Stephenson spoke about the online master’s and were also the voices for the graduates who were unable to attend, but of course, sent their messages online. They concluded their speech with:

On the logo of the Online Master of Rehabilitation Science learner’s guide three key concepts are highlighted: Connect – Learn – Succeed. The Fall MRSc 2010 Graduates have all travelled slightly different paths to get to this day but it can be honestly said “we’ve connected, learned and succeeded!”

Click here to listen to the entire speech.

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More information on the MRSc Winter 2010 graduates can be found on the MRSc program website.