A space at the nearby Stevens Point Area YMCA serves as a community physical therapy clinic, offering free consultations and services for the public and hands-on experience for students within the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program.
The graduate students work at the UW-Stevens Point Physical Therapy Clinic as part of their DPT Integrated Clinical Practice course sequence, which begins at the start of the two-and-a-half-year program and continues until students begin their full-time clinical internships.
“We start our students’ in clinical experiences right away,” said Chris Durall, a clinical associate professor in UWSP’s DPT program. “In the very first semester of the program, students are working with patients and attending to their needs. As their education progresses, the students continue to apply their classroom learning in a clinical context.”
The clinic is currently open from noon to 2 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, staffed each day by three first-year students, three second-year students who alternate roles as the physical therapist, assistant and administrator, as well as the supervising faculty. Second-year students help mentor the first-year students, and a UWSP DPT instructor or volunteer licensed physical therapist is on site for each session, coaching and offering feedback to the students about their patient care.
“Having excellent communication skills makes for an excellent physical therapist,” said Durall. “Our students need to have solid interpersonal skills to thrive in the clinic.”
Chris Durall, a clinical associate professor in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program, supervises the university’s Physical Therapy Clinic at the Stevens Point Area YMCA.
Durall started working at UWSP in 2021 to help create the new doctoral program and the clinical experience, which welcomed its first cohort in the summer of 2022. Initially the clinic was offered in a campus classroom, which proved to be difficult due to space and parking needs.
“The program approached the YMCA about using space there and they’ve been very accommodating,” Durall said. “We are providing a service for under or uninsured community members, but we also see insured patients and help them connect with another local PT provider if needed. We want to help our clinical partners in the community.”
Ben Hoeger, a first-year DPT student from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is at the clinic on Wednesdays. He said the YMCA clinical experiences allow students to hit the ground running as professionals.
“It’s a bit of a trial by fire,” he said. “We encounter different scenarios that apply our learning to real life situations. Our professors are exceptional, allowing us to try with safeguards in place. They assure patient safety but also allow us to apply our learning and take a leadership role. We get feedback right away that helps us grow.”
Hoeger applied to the UWSP program due to its focus on preparing physical therapists for working in rural communities, as he grew up in a rural area.
“I hope to provide therapy services for those who may not have had local access in the past,” he said. “I’ve always had an interest in the human body, fitness and helping people. Physical therapy brings my passions and interests together.”
Caden Prahl, a second-year DPT student from Iola, earned his undergraduate degree in health science at UWSP. His career path was inspired by his treatment from a physical therapist after knee and shoulder injuries in high school. He later shadowed the same therapist and realized how he too could help people get back to activities after injuries.
“The clinical experience at the YMCA has allowed me to practice my interpersonal and manual therapy skills, think on the fly, prescribe exercise plans, as well as everything else that comes along with being a student physical therapist,” he said.
Caden Prahl, a second-year DPT student, works with a patient at the clinic under the guidance of Clinical Associate Professor Chris Durall.
“The UWSP DPT program does a great job exposing us to such a wide variety of career opportunities with the abundance of guest lecturers who bring different perspectives on the profession,” Prahl said. “This allows us as students to discover our own professional goals in physical therapy in different disciplines that interest us most.”
Prahl added that Durall has been a helpful mentor at the clinic.
“From great conversations about clinical practice on the walks over to the YMCA, to our mid-examination talks about what the next steps could be with individual patients, Dr. Durall has been extremely supportive of our learning. He is super knowledgeable and fosters a great learning environment.”
Durall, who will retire in August, said interacting with the students in the classroom and the clinic has been the highlight of his career.
“Seeing them develop into professionals over time and seeing their growth during patient interactions as they pull their training together is very gratifying. I’m fortunate to be able to share what I’ve learned, and also to learn from them.”
Learn more about the UWSP Physical Therapy Clinic at the Stevens Point Area YMCA or schedule an appointment at www.uwsp.edu/ptclinic, by emailing ptclinic@uwsp.edu or calling 715-346-2115.
