The 2006 WPTA Fall Conference offers three days of programming, an excellent chance for you to strengthen your professional education and “move your patients to better health”! Additionally, there will be an exhibit hall on Thursday, October 12th from noon-2pm. This is your opportunity to see new products and services and win cash and other prizes! New this year is a Recruitment Exhibit Hall and Reception also on Thursday from 4-7pm. This is a great way for students and those seeking positions to find out about employment opportunities throughout the state and everyone is invited to attend. There will also be a cash drawing and other prizes. You must be present to win the cash prizes! Also plan on attending the ever-popular WPTA Business Meeting on Friday and the always-lively Thursday evening Issues Forum

Vendor Information Can Be Found Here

Thursday, November 10th

Gross Anatomy Review—Upper Quadrant: Implications for Evaluation and Therapeutic Intervention—8am-noon Thursday FULL

This session will review the gross anatomy of the upper limb from the shoulder to the region of the elbow. The brachial plexus and its surrounds in the neck will be included. The material will be divided into three subtopics: neck and brachial plexus; shoulder region; and elbow region. With each topic, there will be a correlation with clinical features of each region that will be of interest to the practicing physical therapist. The session will conclude with an opportunity for attendees to examine prosected cadaver specimens of the shoulder and arm region. The class has limited enrollment.

Edward Bersu, PhD is a Professor of Anatomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. He received his PhD in Anatomy from the UW-Madison in 1976 and has been a faculty member in the Department of Anatomy since that time. Dr. Bersu is a recipient of the UW Medical School’s Dean’s Teaching Award.

Marc Sherry, PT, LAT, CSCS is a Sr. Physical Therapist and Athletic Trainer at the UW Sports Medicine Center and also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach. In addition to direct patient care, Marc is also involved in clinical research.

World Wide Wrestling with Ethical Dilemmas– 8am-noon Thursday

The WPTA presents Sue ‘the proselytizer’ Griffin as she demonstrates how to wrestle with some of the most common ethical dilemmas of our time. Armed only with copies of the Wisconsin PT Practice Act, the APTA Code of Ethics, and their own wits, contestants will enter into combat with issues related to supervision of the PTA and supportive staff, delivering adequate physical therapy services to patients with limited resources, and other equally daunting foes. PTs and PTAs may participate in this premier event! Those who make it to the final round will fulfill the 4 hour ethics and jurisprudence requirement for 2007 licensure renewal. Contestants are commanded to bring their own copy of the Practice Act and the Code of Ethics.

Sue Griffin is a physical therapist with experience in a variety of settings for over the past 20 years. For the past 12 years, she has been an instructor at Blackhawk Technical College, where she has delivered coursework related to ethics to PTA students. She also has in-depth knowledge of the Wisconsin PT practice act, through her involvement in its most recent revision, and the development of new administrative rules.

Exercise Intolerance—8am-5pm Thursday

As the practice of physical therapy has changed over the years to where PTs are autonomous practitioners seeing some patients via direct access, the approach to assessment has changed. Patients present with multiple co-morbidities and have increasingly complex problems. Assessments require a thorough examination of the entire patient prior to developing interventions for improving their functional limitations and their exercise tolerance. This course provides practitioners from any practice
setting the knowledge and abilities to assess exercise tolerance safely and effectively and develop optimal exercise programs that include the improvement of aerobic capacity. The participant will gain knowledge of the physiology as well as guidelines and evidence to support their interventions to develop appropriate exercise prescriptions for any population they may assess. The course begins with providing tools to identify the population that may be at increased risk for adverse outcomes
and that may require increased physiological monitoring. Case study approach is used throughout the entire course with an emphasis on problem based learning.

Ellen Hillegass is an APTA Board Certified Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Clinical specialist who received her entry level training in Physical Therapy from the University of Pennsylvania, Masters of Medical Science in Cardiopulmonary Physiology from Emory University, and Doctorate in Exercise Physiology from the University of Georgia. She is the President of Cardiopulmonary Specialists, a private consulting firm in Atlanta, Georgia, specializing in developing programs for patients with cardiac and/or pulmonary dysfunction.

Management of the Adult Neuro Patient: Achieving Functional Goals Using the NDT Approach—8am-5pm Thursday (Continues on Friday)

The info and lab activities in this 2-day course will provide therapists at all levels with practical knowledge and strategies to help patients achieve their mobility goals. Although the emphasis of the course will be on understanding and treating the multi-system impairments and complex interaction of problems experienced by patients with neurological diagnoses, the analysis and handling skills presented will provide valuable insight and skills for the treatment of a wide variety of patients.

Participants will develop enhanced observation skills and learn specific handling strategies to facilitate improved motor control, balance and functional mobility with patients at all levels, in activities ranging from bed mobility to ambulation. Using the updated NDT problem-solving framework, participants will improve their clinical reasoning skills and learn practical methods for addressing the needs of a variety of patients. Patient examples, videotapes and case studies will be used throughout the course to assist with carryover to the clinic and provide support for the thought process and practical strategies/concepts presented. Participants should wear comfortable clothing and be prepared to participate in lab activities. The course is applicable to PTs and PTAs at all levels of experience. The class has limited enrollment.

Monica Diamond, PT, MS is an active Neuro-Developmental Treatment Association (NDTA) Coordinator Instructor with over 15 years experience teaching basic and advanced courses using the NDT approach with adults. She has over 30 years experience treating adults with neurological diagnoses at Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Institute/Columbia St. Mary’s in Milwaukee and holds adjunct faculty appointments and teaches Neuro-Developmental Treatment at several schools.

Thomas Diamond, PT, MS is an active Neuro-Developmental Treatment Association (NDTA) Physical Therapy Instructor at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee. He specializes in balance and vestibular rehab and has completed the Vestibular Rehab Competency Course.

Arthroscopic Repairs of the Shoulder and Implications for Rehab—2-5pm Thursday

This afternoon session will discuss arthroscopic surgical procedures including rotator cuff repair and gleno-humeral joint stabilization. The impact on subsequent therapy protocols will also be addressed. The course will also outline the advantages of Computer Assisted Total Knee Arthroplasty over traditional knee replacement surgery. Computer assisted surgery is a recent development in total knee arthoplasty allowing exact measurements and component placement intraoperatively. The benefits result in more natural knee kinematics leading to less component wear and increased longevity of the knee.

Jay Minorik, MD is board certified and a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.

David Eggert, MD is a board certified orthopedic surgeon and a member of both the Wisconsin Medical Society and the NFL Physician Society.

Documentation Strategies for Difficult Diagnoses and Complex Clients Thursday

This course will discuss different documentation strategies that can be used to improve reimbursement and help justify medical necessity for complex cases and difficult diagnoses. Participants will be instructed on how to improve their documentation to help articulate (1) continuity of care, (2) focused interventions (3) evidenced based choices for testing and treatment options (4) treatment accountability and (5) find better ways to articulate serious impairments or better describe convoluted, complex or multi-diagnoses clients. Audience: Practicing clinicians – PTs and PTAs; Level: Intermediate to Advanced

Mary Beth Geiser PT, OCS is a 1990 graduate from Marquette University’s PT Program. She has actively been involved with reimbursement issues since 1997 serving as WPTA’s Reimbursement Chair from 1999-2005. During her time in this position, she was a key catalyst during the revision of both the Carrier’s Local Cover Decision Policy (PHYSMED 009) and the Fiscal Intermediary’s updated Therapy Education Manual. She also played an integral part in the Association’s peer review
consultant training and payer contract negotiations. Presently Mary Beth is pursuing her tDPT from Concordia University in Mequon.

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Friday, October 12th

World Wide Wrestling with Ethical Dilemmas– 8am-noon Friday —Repeated from Thursday

Manual Therapy Techniques for Shoulder Impingement—8am-5pm Friday

This lecture and lab course is intended to provide clinicians with the knowledge and tools to evaluate and treat the very common diagnosis of shoulder impingement. Its content and approach is that of the International Academy of Orthopedic Medicine which has its roots in the work of James Cyriax and Dos Winkel. IAOM continues to strive to provide current evidence based information as well as generate research to support its work. The class has limited enrollment.

Mary Kremer, PT graduated from the Mayo School of Health Related Sciences, Minnesota in 1977. She completed a clinical masters with Ola Grimsby in 1993. Ms. Kremer was certified in orthopedic medicine by the IAOM in orthopedic medicine and manual therapy in 1991. She is currently a senior PT at the Institute for Athletic Medicine in Minneapolis.

Ann Porretto-Loehrke, PT graduated from Marquette University in 1994. She became a Certified Hand Therapist in 2002 and completed IAOM-US certification for the upper quadrant in 2003. She is employed as the PT manager at the Hand and Upper Extremity Center of Northeast Wisconsin in Appleton.

Using Functional Tests to Support Your Physical Therapy Intervention: It’s No Longer Optional—8am-5pm Friday

Therapists are integrating functional tests such as the Six-Minute Walk, Berg Balance Scale, Gait Speeds, Reach in 4 Directions, Timed Up & Go, Romberg, Activities-specific Balance Scale, and Physical Performance Test into the examination and evaluation of adult clients. The validity and reliability of these tests are established in the literature. Knowing how to interpret patient data compared to reference data is a challenge. Third party payers expect that this information be presented in a systematic and logical manner. This session will deliver a comprehensive handout on these functional tests and develop skills in using and interpreting them. Bring a stopwatch, calculator, and three ringer binder with dividers.

Louise Mollinger, MS, PT received her M.S. degree in Physiology from the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, in 1982 and her BS in Physical Therapy from Marquette University in 1970. She has been a full time faculty member at Concordia Physical Therapy since 1996. Her 20+ years as a practicing physical therapist include experience in geriatrics, home care, and rehabilitation, as well as a year at the Reuma Centrum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Teresa Steffen, PT, PhD received her PhD degree in Management Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, her BS degree in Physical Therapy is from UWMadison and she returned there to do a post-doctoral studies. She is a Professor in the Physical Therapy Program at Concordia University Wisconsin. She has been active in the treatment of geriatric clients for the past 25 years and is a board member of the Wisconsin Parkinson Association.

Management of the Adult Neuro Patient: Achieving Functional Goals Using the NDT Approach—8am-5pm Friday (Continued from Thursday)

The Why’s and How’s of Evidence Based Practice: Tools for the Clinician—2-5pm Friday

The need for ‘evidence-based’ practice is greater now than ever. Clinicians generally recognize the need for evidence-based practice and value the use of evidence in informing their clinical practice decisions. This course introduces participants to existing supports for the practicing clinician with an emphasis on meaningful use of the Hooked on Evidence Project.

Kathy Zalewski, PT, MPA, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Physical Therapy Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and teaches Evidence Based Practice to entry and post-professional students. The emphasis of her instruction to clinicians is on coaching strategies for incorporating evidence into daily clinical decisions while developing the culture of evidence based practice in every clinic environment. She assists local providers in developing programs that bring staff together to ask, prioritize, and formulate evidence-based clinical practice guidelines customized to unique practice environments.

Saturday, October 14

Manual Therapy Techniques for Shoulder Impingement—8am-4:30pm Saturday (Continued from Friday)

Marketing the Profession and Your Practice—8am-4:30pm Saturday

Marketing rehabilitation services to consumers, physicians & other healthcare providers is an essential function of a physical therapy facility or practice. We will define the specific role of PTs in marketing and provide practical ideas for both consumer and referral source marketing that will enhance the PT profession, your role as a PT and your facility/practice.

Lynn Steffes, PT is President/Consultant of Steffes & Associates a rehabilitation consulting serviced based in Wisconsin. She provides consulting services to rehab providers nation-wide. She has enabled providers to achieve optimum success in the delivery of high quality, cost-effective care to their patient/clients.

Peter Kovacek, PT, MSA is one of the foremost rehabilitation management leaders and experts in the country. As an author, speaker, practice owner, administrator, educator and consultant, Peter has been actively involved in some of the most significant organizations in rehabilitation over the past 20 years.

Spasticity Management: Focus on Rehab—8am-4:30pm Saturday

This course will focus on the basics of spasticity and describe the patient examination, evaluation and management for optimal outcomes. The course will use case studies, tests, outcome assessments and differential planning to cover current treatment options. The ITB™Therapy role of the therapist will also be discussed. This course is appropriate for PTs, PTAs, OTs, OTAs and other allied health professionals.

Elizabeth Waerzeggers, PT, MS is a practicing pediatric physical therapist for St. Vincent Hospital-Pediatric Neurology Rehab in Green Bay. She is also involved with the Spasticity/Movement Disorders and Muscular Dystrophy Clinics and is currently on the Board of Directors for both the March of Dimes and the Youth Adaptive Sports Association.

The 2006 Fall Conference will be held at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton. Rates are $95 single/double. Be sure to make your reservations by contacting the hotel directly at 920/733-8000 or 800/242-3499 by September 13, 2006. Check-in is at 3pm and check-out is at noon. Room and rate availability cannot be guaranteed after September 13, 2006.

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