Louis stokes cleveland va medical center named outstanding education site of the year | va northeast ohio health care | veterans affairs

Physical Therapists are trained to understand how a body moves, and to work with patients who have difficulty moving due to illnesses, accidents, or other injuries. Physical Therapists are

trained to understand how a body moves, and to work with patients who have difficulty moving due to illnesses, accidents, or other injuries. Physical Therapists can help with range of

movement development, pain management, and retraining patients to accomplish daily activities in different ways.  At the VA, physical therapists examine and evaluate patients and prepare

individualized treatment plans—often helping to avoid surgery, prevent injuries, increase mobility, and restore independence for Veterans. VA physical therapists are trusted members of a

Veterans’ care team who develop close relationships with those they treat.  The Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center has close affiliations with several academic institutions that place

students and residents within the medical center for weeks or months at a time. Recently, Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, recognized the Cleveland VA Medical Center as their

Outstanding Clinical Education partner for 2023.  Two of the outstanding clinical educators, Kathleen Keane and Amber Simecek, of the Cleveland VA Medical Center, and their students were

interviewed recently about their work.  Kathleen Keane, VANEOHS Physical Therapist, Neuro-clinical Specialist & student Dajana Tomicic, Physical Therapy Neurological Resident from Gannon

Univ. Kathleen (Katie) and Dajana sat down in Cares Tower for a conversation about PT, and what makes a great clinician instructor.  Katie explained “My grandmother had a stroke that was

quite debilitating. When she came home, there was a physical therapist who came to the house. Watching her be helped with navigating stairs and getting in and out of bed—this had quite an

impact. That really spurred my interest [in physical therapy].” She continued, “I was always interested in teaching. I did some teaching as part of my neuro-residency program at Marquette

University—and I found that teaching is really one of my passions. And since I did my doctorate in physical therapy at Gannon University, I like to pay back by always taking on a student…”

It’s clear from her wide eyes, energy and ample smile that Katie really enjoys her work at the Cleveland VA.  Her student, Dajana, jumped in. “It’s definitely easy to see how passionate

[Katie] is—she has a wealth of knowledge to share and is more than willing to take time to answer questions or brainstorm ideas to help residents or a student be a better clinician.” She

continued, “[Katie’s approach] is very teachable, too. It’s been great to watch a variety of physical therapists work in this program and see the differences in how they approach patients

and how they adapt to the needs of individual patients—adapt even to their personalities.  It was great seeing how Katie would demonstrate that to us students. She is a great role model.”

Katie leaned forward, grinning at Dajana, “I try to always stay up on current literature and the evidence-based practices because PT can sometimes become kind of a ‘going through the

motions’ thing; I might have a patient with a common injury and you can tend to think, ‘well, therapy A, B, and C, are what we do for that’. But if I think back to how I saw the therapist

work with my grandma, and how they thought through, ‘what does this patient really need to be able to do, and what do they enjoy doing?’, it can mean a different approach—it’s about being

more fully patient-focused.” Dajana starts telling a story, “[Katie and I] worked together with a patient who was very anxious with anything we asked her to do—she was very frightened of

falling.  She was NOT falling but she thought she was always falling. Katie jumped in to de-escalate the situation. She talked the patient through the anxiety attack—and she was amazing.

Katie focused on the situation, talked through all the things the patient had already accomplished and helped them to see the progress they’d made. And the situation entirely changed—Katie

became a Coach.”  Katie says that her job as Clinical Instructor often involves adapting her role based upon changing circumstances, smoothly transitioning from Instructor, to Coach, to

Mentor. Sometimes that adaptation is driven by patient needs, but just as often it can be a means of fostering the right learning environment for the student.  Dajana says that it has been

Katie’s sensitivity to the entire patient and student experience that makes her so incredible as a Clinical Instructor. “It’s her kindness, her patience, and her trust – allowing us as

students to realize and develop our own style as clinicians while guiding with sensitivity. That’s what makes her awesome at her job.” Amber Simecek, Physical Therapist, PMRS & student

physical therapist Jonathan Schroeder, Gannon University  Amber starts the conversation describing the history of her PT interest. “I first got interested in physical therapy while I was in

high school—because I got injured a lot! And then had to do physical therapy—a lot!”  She laughs. Her interest stuck; through Army ROTC in college at Gannon, through to an Army MOS in PT for

four years, with two at Fort Knox and two in South Korea. From outpatient orthopedics in the Army to inpatient (Cares Tower) Amber became interested in being an orthopedic mentor to PT

residencies.  She’s since added Dry Needling certification as well as her COMT – that’s a Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapist.  “I get pulled in so many directions and work jobs from

various departments, so I like to get students near the end of their field experiences – they are more likely to be up to the [diverse] challenges. And Gannon now understands the demands I

can make and only sends me students that can handle that.”  Jonathan Schroeder, a student physical therapist from Gannon University who has since graduating with his DPT been hired directly

into VANEOHS explained, “For my field work, I picked the Cleveland VA for my fourth field work because I thought it would be a great experience—and it was! I started talking with people

about working here even before I had finished – the work here was different every morning I came in and it just really keeps you on your toes and keeps your skills fresh.”   John continued,

“I think one of the things that made learning from and working with Amber so different was that she really pulled orthopedics into other settings; even situations that weren’t

orthopedic-based—a lot of times you can find orthopedic therapies to help patients, that can help with pain or make other sessions easier.” “I think Gannon prepared me well to handle the

clinical setting here at the VA in Cleveland. They make sure you’re confident with all your practicals and check-offs and so you’re quite ready—plus with four clinicals instead of only

three, Gannon’s program works really well providing a broader set of experiences.”  Congratulations to both Amber and Katie for the impact they are making at the Cleveland VA Medical Center,

both with their patients, as well as on the next generation of Physical Therapists they are training for the future!