PT students chalk up success with MS community

Color us blessed.

Sure, Dan and I both have Multiple Sclerosis, but we also have an amazing group of future physical therapists supporting our fight against this frustrating chronic illness.

On Saturday, April 21, the Physical Therapy Student Organization at Central Michigan University will host its annual Stomp Out MS Walk/Run with Color. All proceeds benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the people it serves.

How awesome are these doctor of physical therapy students? Let me tell you …

Every Thursday morning since January 11, the PT students have hosted a free researched-based group exercise class for people living with MS and Parkinson’s Disease. The class is called MOVE! For Health, and it helps participants to improve their flexibility, posture and strength.

I went to the first class, and when I got home I told Dan, “You HAVE to go too!” It’s a great class that meets each person where they are in terms of their individual ability level.

Imagine that: A class where every person can participate and get a good workout! So, yes, Dan and I along with nearly 15 other people have been “moving” with the PT students every Thursday 🙂

In addition to helping those of us living with MS and Parkinson’s, the students also get the benefit of learning how to work with different patients and adapt various exercises as needed.

And this exercise class is a continuation of sorts to something I participated in this past fall. I had the opportunity to work closely with three CMU doctor of physical therapy students through the PT-CONECT program.

PT CONECT stands for Physical Therapy-Chippewa Outreach in Neurorehabilitation and Education with Community Teams. It was a six-week class assignment that gave students another way to put into practice the latest techniques and best practices they learned in their different courses. And it offered me and other participants from mid-Michigan communities six weeks of free physical therapy.

Sounds like a win-win to me!

Plus, a CMU PT professor often invites Dan and me to speak to her class when they are learning about patients with MS. She asks that we share with them a little of our story and the MS patient perspective.

These are just a few examples of how the PT students at CMU are engaged with the MS community throughout the year.

And it always concludes with the annual Stomp Out MS walk/run, which, BTW, has been going on for more than eight years.

What’s exciting about all of this is that when these physical therapists enter their practices and profession, MS hopefully is more than just an acronym for a laundry list of conditions they need to treat.

MS is more about the people they’ve met, treated and fought for throughout their time at CMU.

We are forever grateful to the students and faculty for this continued support and can’t say “thank you” enough!