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When Andrea Salzman began to teach physical therapy students how to work in the water at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN, they started to ask questions. Their questions kept coming.
It was then, in the mid 90s, that Salzman got her first inkling therapists wanted to know more than just the basics. Salzman, also St. Kate's research adviser, looked around for some help.
She found a lot of therapists dedicated to aquatics, but few had anything new to share.
"[Students would] call and say, 'Can you recommend another class? Those were the things we were hearing for years," she said.
"Aquatic therapists are a very small, very specialized field," explained Salzman, who graduated from the University of Alabama in Birmingham with a master of science in physical therapy. "We love the water and truly want to train ourselves in it year after year."
"But, honestly, how many times can you sit still on land to hear about the basics? We all longed for more..."
No More Aquatic Kindergarten
Between all of the questions, and boasting 16 years of experience by now, Salzman founded Aquatic Therapy University.
"Most university-based training offers therapists next to nothing in the way of aquatic therapy education," Salzman says. "So, we had to tackle it in the continuing education field."
"ATU picks up after graduation and leads toward an advanced skill set. That's not possible at the associate, master's or doctoral levels. There just isn't the time or, frankly, the knowledge for it."
The university's post-graduate studies began Jan. 15, 2010. ATU's educational hub at Summit Place, an upscale senior community in Eden Prairie, MN, is about 20 minutes from Minneapolis.
As the program director, Salzman knew the school's courses could overlap if not set up on a structured system. So, before the launch, faculty decided to do a curriculum-based, tiered progression of continuing education.
As a result, by attending 70-plus hours of weekend courses within 2 to 5 years, therapists can now earn an aquatic therapy certificate in one of seven specialty tracks. The seven training options are geriatric, musculoskeletal, neurological, pediatric, sports/military, general studies and business.
With general studies, therapists may even choose to combine across specialty tracks to put together their own individualized course of study.
No class time goes toward the basic principles of physical medicine and rehabilitation, either. Instead, during a Friday-Saturday seminar, therapists might learn about aquatic sensory integration, aquatic therapy for the speech therapist, aquatic therapy for the total hip and total knee replacement patient, fall prevention strategies, neonatal hydrotherapy, novel balance and proprioception.
Each advanced session includes a minimum of five hours of lecture and nine hours of pool lab, which is worth at least 1.4 continuing education units. The Category 1 approved credits also count toward the 70 hours.
Don't Make Me Get the Hose
Before any intensive weekend begins, Salzman always tells therapists to come prepared because, "We believe it will be something akin to drinking from a fire hose," she says.
Salzman gets students warmed up in GS701 - Aquatic Therapy Boot Camp - before the main course that starts at 2 p.m. on Friday. When she teaches that 2-hour lecture and 2-hour lab from morning until early afternoon, students learn it is, in fact, a heat-up.
All therapists are required to take boot camp--"except current water gurus," Salzman said in jest.
Her boot camp is just that--a fast-paced, hands-in pool lab. As the water scholars try to drag themselves out of the pool in time for lunch, it reminds them why they work in the water and why water works.
The cost for the course that ends Saturday evening is $595, plus a one-time $75 enrollment fee. When they go back home, aquatic professionals now have at least 18 hours under their flotation belts.
There's no additional charge for boot camp. But, if it's taken alone for extra continuing education credits, the cost is $199. For a pool therapist who would like to become an aquatic instructor, that class is $299.
200 Legs in the Pool Are Against ATU Rules
"When you offer a class as tight a focus as 'total hip and total knee,' for example, you're only going to draw a small percentage of people out there," Salzman said.
For that reason, ATU's classes are normally set up for 20 to 30 students, not 70 to 200. This way, therapists in training can see and work side-by-side with the instructors.
"Most companies look for 100 people, like in a conference once a year," Salzman said. "But in aquatic therapy, if you have a 100 people, there's no pool big enough. You can't see under water. Anything over 30 people, you're just asking for people to go home."
That's why Summit's large and small warm water therapy pools were a draw. As a rule, aquatics classes take place in the Olympic-sized pool that has performance room for 45 people.
"It's big, has a lot of shallow water from 3.5 feet to 4.5 feet and we fit," she says. "Therapists can't learn aquatic therapy from the deck."
"Our model is we want people to become masters. The way you have mastery is to get in the water and practice it for hours and hours and hours."
Another thing Salzman likes about Summit is its gourmet dining prepared by a team of chefs. She feels students who come from all over the world will eat well and feel at home during their water training in Minnesota, the "Land of 10,000 Lakes."
So far, they have come from over 20 countries, such as Brazil, Canada, Israel, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Just the other day, Salzman got a call from therapists in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates looking to sign up.
Water Wants to Be Your Best Friend
Salzman understands aquatic therapists are major global players in rehabilitation and improving the quality of lives. Their playing field--water--just seems to encourage activity. Water's natural properties also offer clients a lot more rewards over the same activities on land.
The body is buoyant in water, Salzman explained. For example, a 200-pound man up to his neck in water will bear only 20 pounds in the pool. That's a big deal for those who suffer from pain, injuries and chronic conditions.
Plus, the 91- to 94-degree heated pools help soothe muscles. In turn, clients are able to move around a lot easier with little or no pain because the strain on their joints and muscles appreciably lessens.
With this in mind, she makes it less like therapy and more like dance.
Aquatic Therapy Overload
During the two-day seminars across the country, "Students are stuffed with food, knowledge and new ideas," Salzman said. "We want them to leave overflowing."
"When they leave, students feel like they have a firm grasp on something new. After a class, people e-mail back, 'I love the blanket drills; I started doing the balance stuff you showed me in the pool...'"
This year, in addition to the 12 monthly training seminars at the Midwest site, ATU instructors will teach seven regional conferences. The off-campus classes will take place in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Ohio and Texas. Schedules and credit offerings are available at www.aquatic-university.com, info@aquatic-university.com and 800-680-8624.
True Grimes is a contributor and can be reached at true.grimes@yahoo.com.
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