Episode 110 - Sara Leutchford, Part 2: Little and Often

Sara Leutchford PT, DIP MDT, OMT

Show Notes 

Referrals (Continued)

Sara shares some word-of-mouth marketing tips including asking her satisfied patients to share their results with their physicians. She notes the time she has spent getting to know local doctors, as well as her referrals back to the doctors to form mutual benefits.  She speaks again about the team environment and the importance of referrals within the clinic to allow the most specialized clinician in a particular treatment subgroup to assess the patient.

 

Marketing and Advertising

Sara shares some stories regarding the frustrations and failures of marketing, as well as some of the simpler and more effective tools available to her clinic. Again she stresses the importance of promoting your expertise as a clinician by patient word-of-mouth.

 

Relevant Quote

“Exercise little, and often.”

 

Student Mistakes

History

Taking information, but not using clinical reasoning to help organize the physical exam  afterwards. This includes recognizing precautions and contraindications, whether or not you need to do neuro screens, and organizing thoughts regarding positioning or  movement for the physical exam.

 

Physical Exam

● Not utilizing posture correction or understanding what happens with this correction. 

● Not enough repetitions with repeated movements, or not exploring all directions based on clinician bias.

● Not getting to end range, or not utilizing mid-range movements appropriately.

● Not “selling the product” by showing the patient that what you are telling them to do is effective by recognizing the mechanical and symptomatic responses.

● Not introducing flexion early enough, or persisting in McKenzie Exercises and ignoring the benefits of general fitness.

 

Memorable Patients

A patient with symptomatic spondylolisthesis who required mid-range movements and posture correction, and required a great amount of time for progress to be made.  A very tall man with an acute lateral shift who required shift correction in sitting to reduce.

 

Best Career Advice

Paula van Wijmen’s advice to pursue the manual therapy courses in order to broaden Sara’s perspective and be able to better address the questions of students or colleagues with different viewpoints. Sara encourages others to pursue training in manual therapy to do the same.

 

Useful Resources

McKenzie Roll and Treat Your Own Back, Treat Your Own Neck, Mobilization belt and scissors!

 

Scientific Studies

Centralization and directional preference: a systematic review. May et al. Man Ther. 2012 Dec;17(6):497-506.

The reduction of chronic nonspecific low back pain through the control of early morning lumbar flexion. A randomized controlled trial. Snook et al. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 1998 Dec 1; 23 (23) : 2601-7.

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