GSRA Postion F09-36
An analysis of function and pain scores in patients referred to the Urban Health and Wellness Center's physical therapy clinic.
Faculty Name: Edgar Torres
Department: Physical Therapy
Campus Address: 2157 WSW
Email: edgarto@umflint.edu
Phone: 8107623373
Project Description: The Urban Health and Wellness Center Physical Therapy clinic (UHWC PT) is currently using the American Physical Therapy Association's (APTA) Connects data management program for scheduling and electronic medical record data input. This program allows for the collection of patient data including demographic and health related quality of life (HRQL) data. All patient data can be de-identified for the purpose of analysis. It is important to analyze pre and post intervention data to determine baseline patient characteristics and to assess whether PT interventions improve patient function and decreases pain. It is important for not only clinic operations, but also for outcomes research and student teaching to understand these characteristics and to be able to make comparisons between this population and others.
Semesters Desired: Fall 2009; Winter 2010
GSRA Position Description: The GSRA will work with the UHWC PT director to create a data report that can be generated on a weekly basis. The GSRA will compile the data and organize it in a meaningful way such that patient demographic and HRQL data can be meaningfully analyzed. The GSRA will be responsible for notifying the UHWC PT director of missing data. It will be the director's responsibility to work with the PT clinic staff to fix errors associated with missing data. There are approximately 30 â€" 50 new patients and a total of 400-500 patient clinic visits per month. The GSRA will need to keep track of all new patients, retrieve demographic and HRQL data from the initial examination and retrieve HRQL data at the six week period after the initial examination (or sooner if a specific patient is discharged from PT services prior to six weeks).
The GSRA will also conduct a literature search on the HRQL surveys used by the PT clinic.
The GSRA will be responsible for presenting a monthly report to the UHWC PT director.
Specific Day/Time Requirements: Days/times requirements are flexible based on the GSRA and UHWC director's schedules. All data analysis will be conducted at the UHWC PT clinic. The clinic is open Monday through Friday, 8:00am *- 4:30pm. Data analysis may be conducted at other times if
Special Requirements: The GSRA will complete the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) training conducted by the UHWC. This is a one-time training that takes approximately 20 minutes. They will also be required to complete the PEERRS (Program for Education and Evaluation in Responsible Research and Scholarship) certification program offered by the University of Michigan, Office of Research. Specifically, the Foundations of Good Research Practice and Human Research, biomedical and health sciences modules will have to be completed. This certification program will take approximately two to three hours.
Ideally the GSRA will have an understanding of Excel but this is not a requirement.
Graduate Students in These Programs May Apply: Health Education (MS); Physical Therapy (DPT)