Megan Conklin serves as Program Manager of Rusk Pediatric Therapy Services, which is part of Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone Health. She earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Scranton and has been practicing physical therapy for 15 years, all of them spent at NYU. In 2012, she was awarded the professional designation of board-certified clinical specialist in pediatric physical therapy by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties of the American Physical Therapy Association. Since 2017, she also has been a part-time faculty member at the University of Scranton teaching pediatric specialty for the doctoral physical therapy program.
In this interview, she discusses the following topics: the kinds of pediatric patients she and the rest of a health care team treat and the nature of health problems involved; how therapies provided in the hospital differ from therapies furnished in the early intervention or school settings; challenges for patients with long-term health problems who have to make the transition from pediatric to adult care; how telehealth differs from care provided in the clinical setting; how COVID-19 has affected how health care services are delivered; and description of a case study that was challenging, interesting, and rewarding for both patients and their caregivers.