Liat Rabinowitz is the Program Manager of Speech Language Pathology at Rusk. Her experience has been in evaluation and treatment of adults with acquired brain injury with a specific area of interest in cognitive communication impairments and working with patients in disorder of consciousness. Most of her current work involves managing the Speech Language Pathology department, along with supervising and training staff. A native of South Africa, she trained as a therapist at the University of Cape Town. Her master’s degree in speech-language pathology is from Columbia University. She currently teaches as an adjunct faculty member at NYU-Steinhardt school on language disorders in adults and has taught cognitive disorders at Columbia University. 

In this interview, she discusses: meaning of the term post-confusional state and kinds of available treatment for it; interventions to treat acquired stuttering; language, cognitive communication, or swallowing disorders associated with the occurrence of a TBI and what can be done from the perspective of speech-language pathology; impairment of conversational ability following a brain injury; key topics within the realm of rehabilitation research in speech-language therapy; and the most common kinds of symptoms involved in post-traumatic amnesia.

Until this interview, this podcast series has focused on healthcare professionals and researchers and the myriad activities in which they all engage. We are very excited that, for this interview, listeners have an opportunity to hear the views of an individual who was on the other side. Mr. Pierre Lucien is an individual who had both legs amputated above the knee. In 2008, while on a training run with the Atlanta, Georgia Police Department, he fell to the ground unconscious when he experienced massive organ failure. In an effort to save his life, doctors had to amputate both of his legs above the knees. He later was transferred to the Rusk Rehabilitation Institute at NYU Langone where he underwent additional surgery and began rehabilitation. Today, he is married and the father of two children and earns a living while employed at a police department in Marietta, Georgia. The interview with him consists of three parts.

In Part 3 we discussed: experience of phantom pain in missing limbs and how to treat it; a sensation of feeling the presence of missing limbs; what he does to stay physically active; his family life and what he does for a living; providing assistance to new patients who undergo an amputation; additional activities in which he is engaged to inspire other individuals to cope with life’s challenges successfully; and thoughts or recommendations important to convey to health professionals.

Until today, this podcast series has focused on healthcare professionals and researchers and the myriad activities in which they all engage. We are very excited that, for this interview, listeners have an opportunity to hear the views of an individual who was on the other side. Mr. Pierre Lucien is an individual who had both legs amputated above the knee. In 2008, while on a training run with the Atlanta, Georgia Police Department, he fell to the ground unconscious when he experienced massive organ failure. In an effort to save his life, doctors had to amputate both of his legs above the knees. He later was transferred to the Rusk Rehabilitation Institute at NYU Langone where he underwent additional surgery and began rehabilitation. Today, he is married and the father of two children and earns a living while employed at a police department in Marietta, Georgia. The interview with him consists of three parts.

In Part 2 Pierre discusses: from the perspective of an amputee what is considered both a good day and a bad day; amount of time elapsed from time of surgery before prostheses were prescribed and use of them began; length of time to accommodate to having prosthetic limbs; kinds of problems that can develop when a prosthetic device exerts pressure on a limb’s soft tissue and how to deal with them; once prosthetics are fitted and used how much maintenance of them is involved; and adjustments in prostheses necessary to carry anything heavy or in trying to navigate uneven ground or a flight of stairs and the kinds of challenges involved, such as feeling a loss of balance. 

Until today, this podcast series has focused on healthcare professionals and researchers and the myriad activities in which they all engage. We are very excited that, for this interview, listeners have an opportunity to hear the views of an individual who was on the other side. Mr. Pierre Lucien is an individual who had both legs amputated above the knee. In 2008, while on a training run with the Atlanta, Georgia Police Department, he fell to the ground unconscious when he experienced massive organ failure. In an effort to save his life, doctors had to amputate both of his legs above the knees. He later was transferred to the Rusk Rehabilitation Institute at NYU Langone where he underwent additional surgery and began rehabilitation. Today, he is married and the father of two children and earns a living while employed at a police department in Marietta, Georgia. The interview with him consists of three parts.

In Part 1 we discussed: if there had been any signs or symptoms prior to his collapse and loss of consciousness; where he obtained treatment; his age when his legs were amputated; length of time as both an inpatient and an outpatient; time elapsed from time of surgery to rehabilitation; kinds of health and other kinds of professionals who provided care; amputation as a life changing event;  adjustments that had to be made in various aspects of daily living and functioning; and for a single person who experienced amputation, how dating was affected.

Dr. Douglas Elwood is a board-certified physician with over 15 years experience in health and wellness who has led innovation efforts for a number of companies and has dedicated his career to improving education, communication, and outcomes for patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. As a thought-leader in the space, he has consulted to companies throughout the industry, presented at conferences worldwide, and has multiple publications including a featured chapter in the esteemed annual HIMSS publication on mHealth. He is on part-time faculty at NYU Langone Medical Center at Rusk Rehabilitation and led one of the country's first and largest clinical studies on the use of technology in clinical care at Rusk and how social media, digital, mobile, and connected health influence communications, patient behavior, and physician workflow. Along with his part-time work at Rusk, Dr. Elwood is the Chief Medical Officer for PWNHealth where he leads over 150 physicians and genetic counselors, creates clinical protocols, oversees all clinical quality issues, and provides virtual care to large numbers of patients on a daily basis. A graduate of Amherst College and Jefferson Medical College, he is the holder of both MD and MBA degrees.

In Part 2 of this two-part series. Dr. Elwood reviews: how his health career journey after medical school and residency training brought him to where he works today and how he arrived there; promising uses of virtual care technology with patients; and the importance of forecasting key trends and identifying potential new opportunities in the emerging American health care scene.

Dr. Douglas Elwood is a board-certified physician with over 15 years experience in health and wellness who has led innovation efforts for a number of companies and has dedicated his career to improving education, communication, and outcomes for patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. As a thought-leader in the space, he has consulted to companies throughout the industry, presented at conferences worldwide, and has multiple publications including a featured chapter in the esteemed annual HIMSS publication on mHealth. He is on part-time faculty at NYU Langone Medical Center at Rusk Rehabilitation and led one of the country's first and largest clinical studies on the use of technology in clinical care at Rusk and how social media, digital, mobile, and connected health influence communications, patient behavior, and physician workflow. Along with his part-time work at Rusk, Dr. Elwood is the Chief Medical Officer for PWNHealth where he leads over 150 physicians and genetic counselors, creates clinical protocols, oversees all clinical quality issues, and provides virtual care to large numbers of patients on a daily basis. A graduate of Amherst College and Jefferson Medical College, he is the holder of both MD and MBA degrees.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, Dr. Elwood addresses: his involvement in a number of research activities exploring the use of technology to enhance patient care while serving as a resident/chief resident at Rusk and then later as a part-time clinical instructor; how technology has enhanced patient engagement in improving health care; value-based care as an emerging/blossoming approach to contain costs while enhancing care; shifts that may be occurring away from traditional providers, such as physician offices, clinics, and hospitals to a more technology-driven way of doing business; and how developments in the commercial sphere, such as the creation of apps and virtual technology parallel and augment what is unfolding in the clinical care and biomedical research domains. 

Dr. Tayyaba Ahmed is a doctor of physical medicine and rehabilitation. A native of New York City, after spending five years honing her skills in outpatient care, Dr. Ahmed focuses on her passion for treating pelvic pain, believing that concentrating on a specific field creates the greatest expertise. A board certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physician, Dr. Ahmed also is a fellow of the Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and a member of the International Pelvic Pain Society. She completed the BS/Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program at New York Institute of Technology and was trained at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, Northwell Health Plainview Hospital, and the NYU Langone Medical Center/RUSK Institute for Rehabilitation. 

In Part 2 of this two part series, Dr. Ahmed discusses: among the interventions of electrical stimulation, biofeedback, and pelvic floor muscle training, deciding which of these approaches either singly or in combination are best suited for a particular patient; ways of evaluating the effectiveness of these interventions; medications involved in treatment and for what purposes; periods of time, such as weeks or months when most rehabilitation interventions take place and whether plateaus ever occur where further treatment is not associated with additional improvements; and instances such as the presence of a patient’s advanced old age or co-morbidities where watchful waiting may represent the best choice instead of any other kind of intervention.

Dr. Tayyaba Ahmed is a doctor of physical medicine and rehabilitation. A native of New York City, after spending five years honing her skills in outpatient care, Dr. Ahmed focuses on her passion for treating pelvic pain, believing that concentrating on a specific field creates the greatest expertise. A board certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physician, Dr. Ahmed also is a fellow of the Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and a member of the International Pelvic Pain Society. She completed the BS/Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program at New York Institute of Technology and was trained at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, Northwell Health Plainview Hospital, and the NYU Langone Medical Center/RUSK Institute for Rehabilitation.

In Part 1 of this two-part interview, Dr. Ahmed discusses: kinds of interventions involved in pelvic rehabilitation; types of health problems that necessitate pelvic rehabilitation; roles played by factors such as age and gender in determining which patients are candidates for pelvic rehabilitation services, and biofeedback as an effective technique to enhance positive outcomes and how it is used. 

Dr. John Dodson serves as director of NYU Langone’s Geriatric Cardiology Program. He maintains an active general cardiology practice, which focuses on patients over age 70, and also provides care for patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation at NYU's Rusk Rehabilitation. He currently is the Principal Investigator for a Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) from the NIH/NIA and a Mentored Clinical and Population Research Award from the American Heart Association. An Assistant Professor in both the Department of Medicine and the Department of Population Health, he is Board certified in both cardiovascular disease and internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine. A recipient of a fellowship in epidemiology from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, he also had a fellowship in geriatrics from Yale University School of Medicine and another fellowship in cardiovascular disease from Yale-New Haven Hospital. His medical degree is from NYU and he has an MPH degree from Harvard. He did his residency at Columbia University Medical Center.

In Part Two of this two-part interview, Dr. Dodson discusses: if care is compromised when a patient is discharged from one hospital and readmitted to another hospital; exclusion of older patients from cardiovascular clinical trials; educating family caregivers and viewing them as members of the health care team; translation of clinical findings and evidence-based research to the bedside in a timely manner;  addressing foreign born patients’ treatment preferences; use of CAM therapies by patients; patient resilience and positive willingness to want to participate actively in all aspects of rehabilitation; role of in-home telehealth therapy programs; and NYU Langone’s monthly interdisciplinary geriatric cardiology conference.

Dr. John Dodson serves as director of NYU Langone’s Geriatric Cardiology Program. He maintains an active general cardiology practice, which focuses on patients over age 70, and also provides care for patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation at NYU's Rusk Rehabilitation. He currently is the Principal Investigator for a Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) from the NIH/NIA and a Mentored Clinical and Population Research Award from the American Heart Association. An Assistant Professor in both the Department of Medicine and the Department of Population Health, he is Board certified in both cardiovascular disease and internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine. A recipient of a fellowship in epidemiology from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, he also had a fellowship in geriatrics from Yale University School of Medicine and another fellowship in cardiovascular disease from Yale-New Haven Hospital. His medical degree is from NYU and he has an MPH degree from Harvard. He did his residency at Columbia University Medical Center.

In Part One of this two-part interview, Dr. Dodson discusses: use of cardiac catheterization in frail patients, the associations of incident heart failure with rates of cognitive decline, rehabilitation interventions to deal with slow gait speed, factors involving discharge after transcatheter aortic valve replacement to either the home or a skilled nursing facility, and steps in the discharge process.

Dr. Pablo Celnik is director of the Johns Hopkins Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and physiatrist-in-chief at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also is a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, and neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. A native of Argentina, his medical degree is from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine. He completed his residency training in neurology in Argentina and a fellowship in neurological rehabilitation at the University of Maryland. He also earned two research fellowships at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Celnik has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. 

In Part 2 of the two-part series, Dr. Celnik discusses: another one of his studies on the bail ty of motor learning to occur after a stroke;  efforts to achieve the translation of clinical findings and evidence-based research to the bedside in a timely manner;  importance of patient involvement in medical decision-making and in any related aspects of their care; patient resilience and positive willingness to want to participate actively in all aspects of rehabilitation; role of in-home telehealth therapy programs; ways in which rehabilitation services can benefit from leveraging existing and emerging kinds of social media platforms and using other modalities, such as apps, wearable devices, and virtual reality technology; and how developments in assistive technologies and genomics influence rehabilitation. 

Dr. Pablo Celnik is director of the Johns Hopkins Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and physiatrist-in-chief at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also is a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, and neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. A native of Argentina, his medical degree is from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine. He completed his residency training in neurology in Argentina and a fellowship in neurological rehabilitation at the University of Maryland. He also earned two research fellowships at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Celnik has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers.

In Part 1 if this two-part series, Dr. Celnik discusses: the number of individuals who experience a stroke in the U.S. annually and the percentage of them able to return home following treatment; kinds of impairments that result from a stroke and which ones are the most common; factors, such as age that can affect both the degree and the speed of recovery following a stroke; kinds of measures to determine neurological recovery and at what stages they are applied most effectively; periods of time in which most rehabilitation interventions take place and whether plateaus occur where further treatment is not associated with additional improvements; and a study in which he was involved to determine whether post-stroke mirror movements in the non-paretic hand are generated cortically or subcortically. 

 Joseph Adams is a Senior Physical Therapist and a Clinical Instructor of Rehabilitation Medicine at Rusk Rehabilitation, NYU Langone Health. He has performed physical therapy interventions for a diverse group of patients with central and peripheral vestibular disorders and assisted the program manager in expanding NYU’s concussion center into the vestibular department. He completed two clinical research studies and coordinated four ongoing clinical research studies in the Ambulatory Care Center at Tisch Hospital at NYU, and the Concussion Center. Dr. Adams is board certified in neurological rehabilitation. His doctorate in physical therapy is from the Touro College of Health Sciences where he also serves as an adjunct professor in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. Additionally, he is a teaching assistant in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at Columbia University.

In this interview, Joseph discusses: post-concussion syndrome from the standpoint of the amount of time that elapses after a head injury has occurred for the syndrome to be manifested; the kinds of symptoms that characterize this problem; the number of individuals in the U.S. who experience a head injury annually and the proportion affected by post-concussion syndrome; his involvement in a study of a supervised home program provided in the context of a multi-modal rehabilitation intervention to address persistent dizziness and disability; his participation in an investigation of  a supervised home exercise vestibular rehabilitation aerobic training program to address persistent post-concussion symptoms; factors, such as age, gender, race, and ethnicity that can affect both the degree and the speed of recovery from post-concussion syndrome; the role a patient’s psychiatric history and family members’ psychiatric history involving conditions such as pre-morbid anxiety or depression can play in the recovery process of post-concussion syndrome; kinds of measures to determine recovery and stages when they are applied most effectively; and ways in which rehabilitation services for post-concussion syndrome can benefit from leveraging existing and emerging kinds of social media platforms and using other modalities, such as apps, wearable devices, and virtual reality technology.

Dr. Jeffrey Heckman is a board certified physiatrist and a University of Washington assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and also the Director of the Regional Amputation Center at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. He specializes in the evaluation and management of the medical and functional aspects of rehabilitation following amputation, including prosthesis prescription, phantom limb pain and musculoskeletal injuries, as well as for arthritis-related joint pain and other age-related musculoskeletal conditions. His research interests are mobile technology, phantom limb pain, and peer support, and his teaching interests include amputation/limb loss and prosthetics/orthotics. He received his undergraduate degree from Penn State University and his osteopathic medical degree from the University of New England. He completed his residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the NYU Langone Medical Center, Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine.

In Part 2, Dr. Heckman discusses: children involved in amputations and their rehabilitation; how neighboring parts of the body may be affected by amputation; provision of relief from phantom pain; use of mirror therapy in treatment of phantom limb pain; translation of clinical findings and evidence-based research to the bedside in a timely manner; key research topics aimed at improving patient care of amputees; patient involvement in medical decision-making; patients’ resilience and positive willingness to want to participate actively in all aspects of rehabilitation; role of in-home telehealth therapy programs; and major challenges facing the profession of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Dr. Jeffrey Heckman is a board certified physiatrist and a University of Washington assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and also the Director of the Regional Amputation Center at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. He specializes in the evaluation and management of the medical and functional aspects of rehabilitation following amputation, including prosthesis prescription, phantom limb pain and musculoskeletal injuries, as well as for arthritis-related joint pain and other age-related musculoskeletal conditions. His research interests are mobile technology, phantom limb pain, and peer support, and his teaching interests include amputation/limb loss and prosthetics/orthotics. He received his undergraduate degree from Penn State University and his osteopathic medical degree from the University of New England. He completed his residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the NYU Langone Medical Center, Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine.

In Part 1, Dr. Heckman discusses: health problems that necessitate amputation; kinds of assessment tools to predict functional outcomes in amputees; major physical and psychological challenges faced by patients following amputation; efforts to assess mental health status pre-surgery; use of prosthetic devices; instances where patients decide to cease using prosthetic devices; and use of targeted muscle re-innervation to restore physiologic continuity as a means of possibly enabling more intuitive prosthetic control.

Jane Armer is a Professor at the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing, Director of Nursing Research at the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, and Director of the American Lymphedema Framework Project. As Principal Investigator for three National-Institutes-of-Health-funded grants in breast cancer lymphedema measurement, occurrence, and impact, Dr. Armer has conducted extensive work in the area of lymphedema prevalence, signs and symptoms, anthropometric measurement, and self-management among breast cancer survivors; fatigue among persons with lymphedema; and self-management of chronic illness. A Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, she is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including in 2017 being a Sigma Theta Tau International Inductee into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame. A prolific contributor to the professional literature on cancer and lymphedema, her PhD in gerontology nursing is from the University of Rochester.

In Part 2, of this interview, she discusses: available therapies to treat lymphedema, clinical treatment guidelines, use of CAM therapies, role of religiousness/spirituality in relation to positive health outcomes, adequacy of the health workforce to provide treatment, and future research that would be valuable to conduct.

The interview was completed with three resident physicians in the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Rusk Rehabilitation/NYU Langone Health. Dr. John Fox currently serves as a Chief resident for the 2017-2018 academic year. He will graduate residency in June and begin training in a one year Pediatric Rehabilitation Fellowship this summer. Dr. Jason Roth is an upcoming Chief Resident for the residency program who will serve for the 2018-2019 academic year. Dr. Raj Panchal is a current resident who will be completing his first year of Rehabilitation residency training at RUSK this June. All three physicians have served or are active representatives for PM&R in the hospital-wide Physician Wellbeing Committee, a committee where representatives from each residency training program meet to discuss issues of resident burnout, wellbeing, and ways to improve the collective residency training experience.

Heather Milton leads group fitness classes at NYU Langone Orthopedic Center and is a clinician with the Running Laboratory and Golf Laboratory. She is a board-certified exercise physiologist and strength and conditioning specialist. She is certified in Functional Movement Systems® and by the Titleist Performance Institute. She develops specialized programs to help athletes reach their maximum potential and ability. Ms. Milton creates unique and motivational programs to inspire health and fitness clients and designs injury prevention programs for at-risk athletes and youth sports teams. She also identifies limitations that may affect sport performance, including gait faults in running, swing faults in golf, and swing, kick, and throw patterns in rotational sports. Her undergraduate degree in cardiopulmonary science and her master’s degree in clinical exercise physiology are from Northeastern University.

This is the second of a two-part series. In Part 2 of the interview, Ms. Milton discusses how an off-season training program contributes to an athlete’s injury risk and overuse injuries; what can be done to reduce overuse injuries in various sports; prevention of baseball pitcher injury; whether female and male patients sustain ACL injuries via different mechanisms; and how information of this nature can serve to improve injury prevention strategies.

Heather Milton leads group fitness classes at NYU Langone Orthopedic Center and is a clinician with the Running Laboratory and Golf Laboratory. She is a board-certified exercise physiologist and strength and conditioning specialist. She is certified in Functional Movement Systems® and by the Titleist Performance Institute. She develops specialized programs to help athletes reach their maximum potential and ability. Ms. Milton creates unique and motivational programs to inspire health and fitness clients and designs injury prevention programs for at-risk athletes and youth sports teams. She also identifies limitations that may affect sport performance, including gait faults in running, swing faults in golf, and swing, kick, and throw patterns in rotational sports. Her undergraduate degree in cardiopulmonary science and her master’s degree in clinical exercise physiology are from Northeastern University.

This is the first of a two-part series. In Part 1 of the interview, Ms. Milton discusses how to screen patients with ACL injury to help guide their training and return to sport; time intervals at which screening measures are used, key areas of a training program that patients with ACL injury must address to transition back to their sport; common traits observed in both male and female athletes that have completed physical therapy following ACL injury; the continuum of older adults attending rehabilitation for gait training and the importance of muscle mass to avoid falls and the onset of frailty; muscle loss (sarcopenia) as a result of aging; and designing a training program for an older adult with many comorbidities.

Dr. Tamara Wexler is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center. Dr. Wexler established the Endocrine Patient Registry to support clinical research, and multidisciplinary and inter-institute research collaboration to further investigate the importance of pituitary dysfunction, and its treatment. She serves as principal investigator of the TBI/Pituitary Registry and the lead site investigator for a multisite neuroendocrine tumor study. Her research interests are focused on neuroendocrine and reproductive endocrine changes that may occur, including after traumatic brain injury. Her medical degree and PhD are from the University of Pennsylvania. She did her residency in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Wexler also had a fellowship at MGH involving Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism.

This is the second of a two-part interview. In Part Two, Dr. Wexler discusses the role played by other factors, such as age, gender, and race/ethnicity in pituitary dysfunction following a TBI; hypopituitarisms and the extent of pituitary dysfunction and the amount of time that elapses after a TBI; determining when it is appropriate to conduct screening; and the degree to which incidence and prevalence data indicate the mount of progress being made in treating pituitary problems.