As a physiatrist, I am always working with medical specialists from all different backgrounds.  While I was in training at Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, I had the chance to train with Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, Psychologists, Life-Care Planners, Nurses and many other rehab related specialists.  Most of the patients I worked with, in the beginning of my training, had permanent disabilities like strokes, spinal cord injuries and other dangerous medical conditions.  These patient's used to stay in the hospital getting rehab for 2-4 months while their strength returned and they learned to live with their profound new disability.  They spent hundreds of hours with their therapy team, and the staff that would help plan their discharge.  We all had to work together to make sure that the patient had what they would need on the day they returned home.  How can you send somebody home in a wheelchair if they live on the third floor and do not have an elevator???  It was complicated, but rewarding.  Each specialist had a different approach to the patient, and would usually think of things in a different way.  By using our combined knowledge we were able to supply the patient with ample resources.

Later in training I worked as a resident on the consultation team at University of Chicago Hospital. This is a world class institution, with some of the foremost physicians in the world.  As a consultant, I would be asked to give an opinion and give recommendations for other people's patients from a Physiatrists perspective.  The most common question we were asked is, "Where should this patient go when they are discharged?"  Home? Rehab? Nursing home?  The approach to asking this question nearly always involved me talking to all the doctors treating the patient, to determine how medically stable the patient was, and how much medical care they would need on discharge.  I would also talk to the therapists at the hospital who were working with the patient, to be sure that the patient would be able to handle the work of full-time rehab after discharge from the medical hospital to the rehab hospital.  In this service, I was talking to dozens of doctors and therapists, as well as discharge planners who were seeing what the patient's insurance would allow.  

The different settings above are common for physiatrists to encounter during their training.  The different ways to approach rehab are clear, inpatient/outpatient/nursing home. . . Regardless of the setting, working TOGETHER, with different specialists, was the only way to provide thorough care for the patient.

Here at First Health Associates, our team shares that approach.  We are routinely asking one another about the various questions, conditions and concerns our patients have.  "What would YOU do about this kind of headache?"  "Do you think this back pain is from the disc, or more from the muscle?"  "Do you think Patient X is ready for therapy or does he need more time to let the pain subside?"  Because we are all part of the same team we are able to provide support to one another, not just on a regular basis, but on a CONSTANT basis.  Having all these experts under one roof gives us a unique set of resources.  Patients always tell us, "Dr. Paul said that to me yesterday." "Emery said that too" "Dr. Zhu thought that would help too"  By working as a team, with all of our focus on the patient, we can support one another, provide another point of view and another set of treatment options, everything our patient might need!

 In Health and Wellness,

Dr Jason Gruss