TheOncoPT Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Cancer is already a cataclysmic event in a person's life. But what about when it happens during childhood? Cancer & its treatments have profound effects on a young person's physical, mental, & emotional health now & potentially for the rest of their life. Enter PT Dan. PT Dan, also known as Dan Steventon, PT, DPT (Board Certified Specialist in Oncology Physic...

Send us Fan Mail ROM? Check. MMT? Check. Lymphedema measurements? Check. I thought I had all my ducks in a row for assessing my patients, but I was neglecting a key component that affects LITERALLY all of these things & so much more. It was actually keeping my patients from improving significantly in many cases. Any guesses yet? SLEEP. I wrote everybody off as already having cancer-related fat...

Send us Fan Mail After months of planning, we had an absolute blast at the recent Virtual Oncology Physical Therapy Summit back in April! I'm still reeling from the amazing knowledge bombs dropped by all the speakers & can't wait for the next summit! To keep the fun going, PT Pintcast & I are releasing my presentation from the Summit for your enjoyment this week. Listen in as I b...

Send us Fan Mail I hated wound care in PT school. Didn't ever pique my interest. So when I went into OncoPT, I told myself I wouldn't be seeing patients with wounds. WRONG. My very first solo eval had severe radiation burns - guess what? A wound. And just one of many I have seen so far in my career. We will see wounds in OncoPT. So even if we're not wound care PTs, we still need to...

Send us Fan Mail The case report is part of the initial application process for the oncology specialist certification exam, but boy is it a doozy. It's critical to plan for success, so here's 5 things you MUST know about writing your case report. 1. Know the deadline & plan backwards. 2. Be intentional with your time. 3. Revisions are part of the process. 4. Writing your case report...

Send us Fan Mail The deadline for the oncology specialist certification exam is rapidly approaching (July 1!), so don't let it sneak up on you! In today's episode, we're covering important dates to know, plus a step-by-step walkthrough of how to complete the application. If you want a structured way to get started on your ABPTS oncology case report, I'm hosting a LIVE writing s...

Send us Fan Mail The 4-part formula for star assessments works great - until you get a patient without any problems or impairments. So how the heck do you write a star assessment without a problem sentence??? I'm covering exactly this in today's episode (thanks to my listeners who messaged me with this exact question!). If you want a structured way to get started on your ABPTS oncology c...

Send us Fan Mail Oncology PT is rarely like outpatient orthopedic PT.  Pts often aren’t seen for 2-3x/week for 6 weeks & discharged.  Some are, but the vast majority don’t fit into this neat box.  In fact, they may need months of skilled PT services & ongoing check-ups, depending on their functional mobility impairments.  So how do we make sure our patients get the appropriate care they ne...

Send us Fan Mail PT school teaches us a lot, but not really how to be safe when working with people after a cancer diagnosis. When our patients are a walking red flag, we need concrete info on how to actually help them. In this episode, we're discussing 5 key factors of being a safe OncoPT. Are you paying attention to these in your practice? If you want a structured way to get started on your...

Send us Fan Mail Are you on social media?  Because your patients are. Kelly Reed, PT, DPT, combined her love of arts & crafts with her passion for people with cancer to command a powerful Instagram presence & steadily building YouTube channel. With these platforms, she is improving education for both patients & providers, especially when access is limited. In our interview, Kelly share...

Send us Fan Mail Imagine how great it would feel to treat patients after a cancer diagnosis, confidently & competently. Okay, stop dreaming, because it's here. I've teamed up with PT Pintcast & the brightest minds in oncology physical therapy to bring you the first EVER Virtual Oncology Physical Therapy Summit, happening on April 17, 2021! Jimmy & Juliette of PT Pintcast are...

Send us Fan Mail APTA-CSM 2021 looked a bit different this year. With a lot of hard work, the conference brought together the same & new brilliant minds who are helping advance our profession. But I think there's definitely some take-aways from this year on how to make it better for next year.   Sign up for my new FREE workshop: 5 Things that Separate Newbies from Confident, Competent Onc...

Send us Fan Mail You've been studying for MONTHS - now it's finally time to take your exam. You know the content for the exam, but what's your plan for surviving it? In today's episode, we're covering what you need to survive your PT board certification exam.   If you want a structured way to get started on your ABPTS oncology case report, I'm hosting a LIVE writing s...

Send us Fan Mail Over this past year in-person manual therapy training has kind of disappeared. Maybe not entirely, but a pandemic has definitely affected how we teach and learn manual skills.   So how do we ensure that we are learning these important manual skills when we can't be in person? How do we guarantee that we're learning the appropriate touch pressure the spiel of these manual...

Send us Fan Mail We learn how to treat patients after a cancer diagnosis from a PT standpoint - but do we fully consider how other factors impact our patients' progress? Yes, they may be participating in sessions, but do they have food, money to cover housing, a safe place to sleep? These factors affect our patients & their ability to live their best lives after a cancer diagnosis. But ho...

Send us Fan Mail It's the most wonderful time of the #OncoPT year! We are so excited for the virtual APTA-CSM 2021 experience, & we're highlighting some of favorite parts in today's episode. From posters to platforms, sessions, exhibits, & more, you don't want to miss the inside scoop on this virtual experience to remember! If you want a structured way to get started on...

Send us Fan Mail Oncology is full of excited, passionate people who love to educate others, like practitioners or patients. But very few platforms educate BOTH - when we educate both patients & practitioners, we equip all involved parties to be more in tune with what patients need. Denise Stewart, founder of the Breast Cancer Rehabilitation & Wellness Summit, is my special guest on today&a...

Send us Fan Mail What can a beautiful tiny island nation teach us about OncoPT? A lot. Most importantly how to ensure patients get the care they desperately need when there aren't many OncoPTs around. Here in the US, we tend to focus on the big urban cancer centers & how to make them better. But we can't forget about our colleagues & patients in rural areas or even those in healt...

Send us Fan Mail OncoPTs are connectors - we help connect patients with other healthcare pros, services, & care. But we can't do everything. So hallelujah we have foundations like the HERS Breast Cancer Foundation to help patients get needed wigs, compression garments, post-mastectomy care, & more. I spoke with Tina Fernandez Steckler about how HERS helps patients in the San Francisco...

Send us Fan Mail This Atlanta-based clinician is about to rock your world - & your patients' world. DocJay PT (also known as Ashley Johnson, PT, DPT) is radically changing the physical therapy landscape for the better. What she's doing for her practice (where she treats athletes, dancers, entertainers, bartenders, patients with Medicaid, you name it) is what we need to be doing in On...

Send us Fan Mail Happy New Year! We're starting 2021 with a bang - a fantastic interview & VIDEO(!) with Naomi Aaronson, who incorporates Pilates into her oncology OT practice. Pilates is a whole body approach that emphasizes stability, which is a problem for many cancer survivors. Naomi takes us through what Pilates is, how she's using it for her patients, & how we can too. Watc...

Send us Fan Mail We have finally arrived at the end of 2020. Good grief. While this is definitely not how I pictured spending this year, thank God we've made it here. It only seems fitting to send this year off with a bang, so I'm bringing back the #1 most popular episode for us to enjoy again. Even though we recorded this interview back in at the beginning of the pandemic, Nicole Stout&...

Send us Fan Mail This was a hugely popular episode of 2020 - I'm still getting emails & messages about this one! In Ep. 89, I interviewed breast surgical oncologist Dr. Toni Storm, & she brought the house down with all the knowledge she shared with us. Knowing her perspective as the breast surgeon helps our OncoPT practice so much, especially when it comes to healing & potential c...

Send us Fan Mail It's time to send this year off with a bang. So before we say hello to 2021, we're recapping the top 3 episodes of 2020. We looked back at the stats, & your downloads picked these three as your favorites! Today's episode is slightly ironic because here in the Northern Hemisphere, it is winter - in my backyard, it's cold & sprinkling. BUT - today's...

Send us Fan Mail A lot could be said about 2020. I think an overarching theme is one dumpster fire after another. But it hasn't all been a complete disaster. Even some of the things that totally derailed the momentum we had coming into this year have become exceptional teaching moments for OncoPT. I just wish we didn't have to learn them this way. Regardless, it's almost the end of...