Unfortunately, the COVID pandemic has had a significant impact on my time at VCU, most notably in an academic sense, from virtual anatomy with digital “cadavers” to divided lab groups and restricted lab time. But it also impacted our classes ability to engage with one another and our sense of belonging, not just in our program, but in the physical therapy profession. In our first year, the American Physical Therapy Combined Sections Meeting (APTA CSM) was entirely virtual and in our second year, travel remained difficult and many were still on high-alert for exposure. However, one small blessing in all of this was the influx of continuing education courses that became available online.
I was able to attend a continuing education course The Rundown on Getting Up & Running with Tamara Elzey, DPT in February 2021. This was a two hour live video course on how to evaluate and rehabilitate the injured runner. It covered strategies including structured rest, gait analysis and form adjustment, optimal cadence for injury prevention, common running injuries, and strategies for pattern recognition and diagnosis.
I have always had a passion for gait analysis and running form which started with my own running career and developed through my own experiences with injury as well as fitting runners and walkers for shoes in the various running stores I have worked at. This course took my knowledge from that background and layered the physical therapy lens on top. It was inspiring to see Dr. Elzey, DPT having made her career working with injured runners and gave me some insight as to what that might look like if I choose a similar path. I’m excited to take similar courses in the future and dive deeper into this niche because, being a runner myself, I know how stubborn, persistent, and, dare I say, difficult to treat we can be.
Kate Buss 