Evaluation and management of the Upper Quadrant Conditions

The focus is on comprehensive assessment of the upper quadrant and techniques for managing impairment secondary to soft tissue and skeletal injury through splinting, manual therapy, exercises and physical agent modalities. Additional emphasis is on incorporating functional activities into treatment regimen management of wounds, edema, scarring pain and altered sensation. The mentee will demonstrate:

• Evaluation of the shoulder, elbow wrist and the hand complex using observation, subjective and objective assessments
• Understanding functional impairment secondary to trauma/ disease
• Use of therapeutic techniques commonly used to help resolve functional limitations
• Identification of structures responsible for joint range limitation and selection of appropriate intervention
• Understanding the physiological and therapeutic effect of physical agent modalities
• Use of clinical reasoning in choosing and utilizing treatment techniques
• Understanding application, construction and design of custom splints
• Understanding characteristics of muscle and tendon tissue, response to injuries and specific treatment interventions for the shoulder, elbow, wrist and the hand
• Indentifying the classification of nerve injuries, manifestation and specific treatment
• Understanding causes of pain and knowledge of clinical treatment
• Treatment of wounds; understanding the prevalence and scar and edema and their management