Hands for Health offers student-patient experience

Christine Wilson enjoys working with her hands.

As part of the Hands for Health Clinic, the Clarkston graduate student provides physical therapy services to students and community members in Isabella County.

“I get excited about it,” she said. “I love the clinic, which gives the students experience in treating actual patients. That can’t be taught in the classroom.”

The public clinic started in January 1998 and operates in the Health Professions Building room 2138, inside the Carls Center for Clinical Care and Education.

Open Wednesdays, the clinic runs like an orthopedic outpatient clinic.

After patients receive prescriptions for physical therapy from a doctor, they visit for further medical treatment.

The clinic’s main patients are people with orthopedic problems, individuals with neurological impairment, geriatric and pediatric clients, and university-aged students with athletic injuries, according to its Web site.

Raju Chowdhary, a physical therapy assistant professor, said the clinic has seen an increase in clientele.

“If somebody doesn’t have insurance or they do and their benefits have run out, (they) are all appropriate candidates for Hands for Health,” Chowdhary said.

Tim Zipple, a physical therapy associate professor, said the idea of the clinic came from a desire to treat patients who are uninsured or under-insured.

Zipple said the program was a collaborative effort between CMU and Central Michigan Community Hospital.

“When we moved to the HP Building, we decided to run the program on our own,” Zipple said.

Zipple enjoys seeing students apply what they learned in the classroom to real-life situations.

He said the clinic gives him a chance to work with students in a different environment than the classroom.

Graduate assistant Emily van de Water said the program has helped her prepare to be a physical therapist.

“It has taught me most of what I know about being a physical therapist and what our role is as a professional,” she said.