The physical therapy program is located in The O'Donnell Commons, a new, 40,000+ sq. ft. facility hosting the schools of health and education. Along with P.T., the Commons is the home to Nursing, Education, and Occupational Therapy programs. There are five major laboratories/classrooms used by Physical Therapy majors; these are the Physical Therapy Therapeutic Skills Lab, Gross Anatomy Lab, Physical Agents Lab, Physical Therapy Research Lab and Computer Lab. The Therapeutic Skills Lab is used by Physical Therapy students for practicing clinical important manual skills. It contains over 20 motorized and fully adjustable plinths that allow for the demonstration and practice of musculoskeletal and neuromuscular evaluation and treatment techniques. The lab also contains all the equipment that is typically found in Physical Therapy clinics such as pulley systems, free-weights, wheelchairs, mats, gym balls etc. As with all Physical Therapy labs at Husson, Therapeutic Skills Lab is open for student use 24 hours a day. The Physical Agents Lab contains numerous modalities for use by the Physical Therapy students including electrical stimulation, TENS, ultrasound, paraffin, short-wave diathermy, infrared radiation, and hydrocollator packs. Husson's Gross Anatomy Laboratory is a state-of-the-art purpose-built facility dedicated for Physical Therapy student use. The lab is housed in the department which allows PT students to access the lab for studying 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All necessary instruments and supplies, including lab coats, are provided to the students. While in the professional phase of the program PT students have the rare opportunity to take two dissection courses. The first course allows the students to perform a complete dissection that emphasizes musculoskeletal, neural and vascular anatomy. Unique to Husson's program, after completing all clinical affiliations, and just prior to graduating, Husson students again take an anatomy dissection course that allows them to review and then perform detailed and in depth dissections of regions of special interest. In this way, graduates of Husson leave with an extremely strong background in one of the most important areas of knowledge for clinical practice. The Physical Therapy Research Lab contains sophisticated equipment that is dedicated for faculty and student research. This equipment includes; a Biodex 3 machine used for measuring force production under isokinetic and isometric conditions, an upper and lower body ergometer, and computerized cardiovascular equipment for the analysis of EKGs, oxygen uptake and ventilatory measures. This lab is used extensively by students and faculty as they conduct research aimed at contributing to the body of knowledge in the Physical Therapy profession. The Kenduskeag Institute, located in the Swan Center adjacent to Newman Gym, is one of the most advanced human performance research labs in New England. The Human Performance Lab contains sophisticated equipment capable of precisely measuring many aspects of performance in both clinical and athletic populations. The lab is affiliated with the Physical Therapy program and is available for student and faculty research and for lab-based classes. Equipment within the lab includes: Clinical-grade treadmill. Produces the very slow speeds necessary to allow gait in neurological involved populations. Body weight support system (Lite Gait, Mobility Research). Enables treadmill and overground gait in patients unable to support their body weight. Three-dimensional computerized video analysis system (Peak Performance Technologies). Permits 3D kinematic analysis of movements in clinical and athletic populations. Portable metabolic cart (Cosmed USA Inc.). Using breath by breath gas analysis researchers can determine parameters of cardiopulmonary and metabolic functioning. Electromyographical System (Biopac Inc.). Allows the electrical activity from nine muscles to be recorded simultaneously.
The Human Performance lab also contains various force transducers, electrogoniometers and a research quality bicycle ergometer. Physical Fitness is valued as an important part of each student's life at Husson. Gary Young (2005) demonstrates how the discipline he has learned in the Physical Therapy program carries over into his fitness training. Through a generous donation from alumni Richard and Alice Trott, all students at Husson University have a state-of-the-art fitness center. |