Staying strong at 50
A lot can happen in half a century, and for the College of Medicine’s School of Physical Therapy a lot has.
By Marg Sheridan
As September rolls around, the school is excitedly preparing for its 50th anniversary celebrations and reunion, which is no small feat considering that almost 1,000 students have graduated from the school since that first class crossed the stage in 1967.
But while the half-century anniversary is important in and of itself, Liz Harrison, the associate dean of physical therapy and rehabilitation sciences, sees the celebrations in a broader light—one that reflects the growth of the program, the changing landscape in Saskatchewan's health care and the growth of research in the field of physiotherapy.
"Fifty years ago we were primarily very medically oriented—drugs, doctors and dentists," Harrison explained when asked about how health care has evolved. "We were mainly dealing with keeping people alive, acute care mostly, and there wasn't much in the community in terms of health professionals—the rural doctor was often the only provider, and often didn't have a nurse or pharmacist to help."
And Harrison thinks that may be one of the most important changes that the school has helped to encourage—not only an improvement in expanded health care, but an adaptation to the fact that people are living significantly longer now than when the school first opened, and require more preventative care.
"We have more needs and expectations now than 50 years ago because we're living longer and dealing with a number of chronic diseases that impact quality of life," Harrison continued. "Now we have people living (to) 95 to 100, and many individuals are still retiring at 65. That knee that was sore 50 years ago for a decade is now actually going to be sore for 30 years and they want to keep golfing, playing with grandkids and, in some cases, working in the community.
"So all those services to reduce pain and improve quality of life is the real difference in the last 50 years."
The ability of the School of Physical Therapy graduates to meet the rehabilitation needs of Saskatchewanians is a direct result of the clinical and research-based education provided by the faculty and community clinicians affiliated with the school. An impressive 80 per cent of grads remain in the province following graduation, which is helping to provide care to an aging population.
Since that first class of 20 students, the school has doubled its enrolment, undergone progressions in curriculum and evolved from a diploma program to its current model as a master's program.
But perhaps one of the most fascinating, and lesser known, pieces of the schools' history is more concrete in nature—or, more precisely, the first brick-and-mortar location of the school.
"When the school was established there wasn't space on campus, so (it) started in a hangar building out at the airport—where the children's rehab was," Harrison explained. "It made sense at that point to have the physiotherapy education program near the rehab centre. So students would spend some time on campus, because they would do other university classes like psychology, and then they would jump on a bus and head out to the hangar to do their physiotherapy classes."
The school did not move into its current space at St. Andrew's College until the early ‘70s, and even then the plan was that they would only be there temporarily. But it will not be long until they move across the street into their brand new digs in the Health Sciences Building.
"We'll be celebrating that as much as we're celebrating this anniversary," Harrison said with a laugh.
As for the future of the school, it ties back to first euphoric days in that hangar by the airport.
"Fifty years ago there was a serious need for physical therapy professionals and researchers to be a part of the health professional teams to help improve health care for Saskatchewan citizens—that was the incentive."
And that is a need the school will continue to meet.
Marg Sheridan is the online communications co-ordinator in the College of Medicine.
But while the half-century anniversary is important in and of itself, Liz Harrison, the associate dean of physical therapy and rehabilitation sciences, sees the celebrations in a broader light—one that reflects the growth of the program, the changing landscape in Saskatchewan's health care and the growth of research in the field of physiotherapy.
"Fifty years ago we were primarily very medically oriented—drugs, doctors and dentists," Harrison explained when asked about how health care has evolved. "We were mainly dealing with keeping people alive, acute care mostly, and there wasn't much in the community in terms of health professionals—the rural doctor was often the only provider, and often didn't have a nurse or pharmacist to help."
And Harrison thinks that may be one of the most important changes that the school has helped to encourage—not only an improvement in expanded health care, but an adaptation to the fact that people are living significantly longer now than when the school first opened, and require more preventative care.
"We have more needs and expectations now than 50 years ago because we're living longer and dealing with a number of chronic diseases that impact quality of life," Harrison continued. "Now we have people living (to) 95 to 100, and many individuals are still retiring at 65. That knee that was sore 50 years ago for a decade is now actually going to be sore for 30 years and they want to keep golfing, playing with grandkids and, in some cases, working in the community.
"So all those services to reduce pain and improve quality of life is the real difference in the last 50 years."
The ability of the School of Physical Therapy graduates to meet the rehabilitation needs of Saskatchewanians is a direct result of the clinical and research-based education provided by the faculty and community clinicians affiliated with the school. An impressive 80 per cent of grads remain in the province following graduation, which is helping to provide care to an aging population.
Since that first class of 20 students, the school has doubled its enrolment, undergone progressions in curriculum and evolved from a diploma program to its current model as a master's program.
But perhaps one of the most fascinating, and lesser known, pieces of the schools' history is more concrete in nature—or, more precisely, the first brick-and-mortar location of the school.
"When the school was established there wasn't space on campus, so (it) started in a hangar building out at the airport—where the children's rehab was," Harrison explained. "It made sense at that point to have the physiotherapy education program near the rehab centre. So students would spend some time on campus, because they would do other university classes like psychology, and then they would jump on a bus and head out to the hangar to do their physiotherapy classes."
The school did not move into its current space at St. Andrew's College until the early ‘70s, and even then the plan was that they would only be there temporarily. But it will not be long until they move across the street into their brand new digs in the Health Sciences Building.
"We'll be celebrating that as much as we're celebrating this anniversary," Harrison said with a laugh.
As for the future of the school, it ties back to first euphoric days in that hangar by the airport.
"Fifty years ago there was a serious need for physical therapy professionals and researchers to be a part of the health professional teams to help improve health care for Saskatchewan citizens—that was the incentive."
And that is a need the school will continue to meet.
Marg Sheridan is the online communications co-ordinator in the College of Medicine.