Course Description:

The World Health Organization had coined the years 2000-2010 the “Bone and Joint Decade’’. Joint Arthroplasty doubled by the year 2020. Today the projections of joint replacement are that by the year 2030 6 million American’s will have their knee or hip replaced! The rise in joint replacement surgery coupled with advances in cutting edge surgical techniques such as Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery (CAS) combined with less invasive procedures has allowed the Orthopedists the ability for precise alignment and sparring of tissue. The questions for us as clinicians are: Are we educationally ready to provide current and PROGRESSIVE rehabilitation for the rising joint replacement population? Joint replacement surgeries are on the rise and the patient today is quite different than the traditional patient we all learned about in school. We learned all those precautions and restrictions with the goal being to rehabilitate the patient to dress, groom and perform self-care. Today the “Baby Boomer” joint replacement patient has a higher expectation out of their rehabilitation provider. Today’s “Boomers” want to use their “new and bionic” prosthesis to get down on the floor and play with the grandkids, ski, and hike. Their desire to remain active has rehab implications for clinicians in all settings. Understanding modern technology and being able to confidently communicate that to the patient is extremely important in the total care of the patient.