Leaping to Rehab / BONDED CLIENT
17
Making the Leap to Rehab What do you need to get started? Certification and “good hands” by Carleen Brice V
eterinary hospitals started offering rehabilitation services in the 1990s, and the services continue to grow. Experts credit the growth in reha-
bilitation to clients’ interest in state-of-the- art care for their pets, increased participa- tion in agility and the government looking for rehabilitation for injured service dogs. Janet Van Dyke, DVM, CCRT, of the
Canine Rehabilitation Institute, wrote in an article entitled “What is Veterinary Rehabilitation?” in the Palm Beach Vet- erinary Society News (Spring 2012), “Vet- erinary rehabilitation is widely regarded as the ‘fastest growing area in veterinary medicine.’ Evidence of this is seen in the numbers of graduates from the two certi- fication programs as well as sales figures from rehab-specific equipment manufac- turers. In 2008, there were approximately 300 people certified by the two programs available in the United States. This num- ber has more than tripled by 2011.” If you are interested in a career in ani-
mal rehabilitation, if your practice is con- sidering offering such services or if you want to start referring clients to a reha- bilitation specialist, read on for advice on making the leap.
Training and certification Experts sum up where to get started
with rehabilitation with one word: knowledge. If you want to incorporate rehabilita-
tion therapy in your practice, “I would be sure that [at least] one of the veterinarians
Trends magazine, November 2012
at the practice completes rehabilitation training and certification,” says Rosemary J. LoGiudice, DVM, CCRT, public liaison with the American Association of Reha- bilitation Veterinarians (AARV). AARV’s website (
prehabvets.org) has a
link to its “Model Standards for Veterinary Physical Rehabilitation,” which includes the following statement: “Patient care in the rehabilitation facility should be under the authority, supervision or approval of a licensed veterinarian certified in reha- bilitation therapy.” “A huge concern I have is the number
of facilities offering ‘rehabilitation,’ where the staff performing the services are not trained or certified in rehabilitation,” LoGiudice said. “Someone, for example, has a pool and says he or she provides hydrotherapy, not knowing when swim- ming is an appropriate therapy and when it is not appropriate. “Another modality that is frightening
if not used by properly trained rehabilita- tion therapists is therapeutic laser (cold laser). Especially the higher powered
“Veterinary
rehabilitation is widely
regarded as the ‘fastest
growing area in veterinary
medicine.’” —Janet Van Dyke, DVM, CCRT
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