David Schlenther was enjoying a promising career as a corporate trainer when his life changed dramatically in his mid-40s because of a brain aneurysm. Due to complications that occurred during surgery, Schlenther's cerebellum, or the portion of the brain involved with the body's motor control, was damaged.
Requiring life-long physical therapy, Schlenther, now 54, has more modest goals of learning to walk again without assistance and regaining his speech. It has been a long haul for both he and his wife and caregiver, Peggy.
While Schlenther is making progress, he could be making more, according to Peggy, if he could receive more physical therapy sessions. On Medicare, Schlenther is allotted 17 visits per year. In order to make progress, Peggy said, weekly visits are needed.
Otherwise, without repeated visits, it's a case of taking a step forward and then a step back. Cash-paying visits would run the limited-income couple about $200 per session, which they cannot afford.
"When he doesn't go to therapy for a while, he deteriorates and his balance takes a step back," Peggy added. "It's a slow injury (recovery), but the brain keeps learning, and there's really no limit to his recovery."
The Schlenthers have, however, found a place that can fill in after the Medicare paid visits run out. The physical therapy program at Touro University, Nevada, in Henderson, recently opened a student-run clinic that offers free services to people like the Schlenthers who have exhausted their insurance benefits and need to continue care.
Suzanne Brown, director of the physical therapy program at Touro, said the center, which currently operates in a campus classroom, sees its shares of sprained ankles and sports injuries. But cases like Schlenther can be accommodated. Brown explained that the clinic is as much about the education as the care.
"It's open to anyone, but we don't promise to take everyone," Brown noted, while explaining that some cases could be too complex for students. "We don't ask for anything. This is truly for our students to get the education they need. We're thankful for the patients to give their time."
Touro's physical therapy program started in 2008, and today it has 105 students. In May, the program will see its first graduating class. The free clinic offering was the result of the six graduating students taking on a terminal, or final, project of researching a need and the viability of such a clinic in the area. The students put together a business plan and presented it to the school's executive committee.
"They spent seven or eight months really investigating and studying other schools before they moved forward," Brown added.
The clinic officially opened in August and runs every Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. To date, students have administered 38 patient visits; a maximum of four visits can be given in one evening.
Each patient is paired with a team of five students, ranging from first to final year students of the three-year program. Licensed personnel supervise the team as it evaluates then presents a treatment plan to the supervisor for approval. Once approved, the students then can move forward with treating the patient.
The collaborative approach has worked out well for Schlenther, Peggy said. She enjoys hearing students explain how parts of the body should be working.
She also said the students tend to be more hands-on with their therapy. Instead of simply giving a verbal command to move a body part, for example, the student taps an area of the body to stimulate a response to the brain. There also is a harness used to help him walk on the treadmill.
"The treatment has been very good for us," she added.
Students in the physical therapy program are required to do 32 weeks of full-time supervised clinical training as a part of their three-year curriculum, said Brown. But these hours don't count toward that requirement.
"These are just truly volunteer efforts. The students just want to learn more," Brown added.
For more information about the clinic or to book an appointment—appointments are required—please call 777-3974 or visit the website at tun.touro.edu.
