Occupational and Physical Therapy
The University of Michigan’s Occupational and Physical Therapy Division is staffed by dedicated therapists, assistants and support team members who provide an array of services to pediatric and adult patients.
Our occupational therapy team helps individuals whose abilities to cope with the tasks of living are threatened or impaired by developmental deficit, physical injury, illness, accompanying psychological or social disability and the aging process. Treatment may include assessment and training in: activities of daily living; hand function; visual, perceptual and cognitive skills; task analysis; use of prostheses, orthoses and other adaptive equipment; environmental alterations; and positioning techniques. Staff members conduct home, school and work site visits to assess environmental and accessibility issues and provide education in work simplification, energy conservation, joint protection, proper body mechanics, recreation and leisure, and community integration. Additionally, we offer specialized programs in dysphagia evaluation and management, sensory integration, hand therapy, amputee assessment and training, computer literacy, burn therapy, neonatology, chronic pain management and traumatic brain injury.
Our physical therapy team evaluates and treats patients with acute conditions (fractures, burns, wounds, cardiac and pulmonary diseases, back/spinal injuries and trauma) and chronic conditions (vascular diseases, amputations, neurological deficits, orthopedic and musculoskeletal disabilities). Treatment plans may include therapeutic exercise, mobility training, airway clearance techniques, use of assistive devices, and heat, cold, light, water and sound therapies. The overall goal of physical therapy is to optimize the patient’s physical mobility and function through treatment and education.
In addition to patient evaluation and treatment, OT/PT faculty and staff are actively engaged in research and education. As part of one of the nation’s premiere academic health centers, we place an extremely high value on education – both of our own staff and of those interested in careers in rehabilitation.
U-M occupational and physical therapists and assistants, as well as other rehabilitation health care professionals, have access to – and are encouraged to participate in – continuing education courses designed to meet individual educational needs in clinical practice and health care delivery. The U-M approves Continuing Education Units for full participation in programs, workshops and/or conferences sponsored by U-M departments. We also provide clinical educational programs and internships for individuals pursing degrees in occupational and physical therapy at colleges and universities throughout the United States, and we are involved in the University of Michigan’s Youth Mentoring Program which introduces high school students to careers in health care.
To contact us: 734-763-2554
Learn more about careers in OT/PT:
