Rebekah Griffith PT, DPT – The ED DPT

Let’s begin at the beginning!

Hi! I’m Dr. Rebekah Griffith, the Emergency Department (ED) Physical Therapist behind The ED DPT. The ED DPT is your one stop resource for all things related to physical therapist practice specifically in the Emergency Department. We provide consulting to start new ED PT programs, continuing education to launch practice, excel in practice, and continue expanding your skillset. In addition you’ll find great free resources, a network of providers to connect with, and more. I’m so glad you’re here and interested in ED PT practice. 

When I share with people what I do for practice, the first question I get is, “Wait, what do you do in the ED?” (I’ll tackle this in a separate post.) The second question is, “How did you get into doing that?” Let’s begin at the beginning.

How did I end up practicing in the ED when I never thought I’d be a physical therapist in the first place? I was going to be a lawyer! However, many detours later, I became a physical therapist. I also never thought I’d practice in the acute care setting, I was terrified of hospitals and especially any bodily fluids. 14 years later and I have practiced in an acute care academic medical center for the past 12 years of my career. Despite my certainty that acute care PT would never be for me, I fell in love. 8 years ago I realized that my passion was even more acutely specific. My heart belonged to the Emergency Department.  

Wait, but you’re a PT right? Right. PT doesn’t get involved in the emergencies. Wrong. Let me share my journey with you and how I learned that not only were we already involved, we should be a key part of the Emergency Department interdisciplinary team. Let me explain how I came to that conclusion.

The Origins of my ED PT Story

At first, as an acute care PT I was really disappointed. There were things I was used to that I missed. I missed working alongside a team all day. Acute care was more like bees in a hive. We started in the hive, ended in the hive, but spent the whole day out working among the flowers. I also really missed having longer term relationships with patients. At first, I was sort of sad and lonely during this transition. However, I realized one benefit was I could really focus on my patients, but also didn’t have to carry them with me long term. I found that really helped my ability to not get burned out and to really be able to focus on my family when I got home. I began to look at my role in acute care as being a “special guest star” in people’s lives. I focused on making this episode in their life as powerful and impactful as I could. Then I sealed my practice relationship with them and sent them on the next step in their journey. This gave me the space to continue working with patients with critical illness and injury without carrying long-term despair. Once I realized my impact, the beautiful flexibility in this space, and the sheer amount of variety and opportunity, I said goodbye to my other PT roles and committed to acute care.

As an acute PT in a large academic medical center I quickly became immersed in many different types of patient care. I worked in acute rehab, multiple ICUs, med-surg, post-op, neurology, cardiology, transplant, trauma, orthopedics, and even a stint in burn related care. As the “grout therapist,” or team utility player I was able to float to any unit and fill any staffing cracks. This led to a very diverse set of experiences and a broad array of tools in my PT tool kit.

Putting all the Tools to Work

Occasionally our team would get phone calls on a pager from the ED asking us to just come by and take a look at a patient they didn’t feel comfortable discharging or admitting. The patient was relegated to purgatory. As the grout therapist, I often carried this pager. I’d come down, evaluate the patient, make recommendations one way or the other, and then hustle back up to my full caseload in the ICU. Our PT team ultimately did such a great job with this, some days we would spend more time in the ED than on our primary units. More business can be good for business if you can meet the demand.

At this point we needed a solution. As part of my role, I began research on a quality improvement initiative to integrate PT into the ED within our hospital setting. This practice area was not new, with research, resources, and mentors available. I even found kindred spirits during lunch time discussions at the APTA Combined Sections Meeting. 

After gathering information, examining barriers and opportunities, and with the support of my clinical administration we pitched our pilot proposal to the administrators of the Emergency Department. We wanted to dive in and help. This proposal was heavily based on resources provided by the APTA, curated by the giants of the profession and it was well received. We got the greenlight.

Alongside a strong team of amazing physical therapists (hat tip to Dr. Jessica Wallner, Dr. Jacqueline Kiernan, Dr. Rebecca Skwira, and Dr. Mark Magdaleno,) we initiated a pilot program to embed Physical Therapists in the ED. Six years later we are still a permanent presence in the ED and are in the midst of a new pilot program to expand our team and role in the department.

I hope you’re thinking, “Well, but why and what and how and where and who and huh?” I’m so glad you’re here to find out…