Each Tuesday, The
Citizen features a health professional from the
Finger Lakes community
in The Banks:
This week, we spotlight Dr. Chad M. Pens.
Q. What is the most rewarding part of your job?
A. The opportunity to help people on a daily basis. I feel it is a privilege to work together with individuals to help them achieve functional goals.
Q. What is the most challenging?
A. There is a great deal of paperwork in the medical profession whether it be daily patient records of visits, documenting an initial evaluation, status reports to referring physicians, or documentation that may be required by an individual insurance company. Dealing with insurance companies is a very arduous task, as well as attempting to convince someone who has never met an individual patient that continued care is necessary and appropriate.
Q. Describe your ideal patient.
A. Any patient who is motivated to improve upon their current status. I believe that in order for the body to heal, it must be receptive to corrective exercises and manual techniques. For this to happen, a patient must understand his or her condition or diagnosis, which is why I spend time educating patients regarding their condition. By understanding what is happening in their body, we can then work together to assist the body#'s healing process. By combining motivation, an accurate diagnosis, patient education, and an individualized exercise prescription, a positive outcome will result.
Q. When you're sick, would you want someone like yourself to be your doctor?
A. Yes. I would want someone who takes the time to listen to my complaints, perform a detailed examination, and decide on the best course of action based upon those findings. Also, I would want to see someone who sincerely cares about his patients, wanting them to get better as fast as possible. When it comes to treating patients in physical therapy, all of the above things apply to the way I practice physical therapy with my patients.
Q. What advice do you have to stay healthy?
A. Stay active!
Q. What's the most common misconception you hear from patients?
A. “I have sciatica, and I just live with it.” Sciatica is a term associated with radiating pain into one or both of the lower extremities (radiculopathy) that originates in the lumbar spine. This is not something that should be a life sentence or something you live with on a daily basis. Sciatica can and should be addressed, through a detailed evaluation, an individualized exercise prescription, and trained manual therapy techniques.
Q. For someone considering a career in health industry, what advice would you offer?
A. One of the great many joys of working in the medical field is its dynamic nature. It is constantly changing which necessitates a therapist to stay abreast of the newest research, modern intervention approaches, manual therapy techniques, and corrective exercise approaches. By entering into the medical field, you are making a commitment to lifelong learning.
Q. Despite being in the health care field, people would be surprised that when I'm off the job, I ___________
A. Am a devoted family man. I love spending as much time as I can with my beautiful wife and daughter and my labrador retriever, and soon to-be baby number two!
Finger Lakes community
in The Banks:
This week, we spotlight Dr. Chad M. Pens.
Q. What is the most rewarding part of your job?
A. The opportunity to help people on a daily basis. I feel it is a privilege to work together with individuals to help them achieve functional goals.
Q. What is the most challenging?
A. There is a great deal of paperwork in the medical profession whether it be daily patient records of visits, documenting an initial evaluation, status reports to referring physicians, or documentation that may be required by an individual insurance company. Dealing with insurance companies is a very arduous task, as well as attempting to convince someone who has never met an individual patient that continued care is necessary and appropriate.
Q. Describe your ideal patient.
A. Any patient who is motivated to improve upon their current status. I believe that in order for the body to heal, it must be receptive to corrective exercises and manual techniques. For this to happen, a patient must understand his or her condition or diagnosis, which is why I spend time educating patients regarding their condition. By understanding what is happening in their body, we can then work together to assist the body#'s healing process. By combining motivation, an accurate diagnosis, patient education, and an individualized exercise prescription, a positive outcome will result.
Q. When you're sick, would you want someone like yourself to be your doctor?
A. Yes. I would want someone who takes the time to listen to my complaints, perform a detailed examination, and decide on the best course of action based upon those findings. Also, I would want to see someone who sincerely cares about his patients, wanting them to get better as fast as possible. When it comes to treating patients in physical therapy, all of the above things apply to the way I practice physical therapy with my patients.
Q. What advice do you have to stay healthy?
A. Stay active!
Q. What's the most common misconception you hear from patients?
A. “I have sciatica, and I just live with it.” Sciatica is a term associated with radiating pain into one or both of the lower extremities (radiculopathy) that originates in the lumbar spine. This is not something that should be a life sentence or something you live with on a daily basis. Sciatica can and should be addressed, through a detailed evaluation, an individualized exercise prescription, and trained manual therapy techniques.
Q. For someone considering a career in health industry, what advice would you offer?
A. One of the great many joys of working in the medical field is its dynamic nature. It is constantly changing which necessitates a therapist to stay abreast of the newest research, modern intervention approaches, manual therapy techniques, and corrective exercise approaches. By entering into the medical field, you are making a commitment to lifelong learning.
Q. Despite being in the health care field, people would be surprised that when I'm off the job, I ___________
A. Am a devoted family man. I love spending as much time as I can with my beautiful wife and daughter and my labrador retriever, and soon to-be baby number two!
The Citizens' Say
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