Each Tuesday, The

Citizen features a health professional from the

Finger Lakes community

in The Banks:

This week, we spotlight Kathy J. Polkowski, who works as a physical therapist at the Seneca-Cayuga ARC, Karl D. Warner Clinic.

Q: What is the most rewarding part of your job?

A: Working one on one with the individuals we serve and realizing the benefits they receive from participating in physical therapy sessions. Some benefits may not be as big as you aspect but remain meaningful in accomplishing activities of daily living and maintaining current function and health. The most basic range of motion and manual stretching increases blood flow to muscles, muscles pulling on the bones assist in maintaining bone health and overall stretching prevents muscles from contracting. Each day at work is never the same and keeps me motivated to continually change my expectations of people. By looking only at someone's appearance tells you nothing about what they are capable in accomplishing.

Q: What is the most challenging?

A: Maintaining the same schedule from week to week. Trainings community outings and wheelchair maintenance issues require my schedule to be ever changing. Fortunately, everyone is accommodating to a new or revised schedule.

Q: Describe your ideal patient/client.

A: There is no ideal. Everyone seems to be able to benefit from PT services, as long as the therapist is able to be creative in treatment methods and realizes that each person is an individual that will respond in different ways.

Q: What is the best piece of advice you could give someone to stay healthy?

A: To keep moving.

Q: What tends to be the most common cause of injury that you see?

A: Injuries caused by falls are the most common. Typically, I treat effects of cerebral palsy, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and scoliosis.

Q: If you weren't in the health care field, what would you do?

A: Marine biology. I have always been fascinated by marine animals, except sharks.