The conference, on Oct. 28, is the world's largest conference for interdisciplinary rehabilitation health professionals. For his 75-minute presentation, “The Role of Physical Therapy in the Critcally Ill Patient with Cancer,” Chao talked about an area he is very passionate about. He recently worked for five years with inpatients and outpatients at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, where he was a therapist in the cancer intensive care unit.
“I was very involved in Sloan Kettering’s early mobility program, which was designed to get patients up and moving while they were still on mechanical ventilation,” Chao said. The concept is relatively new, he said, and therefore “fear and ignorance” can prevent cancer patients from getting rehab they can potentially benefit from.
“My talk was to present the newer frontiers of this area and to inspire other clinicians to join the effort to continue researching this area as well as to start early mobilization programs where patients who are on mechanical ventilation are prescribed physical therapy,” he said.
In addition to oncology rehabilitation, Chao developed specialized experience with orthopedic, neurological and cardiopulmonary conditions during his time at Sloan Kettering.
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