Folsom Physical Therapy Seminars

 The primary goal of our education system is to preserve the art of clinical practice for current and future generations of therapists who seek to serve their patients’ needs. Our courses are also an ongoing act of gratitude to our mentors. By establishing true clinical competence early in a practitioner’s career, creating time for expertise to develop, we hope to contribute to the perpetuation of clinical excellence beyond our own. We have designed our seminars to improve clinicians’ confidence in their ability to make a true impact in the quality of their patients’ lives and facilitate a lifelong sense of professional fulfillment in those committed to the care of others.  We strive to share our love of clinical practice with others and in turn preserve the art of our profession.

  Folsom Physical Therapy Seminars is the current evolution of the physical therapy continuing education program Michael Moore, PT started in 1981.  Michael’s post-graduate PT education is notable as it consists of studying directly under orthopedic manual therapy (OMT) legends Freddy Kaltenborn and Olaf Evjenth from Norway and therapeutic exercise legend Maggie Knott, founder of the Proprioception Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) program at Kaiser Hospital in Vallejo, California. 

Tim McGonigle, PT joined Michael as a partner in Folsom Physical Therapy’s clinical practice and education program in 1984.  Tim completed the Folsom Physical Therapy (FPT) Long Term Course instructed by Michael Moore in 1982 and his OMT residency through the program at Kaiser Hayward OMT Residency Program (now known as Kaiser NorCal Orthopedic Physical Therapy Fellowship Program) in 1983.  During his residency, Tim studied directly under other first generation OMT instructors in the USA, including Dennis Morgan and Eileen Vollowitz, who studied directly under Kaltenborn, Evjenth and Knott; and Barbara Stevens, Peter Edgelow and Linda Van Housen, who studied directly under Geoff Maitland in Australia.  

Through combining these three revolutionary clinical models– the Kaltenborn-Evjenth Concept from Norway, the Maitland System from Australia and PNF from Kaiser, Vallejo– Michael and Tim created a unique PT education system that has enhanced the professional experience of a multitude of therapists over the past four decades.  

Today, the Folsom Physical Therapy Seminars program is the culmination of decades of full-time clinical practice, study under experienced mentors, and collaboration with colleagues during our pursuit of clinical expertise. The program has national and international recognition through Michael’s position as a founding member of the American Academy Of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists (AAOMPT) and Tim’s connection the internationally renowned Kaltenborn-Evjenth Orthopedic Manual Therapy (KEOMT) organization’s Board of Directors, where he served from 2014-2021.  Tim, Michael and several members of the FPT Seminars staff are accredited international or national KEOMT instructors and OMT examiners.

While holding steadfast to solid clinical practice principles and skills, our program continues to evolve by incorporating emerging knowledge and adjusting to the ever-changing medical-economic environment. Utilizing a Systems Thinking approach, we have developed a practical model that focuses on pertinent clinical skills, streamlines the evaluation process and facilitates earlier productive intervention in the care of musculoskeletal patients. In this way, our program accelerates the development of clinical proficiency and growth towards expertise. This, in turn, results in improved outcomes, connection with clients and a sense of confidence and professional fulfillment in clinicians.

 We have based our education and practice model on reframing the fundamental view of pathology. Rather than viewing pathology as isolated conditions, we recognize the functional interplay between identifiable types of presentations. Doing so facilitates a practical understanding of the components and totality of clinical presentations, leading to more productive, individualized and fully integrated interventions.

 At the foundation of our education method there are three realizations. The first is that living creatures consist of a series of interconnected feedback loops, and that pathological conditions are therefore multifaceted in their cause and effect. All pathological conditions are individualized and constantly evolving. The second is that regardless of diagnosis or body region involved, all pathologic conditions encountered in a physical therapy orthopedic outpatient practice either arise from, or lead to, the development of the following fundamental factors:

•  Altered fluid volume, quality and/or exchange
•  Altered muscle tone
•  Altered mechanical properties of tissues
•  Altered distribution of mechanical forces
•  Altered neuromotor function
•  Altered mental, emotional, physiologic and neurologic processes

The third is that in the clinical setting, these fundamental factors are the treatable aspects of a patient’s presentation. Regardless of pathology, diagnosis or body region involved, effective intervention simply consists of coaxing deviant findings toward health. 

With the realization that all pathologic presentations encountered in a physical therapy outpatient clinic are the result of deviations from optimal health in these underlying interconnected sources, we can focus on establishing understanding and skills in this context. Doing so narrows the scope of study and practice towards meaningful clinical insights and skills, as it creates a finite number of presentations to identify and effective interventions to learn.   

 Once therapists establish essential clinical understanding and foundational skills, incorporation of all other clinical knowledge and tissue or system specific practice models becomes far more productive, as their contribution can be appreciated in a fully integrated context and the skills required to implement them will already exist.

Folsom Physical Therapy Seminars is a series currently consisting of five stand-alone, but integrated, courses.  Each course will include four Saturday sessions conducted over a 3-4 month period.  While it will be most productive to take the entire series in order, each course will be instructed in a manner that will be beneficial to all attendees. Each course in the series yields 32 California and Nevada approved continuing education units. Completion of all five courses in the series will constitute completion of the current Folsom Physical Therapy OMT Series. An additional certificate acknowledging this achievement will be awarded to those completing the entire program.

   The series will consist of the following courses:

1 – The Foundations of Orthopedic Physical Therapy Practice 

2 – Upper Quadrant Dysfunction with Focus on the Spine

3 – Upper Quadrant Dysfunction with Focus on the Extremity

4 – Lower Quadrant Dysfunction with Focus on the Spine

5 – Lower Quadrant Dysfunction with Focus on the Extremity

For those who have successfully completed the entire FPT OMT Series we will offer an additional educational series directed at preparing participants for certification as an internationally recognized Level-One OMT Practitioners in the KEOMT organization.