Rehabilitation Student Clinical Experiences

We provide clinical education experiences to students enrolled in accredited colleges and universities that have established contractual agreements with Spectrum Health. Arrangements for specific experiences and site placements are made by each academic program’s coordinator and communicated to corresponding rehabilitation clinical education coordinators. As such, all specific requests for placement should be routed through the student’s academic contact. We are proud to offer clinical education experiences that include the following professions:

  • Physical Therapist and Physical Therapy Assistant
  • Occupational Therapist and Occupational Therapy Assistant
  • Speech Language Pathologist

Spectrum Health boasts a variety of settings and locations that are integrated under a structured clinical education program to ensure the quality and support of each experience. Regardless of where a student is placed, a rehabilitation clinical education coordinator will be supervising the experience and serve as an additional resource to their primary instructor/educator. All students assigned to a Spectrum Health Rehabilitation location will receive welcome information six to 12 weeks prior to their experience, with detailed onboarding requirements, parking information and training requirements. Below you will find more information on our current sites and settings.

Outpatient Clinics

Students in our outpatient neurological rehabilitation sites will be working with a variety of conditions as indicated below. Patient populations will vary depending upon your location and instructor. Our staff of clinical instructors typically have advanced training and/or certification in areas such as LSVT Big and Loud, neurological clinical specialist and vestibular rehabilitation.

Common Outcome Measures and Standardized Tests
  • Physical Therapy: Six minute walk test, 10 meter walk test, 30 second sit to stand test, Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale, berg balance, dizziness handicap inventory, dynamic gait index, functional gait assessment, Hi-Mat, Mini BesTest, MSIS-29, MSWS-12, neck disability index, Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke (PASS) patients, Quick DASH, Rivermead Post Concussion Questionnaire, Situational Vertigo Questionnaire, tinetti, visual vertigo analog scale
  • Occupational Therapy: Nine hole peg test, brief cognitive rating scale, dynamometer readings, MOCA, Quick-DASH, Fugl-Meyer, modified barthel, star cancellation, pinch gauge, Trails A and Trails B
  • Speech Language Pathology: NOMS, MoCA, RCBA-2, BDAE-3, CLQT, RBMT, FAVRES, WAB-R, Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities, TEA, SCCAN, Voice Handicap Index (VHI), consensus auditory-perceptual evaluation of voice, EAT-10 , reflux symptom Index
  • Common Vestibular Conditions Treated: BPPV, dizziness/vertigo, PPPD, vestibular hypofunction, vestibular migraine, vestibular schwannoma
  • Common Neuro Conditions Treated: ALS, balance impairment, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, normal pressure hydrocephalus, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, traumatic brain injury/mild brain injury/post-concussion
  • General Conditions Treated: Breast cancer, debility/deconditioning, head and neck cancer
Students in our outpatient orthopedic sites will be working with a variety of conditions including post-op arthroscopy, total joints, spine care, chronic pain, sports rehab and workplace injuries. Educational opportunities include aquatics, occupational rehabilitation, women’s health/pelvic floor, psychologically informed care and sports rehabilitation for high school and college athletes. Specific patient populations will vary depending upon your location, but typically span the ages from 10 to 99. Our staff of clinical instructors typically have advanced training and/or certification in areas such as sports metrics, manual therapy, women’s health, work injury, McKenzie, American Physical Therapy Association certified orthopedic clinical specialists and certified hand therapist.

Common Outcome Measures and Standardized Tests
  • Physical Therapy: Dynamic gait index, lower extremity functional scale, neck disability index, Oswestry, Quick DASH, six minute walk test, stair climbing test, Tinetti, TUG
  • Occupational Therapy: Nine hole peg test, dynamometer readings, edema measures, goniometer measures, hand tool dexterity, Minnesota, O’Connor tweezer, Purdue Peg Board, Quick DASH
Students in our outpatient pediatric sites will be working with a variety of conditions including cerebral palsy (including hemiplegia, quadriplegia and diplegia), coordination and motor planning issues, deconditioning (commonly referred from oncology), developmental delay, gait instability, orthopedics (including neck pain, back pain and concussion), toe walking and torticollis. Patient populations will vary depending upon your location and instructor. Clinical instructors typically have advanced training and/or certification in areas such as neuro-developmental treatment.

Common Outcome Measures and Standardized Tests
  • Physical Therapy: Alberta Infant Motor Scale, Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, BOT-2, PDMS-2
  • Occupational Therapy: Beckman Oral Motor, IDDSI, short sensory profile, SHUEE
  • Speecy Language Pathology: NOMS, Goldman-Fristoe, PLS, CELF, Beckman Oral Motor Protocol
     

Home Health Care

Spectrum Health Visiting Nurse Association provides individuals and families with compassionate, comprehensive and personalized home health care. As a certified home care agency, we have been West Michigan’s trusted provider of home care services for more than 120 years. Our goal is to help our patients get well while maintaining independence. We are a part of the Spectrum Health At Home team, dedicated experts traveling to wherever your patients call home, including retirement communities, assisted living facilities, nursing homes and long-term residential care facilities.

Common Outcome Measures and Standardized Tests

  • Physical Therapy: TUG, Tinetti, six minute walk test, modified barthel, functional movement assessment, transfers assessment, quick dash
  • Occupational Therapy: Allen Cognitive, nine hole peg test, BCRS, modified barthel, functional movement assessment, transfers assessment, quick dash
  • Speech Language Pathology: NOMS, MoCA, CLQT, WAB-R, BNT, FIOS
  • Pediatrics: Peabody, Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS)

Inpatient Rehabilitation Sites

Inpatient acute rehabilitation is a level of care that provides medical rehabilitation to patients who require medical oversight, skilled nursing care and intensive therapy services from rehabilitation professionals prior to returning home. The Inpatient Rehabilitation Center at Blodgett (IRC-Blodgett) is a licensed 42-bed inpatient acute rehabilitation unit located on the fourth floor of Blodgett Hospital in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. The IRC-Blodgett is a comprehensive, integrated rehabilitation program that offers a multidisciplinary approach to care.

Common Outcome Measures and Standardized Tests
  • Physical Therapy: TUG, DGI, DGA, Berg, PASS, 6MWT, FIST, five times sit to stand, trunk control test and motricity index, AM-PAC “six clicks”, inpatient basic mobility short form, Tinetti, CRS-R, section GG functional assessment
  • Occupational Therapy: BIMS, Fugl-Meyer, nine hole peg test, modified barthel, AM-PAC “six clicks”, inpatient daily activity short form, Rookwood Driving Battery, pillbox test, ManageMed screen, section GG functional assessment
  • Speech Language Pathology: NOMS, MoCA, WAB-R, CLQT, BDAE, EAT-10, Cog-Log, NCSE, O-LOG, penetration-aspiration scale, TEA, BADS, FAVRES, SCCAN
Our rehabilitation and nursing centers offer short-term rehabilitation after surgery, serious injury or illness. We help patients with many different medical needs and conditions, including neuro recovery and treatment following stroke and brain injury; rehabilitation after elective total joint surgery or complex orthopedic surgery; reconditioning following severe illness; post-cardiac and medically complex care; and rehabilitation for general needs.

Common Outcome Measures
  • Physical Therapy: TUG, DGI, DGA, Berg, PASS, 6MWT, FIST, five times sit to stand, trunk control test and motricity index, AM-PAC “six clicks”, inpatient basic mobility short form, CRS-R, Tinetti, section GG functional assessment
  • Occupational Therapy: Fugl-Meyer, nine hole peg test, modified barthel, AM-PAC “six clicks”, inpatient daily activity short form, Allen Cognitive Level screening (including lacing, placemat, and cognitive performance test), EFPT, BCRS, CRS-R, section GG functional assessment
  • Speech Language Pathology: NOMS, MoCA, JFK coma recovery scale, CLQT, BURNS, FIOS, FAVRES, NCSE, BCRS/GDS
Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital offers a wide range of advanced medical, surgical and specialty care services that allow the urban campus in downtown Grand Rapids to serve as a major tertiary and quaternary referral center for West Michigan and beyond. These services include the only regional burn enter and Level I trauma center in West Michigan. Butterworth Hospital is a clinical leader in cardiovascular, cancer, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, neurosciences, trauma and emergency care services, among many others. Our therapy placements at Butterworth Hospital also include the Spectrum Health Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center.

Common Outcome Measures
  • Physical Therapy: TUG, DGI, DGA, Berg, PASS, 6MWT, FIST, five times sit to stand, trunk control test and motricity index, AM-PAC “six clicks”, inpatient basic mobility short form, CRS-R, Tinetti
  • Occupational Therapy: Fugl-Meyer, pillbox test, modified barthel, AM-PAC “six clicks”, inpatient daily activity short form, BCRS, CRS-R
  • Speech Language Pathology: NOMS, MoCA, WAB-R, CLQT, JFK coma recovery scale, BNT, EAT-10, Cog-Log, NCSE, O-LOG, penetration-aspiration scale
Set within a quiet, beautifully maintained property of mature trees and healing gardens, Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital has a history of providing high quality, compassionate and personalized medical care. Since 1846, Blodgett Hospital has earned a reputation for excellence as a community and teaching hospital. We provide patient-focused inpatient care in 248 private patient rooms and outpatient services for medical, surgical and specialty care, achieving high rates of patient satisfaction.

Common Outcome Measures
  • Physical Therapy: TUG, DGI, DGA, Berg, PASS, 6MWT, FIST, five times sit to stand, trunk control test and motricity index, AM-PAC “six clicks”, inpatient basic mobility short form, Tinetti
  • Occupational Therapy: Fugl-Meyer, modified barthel, AM-PAC “six clicks”, inpatient daily activity short form
  • Speech Language Pathology: NOMS, MoCA, WAB-R, CLQT, JFK coma recovery scale, BNT, EAT-10, Cog-Log, NCSE, O-LOG, penetration-aspiration scale
Helen DeVos Children's Hospital has pediatric specialist after specialist working hard to keep kids healthy. We’re here to help whether your baby, child or teenager has a simple injury or a serious illness. Our child and family-focused medical care includes inpatient care in Grand Rapids and outpatient care in clinics throughout Michigan. For 25 years and counting, our expert doctors, nurses, technicians and child life specialists have been committed to providing high-quality, safe health care that's all kids, all the time.

Common Outcome Measures
  • Physical Therapy: Peabody, AIMS, 6MWT, five times sit to stand, TUG, stair limbing test, BERG, BESS
  • Occupational Therapy: Modified Barthel, Fugl-Myer, nine hole peg test, TUG, King Devick, Peabody, Erhardt, Vestibular/Ocular-Motor Screening (VOMS) for concussion, vision screening
  • Speech Language Pathology: NOMS (ages 3-5 years), Neo-EAT, Peds FOIS, Penetration-Aspiration Scale, PVHI, PCSI
In addition to these outcome measures, review normal developmental milestones for these clinical placements.
We to serve our patients within the communities they call home. When in one of our regional locations you may often benefit from an experience that encompasses multiple settings and areas of practice. As such, you may find it helpful to review both inpatient and outpatient measures.

Spectrum Health Lakeland offers clinical placements at sites that are not included on this page. If your experience is within one of our Lakeland or southwest Michigan sites, contact your academic program for contact and site information.

Job Shadowing

We offer students up to two different eight hour job shadow experiences (16 hours maximum) in different rehabilitation settings—hospital, outpatient, subacute rehab, pediatrics, home care, and acute rehab. This option gives students a chance to observe a therapist’s specific role and daily tasks for a given patient population. All hours would count toward a pre-professional observation requirement. While we allow up to 16 hours, job shadows are granted based on therapist availability, therefore we are unable to guarantee the full 16 hours in every case. To request a job shadow, fill out a job shadow request form. Requests must be submitted at least 30 days prior to the desired job shadow date.