This lecture is designed to introduce vet techs, vet tech students and veterinary assistants to the growing world of canine physical rehabilitation. It will outline the different modalities used in rehabilitation, the types of patients that can be helped with a rehabilitation program and the ways that the rehabilitation program is set up. There will be discussion of several cases broken down step by step in order to understand the rationale behind how and why they received the treatment that they did. The lecture will also cover the bond formed between the rehabilitation therapist and the patient as well as the bond formed between the owner and the rehabilitation therapist and why this is critical to patient care. Lastly, there will be discussion of how to pursue a career in the field of rehabilitation and why it is so important to bettering the lives of our patients.

1.Understand what physical rehabilitation is and how it can enhance patient care
2.Understand the different modalities used in the rehabilitation and in what cases each one is effective
3.Learn what common conditions can be helped through a rehabilitation program and how to design it

Speaker Bio

Carly Arbitman is a native New Yorker who grew up on the Upper Westside of Manhattan. From as early as she can remember she has had a love for animals, due in no small part to her childhood dog Princess, which blossomed into a passion to help them. At the age of 9 she began riding horses and at 13 she began spending all of her weekends working with and caring for the horses. She met several veterinarians who amazed her with their abilities and showed her that a career in veterinary medicine was the path for her. She attended Bronx High School of Science and then City College of New York where she earned a B.S. in Biology, graduating Suma cum Laude. In her third year of college she broke her ankle and had to have several surgeries to repair it as well as physical therapy to help her recover. During her recovery she never lost sight of her desire to work with animals and decided to attend Laguardia Community College’s Veterinary Technology program.

Once in the veterinary technology program, she began an internship at Gotham Veterinary Center where she started working with her mentor Dr. Bonnie Brown. Dr. Brown introduced her to many interesting aspects of veterinary medicine but what grabbed Carly’s interest was Dr. Brown’s newest endeavor; canine physical rehabilitation. Dr. Brown was in the process of becoming certified in canine rehabilitation and opening a rehabilitation facility. Once Carly graduated from LaGuardia with a 4.0 GPA and obtained her license in July 2014, her next goal was to become certified in canine rehabilitation. In June of 2015 she enrolled in University of Tennessee’s Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner program and became a CCRP in December of that year. Since becoming certified her passion has only grown. She regularly attends continuing education and is excited about every aspect of the field of rehabilitation. Carly currently works at Canine Rehab of New York which opened three years ago. She has helped at every step to develop and grow the business, which has been an integral part in bettering the lives of well over 100 dogs. Carly knows she has found what she was always meant to do and plans to continue for years and years to come.