This past weekend Dr. Greg Doerr, the co-creator of Functional and Kinetic Treatment with Rehab (FAKTR), came to Tampa, Fla. to teach his Functional Soft Tissue (FST) class to the students of NUHS. I previously took this class a little over a year ago and have utilized this technique in most of my treatments. The fact is, it is impossible to remember everything from a weekend seminar. The class is so dense with material that I really wanted to take it again to make sure I hone the technique and pickup things I may have missed.

This class did not disappoint! I think I learned just as much new material the second time around. FAKTR and FST are concepts that extend beyond Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM). Functional Soft Tissue is a rehab progression. Just as our rehab and soft tissue classes taught us how to treat and how to rehab patients, this class puts it all together in a sophisticated way. A lot of it is review from class with expanded concepts. Some soft tissue techniques and IASTM techniques were brand new. But everything in the class was clinically relevant, which was great for me as a trimester 10 student in clinic, two months away from earning my DC.

All of the information is built on restoring function and preventing relapse. We went over evaluations for each body part. Functional Soft Tissue used functional movement to assess dysfunction whether it was single leg stance, overhead squat, Apley’s scratch test, or active range of motion. We were shown effective modes of evaluation and given advice as to what to look for and what aberrant movement would look like. We were also shown how to correct these patterns of dysfunction with soft tissue treatment and rehabilitative exercises.

It was a lot of information again. I honestly would take it a 3^rd time if given the opportunity. Dr. Doerr conversed with us after the class and we discussed day-to-day life in practice, as well as other topics, both related to chiropractic and everyday life. It was fun to be able learn from him in class as well as outside of class and talk about things you don’t hear in school, or wouldn’t hear in a seminar. Being that we have a small group at NUHS, the certification classes at our school are small and intimate. We get a lot of hands on practice with one-on-one feedback from the instructors. We even had the pleasure of discussing the Olympics, sports Chiropractic, techniques, and running a business.

The weekend was exhausting. We spent more than 14.5 hours in class, but I am ecstatic to return to my patients and continue to offer them my very best. I will continue to take classes to build on the great foundation I have acquired through my education at NUHS.

Our students have the opportunity to learn from some of the best doctors in the field. Dr. Guadagno (our sports medicine professor), Dr. Forcum, and Dr. Doerr are all leaders in sports chiropractic and we have had the pleasure of learning from each one of them. We are lucky to have the opportunity to learn from the best out there!

If you have any questions please email me at [email protected].