Local physician education is a major part of our mission

This morning, Dr. Marni Wesner (Family Medicine) and Francisco Gallardo (Translator) led an osteoarthritis seminar at the hospital for a dozen local family medicine doctors. The lecture covered the causes, diagnosis, and non-surgical treatment of osteoarthritis. The goal of any treatment is to reduce symptoms and increase function, ultimately improving quality of life. The first step in the treatment plan is always patient education. This often includes home-based progressive strength and flexibility training, weight loss to reduce the forces acting on the arthritic joint. Next steps include functional bracing, analgesics, as well as intra-articular injections such as corticosteroids and viscosupplements. Only when all of these conservative options fail to provide relief will a patient be referred to an orthopaedic surgeon. Dr. Wesner was joined by Physiotherapist Rachel Oates in the latter half of the seminar when things got interactive. This seminar was set up to give the local doctors the information they need to help their patients help themselves. 

Francisco Gallardo (Translator) describing non-surgical treatment options as presented by Dr. Wesner

Rachel Oates (Physiotherapist) demonstrates the proper technight for a wall squat

Local family medicine doctors grab their resistance bands and prepare to get active

Dr. Marni Wesner (Family Medicine) and Rachel Oates (Physiotherapist) teach local family medicine doctors exercises that their patients can do at home