Sandeep Prabhu, DPT, OCS: The Beauty of Human Movement
“I’m fascinated by the human body and the way it moves, and also by its ability to heal itself, to repair itself.”
That's the beauty of human movement. I am fascinated by the human body and the way it moves and also its ability to heal itself, its ability to repair itself. Physical therapy is one of those unique things that has the potential to not just address the diagnosis, but also to enrich somebody's life.
A physical therapist is a movement specialist, a body mechanic. My job is to understand the individual, how they are designed. I work with patients who come to me with chronic pain, people who are undergoing surgeries, procedures who have not been able to function like they're supposed to over a long period of time. They want to get better, but they don't know how.
It is step-by-step process. It takes undoing the damage that they have done to themselves over a period of time and then laying the foundation for them to get better and do more. My teachers at Touro made me a better therapist and a better clinician. They are so passionate about their work and passionate about teaching that it rubs off on you.
I have learned one size does not fit all. Each person is unique. That's why it's important to treat each person individually. I am able to teach them about their body and teach them things that they can do with their lives that they thought they would not be able to. Amazing things happen every day in physical therapy.
“PT has the potential not just to heal the diagnosis, but to enrich somebody’s life,” begins Sandeep Prabhu, DPT, a 2015 graduate of Touro’s School of Health Sciences Orthopedic Physical Therapy Residency (OPTR) Program. “My job is to understand the way an individual is designed. I’ve learned that there’s no one-size-fits-all in PT.”
Dr. Prabhu, who calls himself a “body mechanic,” now works as a physical therapist at New York Spine and Sport Rehabilitation Medicine (NYSSRB). Many of Sandeep’s clients have chronic pain due to an injury, and/or they’ve recently undergone a surgery. Their functioning having been impaired for quite some time, they come to him for pain relief and/or to regain their ability for movement. “It takes undoing the damage that’s been done over a period of time and then laying the foundation for them to get better,” he says.
Dr. Prabhu, who grew up in India, became interested in the field when he was just a child. He spent much of his youth watching physical therapists help his grandfather—who had suffered a stroke—recover. “I was amazed at what my grandfather was able to do after therapy,” he remembers.
Before enrolling in Touro, Dr. Prabhu completed his Master’s degree in Movement Science at Teachers College Columbia University, where he became involved in research and published a paper in The Journal of Development Medicine and Child Neurology.
When he first began working at NYSSRB, he decided he wanted to expand, and improve, his repertoire of PT skills. That’s when he found out about Touro’s School of Health Sciences’ OPTR Program. “My teachers at Touro have made me into a better therapist and a better clinician. They’re so passionate about their work, and their teaching, that it rubs off on you.”
This is Dr. Prabhu’s story.
