COMT:

Become a Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapist through PMT

Whether a new graduate or an experienced physical therapist we are confident we can help you become a better clinician. It is our goal to prepare you the clinician to treat your patients efficiently and effectively, increase your confidence and competence, and to provide a method for continued self-improvement. These courses are designed to give you solid clinical reasoning skills and the ability to apply creative and skillful manual therapy as well as produce relevant and effective exercise programs to drive your patient to independence!

The process involves 6 separate weekend courses and 2 one day classes of clinical instruction with our faculty in small group environments (8:1 student to instructor ratio). It also includes access to our Online Learning system where you will prepare prior to class with online lectures and delivery of didactic content. This allows our time in the lab to be focused on application of the lessons and development of truly skilled therapy.

The course culminates with the student performing a practical examination evidencing application of solid clinical reasoning and effective treatment skills, thus earning the right to use the COMT certification from Phoenix Manual Therapy.

Prior Long Term Course Students can earn the right to use the COMT via our Challenge Process. Please see our FAQ for more details or contact us!

Testimonials:

Cruz Romero PT DPT

Robin Blunck PT DPT

Jessica Best PT DPT OCS

 

Students will complete the Following Courses

There is no time frame required for completion: Student Choice

 

See FEES & ReGistration page for Payment structure

Location: All courses to be held at Fearon Physical Therapy 6245 N 24th Pkwy #105 Phoenix AZ 85016

Inquiries and Questions can be submitted to: phoenixmanualtherapy@gmail.com

Prior Long Term Course students who are interested in earning their Certification through the Challenge process should consult the FAQ for details and contact us with any Questions.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions):

1. Do I have to complete the COMT in 1 year?

    No. We want this program to work for you. You can take the classes over a 2 year or longer period if you choose. The goal is to create excellent clinicians, not fit you into our timeframe. It is STRONGLY recommended that you take the foundations class prior to taking the upper or lower quarter spine courses. The spine series courses can be taken concurrently or in consecutive years. If in doubt email us and we will work with you.

2. Do I have to take the courses in a particular order?

     No, but we strongly suggest that you TAKE THE FOUNDATIONS CLASS FIRST as it set the stage for the clinical reasoning model which will be heavily invoked throughout the rest of our courses. It is not our intention however to place roadblocks in a learners path, if you prefer to take them in a different order we will leave that to your professional discretion.

3. Are the courses in person or Online?

        Both. All courses have online components to be completed prior to lab classes (and in some cases assignments to be completed after). We believe that you need face to face interaction and true hands on experience to advance your skills and our goal is to maximize this in our courses. For this reason we expect participants to do the online pre-work prior to the course days.  We believe that adequate lab time and practice time is essential to creation of clinical mastery and the use of online content delivery prior to class allows us to focus our in person sessions on these essential factors.

4. How long does the Program take?

        The fastest it could be done as presently constructed is approximately 9 months. This would involve taking the foundations class, followed by the spine courses and their respective therapeutic exercise classes, then performing the exam immediately after the conclusion of the last course. You can take as long as you like though. You can spread the courses out, or delay taking the test until you have had a chance to put the skills to practice in your clinic in order to gain confidence and skill.

5. Are there any rewards associated with earning the COMT?

    Knowledge and skill are their own reward! That being said the COMT is designed to reward you with a recognizable set of letters after your name. We believe the accomplishment will be one you are quite proud of. In addition you will receive 15% off all future classes with PMT.

6. I am a DPT student can I take the COMT course while still in school?

    Congratulations on being a self directed learner! We will take 3rd year students into the program who have demonstrated to a faculty member a commitment to learning and desire to excel in the area of OMT. This is very ambitious, admirably so, we do not want to interfere with success in the first priority; licensure.   

7. I want to take the COMT over multiple years. Can I spread out the payments?

    Yes. We offer Installment payments to all COMT participants. In order to simplify this process we have simply decided that each course weekend for COMT students will be $389 payable prior to the start of the course.

8. Is the COMT program through PMT right for me?

    Probably. There are a few people it is definitely wrong for:

  1. Memorizers - if your goal is to memorize a lot of facts/techniques and regurgitate them to pass a test, then this is the wrong course for you. The goal is to genuinely attain psychomotor skill and intellectual analytical advancement. In short in this all too superficial world we focus on authenticity.

  2. The intellectually lazy - our course is designed to stimulate critical thinking skills and to allow these skills to inform your entire patient interaction from subjective exam to treatment and reassessment. Those who want easy one size fits all answers would be disappointed.

  3. World Champs - If you already are really good at what you do and do not need input from your faculty and peers, then you should probably look elsewhere. We believe in input and constant improvement of both thinking and physical skills. You should expect to get constructive feedback and criticism throughout our course.

If you are seeking credentials for the sake of credentials this will require far more intellectual engagement than anticipated.  Our goal is to genuinely improve the clinical skill set of the aspiring clinician.  This series is about authentic pursuit of mastery in the clinic.

9. What is the Final Exam like?

        Simply by having your license you have proven your ability to memorize facts and repeat them when asked. We are certain that you would all pass if we chose to give you a multiple choice test over the material taught. So we will assume you have passed the multiple choice part of our testing and skip right to substance. Having the letters COMT after your name as awarded by PMT means that you have proven you have both learned and absorbed the information, and more importantly that you can do what you say you can. It is our goal that you will finish your final exam with the knowledge that you can confidently apply what you learned to real patients daily in your own clinical situation. To this end the final exam will be just that, a true practical application of what you have learned with a real patient.

    There are 2 options to choose from when taking your exam:

  1. A live patient evaluation and treatment of a patient unknown to you (peripheral or spine) in front of 2 instructors. You will receive feedback and questioning regarding your thought process and application of interventions. These sessions will be videotaped for educational purposes.

    Cost $250

  2. Two video submissions of an initial evaluation and treatment within your own clinical environment and one follow up visit. These videos will be reviewed and scored by two of our faculty in a blinded scenario. Currently Barbara Stevens, Tim Fearon’s mentor is the primary reviewer. You will receive feedback and questioning prior to assignment of final scores. Cost $500 to compensate Barbara for her time investment.

    The primary grading criteria for the final exam is demonstration of a working knowledge of the clinical reasoning skills that will be continually reinforced throughout all of our courses. Clearly it is to the advantage of the learner to have taken theFoundations class as early as possible to afford integration into everything covered in both spine and extremity dysfunction.

10. “I am a past Long term course participant and would like to earn my COMT, can I do this?”

    Yes! We believe that the COMT should be a reflection of your clinical competence and integration of the concepts that you learned from PMT, not a tool used to sell you more courses. To this end we have instituted a challenge process for any of our past Long term course students. The Challenge process consists of doing the final exam in either of the 2 options listed above. There is a cost associated with this for past students as follows:

Option 1: $250, A live patient evaluation and treatment of a patient unknown to you in front of two of our faculty members (peripheral or spine).

Option 2: $500, Two video submissions of an initial evaluation and treatment within your own clinical environment and one follow up visit.

As you probably know you already receive a 15% discount on all courses as a past long term course participant. You are not required to take any further courses if you wish to earn your COMT through the challenge process, however we recommend taking at least one refresher class. Should you wish to take the foundations class you won’t be disappointed as we are all aware that masters continually refine their mastery of the basics and this is emphasized in the exam.

If you would like to receive your COMT through either the Challenge process or take further courses prior to the exam please contact us so we can get you set up!