Assistant clinical professor of the Orthopaedic Surgery Department, David Moss, MD, provided a private surgical demonstration for GW graduate students in the entry-level doctor of occupational therapy program in the Gross Anatomy Laboratory, which is operated by the School of Medicine and Health Sciences Office of the Dean.
The surgical demonstration was performed during the hybrid program’s on-campus residency day and was designed to give students a better understanding of how specific anatomical structures are affected when a patient is diagnosed with an orthopedic upper extremity condition. Dr. Moss also connected how these injuries and conditions can impact movements people use for everyday life activities.
One student from the Movement Science course taught by Dr. Sarah Doerrer, PhD, OTR/L, CHT, CLT, described how the demonstration provided valuable insight from an occupational therapy (OT) perspective: “OTs really focus on function, so we’re always thinking about injuries in terms of how they might impact a person’s daily activities. Getting to see how the muscles layer on top of each other really got me thinking about new ways to identify problems and look for solutions for patients. It was really educational to have a professional hand surgeon like Dr. David Moss come in and perform the demonstration for us,” said Clinton Mullins.
Dr. Doerrer explained how she hoped Dr. Moss’ demonstration would help students, “in an occupational therapy setting, patients will come to us after surgeries– but we only see the external body. My hope is that after this demonstration the students will have a better idea of what these surgeries look like anatomically. I hope that this new, internal perspective on surgeries will strengthen their practice as future occupational therapists and potentially inspire some of our students to go into hand therapy after graduation.”
Dr. Moss specializes in conditions and disorders of the hand, wrist, and elbow at Washington Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Washington, D.C. and Chevy Chase, Maryland. Dr. Doerrer is experienced in treating hand disorders, as a Certified Hand Therapist (CHT). The two presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hand Therapists in Washington, D.C. last year.
