"I encourage my patients to be their own advocate and try to take control of their own rehab. My ultimate goal is giving my patients a toolbox of exercises and providing them with enough education to know which tools to use, when."
Alyssa Schroeder, D.P.T., MAq, has always liked the challenge of trying to figure out how things work.
"Physical therapy combines that challenge with being able to help people in a functional way," Schroeder said. "Physical therapy gives me the opportunity to work in a variety of situations and with a variety of patients."
Schroeder specializes in "outpatient orthopedics" which includes patients with arthritis, joint pain, back and neck pain. She also works closely with those who have had orthopedic surgeries such as rotator cuff repairs, shoulder arthroscopy, total shoulder replacements, ACL repairs and knee arthroscopy/total replacements.
"Physical therapy can treat a number of diagnoses, throughout a person's life," Schroeder said.
Schroeder also has a certification in aquatic therapy as a musculoskeletal aquaticist (MAq). A lifeguard and lifelong lover of water, she believes aquatic therapy is very beneficial to patients. The aquatic setting allows patients to exercise in a decreased weight-bearing environment. This is helpful to those with arthritis, back pain and joint replacement.
She has also taken courses in pain neuroscience education, wheelchair evaluations, functional capacity assessments and specialized knee bracing.
Schroeder, who earned her doctor of physical therapy degree from St. Scholastica, has been with Marshfield Medical Center-Rice Lake since 2011. She says Marshfield Clinic Health System has a great philosophy of putting the patient first while providing high quality care in an atmosphere of teamwork and collaboration.