Medical Exercise Therapy Clinic offers pro bono exercise therapy for individuals with chronic illnesses
Introduction
Students in the Doctor of Clinical Exercise Physiology program, directed by clinical associate professor Cemal Ozemek, are offering pro bono exercise therapy for individuals with chronic illnesses at the Physical Therapy Faculty Practice’s Medical Exercise Therapy Clinic.
Patients referred by a UI Health program — primarily the cardiology unit, Long COVID clinic, oncology program and family medicine unit — can access eight weeks of free exercise sessions (one session per week) in the PT Faculty Practice space at 1640 West Roosevelt Road. After initial evaluations to assess physical function, cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiovascular health, activity levels and body composition, participants work one-on-one with DCEP students on tailored exercise prescriptions that address unique needs and promote long-term lifestyle improvements.
“The overarching aim of the program is to facilitate the independent adoption of exercise and life-long continuation,” said Ozemek. “Providing patients access to clinical exercise physiologists who are trained to customize an exercise prescription can be a transformative experience that gives patients the ability to engage in activities that were previously difficult or not possible.”
The MET clinic was launched with the first DCEP cohort in 2023, and students have run the clinic since, independently leading sessions with patients and designing exercise prescriptions. Working in the clinic counts toward the experiential learning credits required for DCEP graduates: three different 12-week supervised practica in clinical settings, each worth 6 credit hours.
For Sasha Riley, one of the DCEP students running the MET clinic, serving chronically ill patients is about much more than earning degree credits. After earning a master’s degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and prior to beginning the DCEP program at UIC, she worked for several years with cardiac rehabilitation patients in group-based exercise program. The one-on-one model at the MET clinic is an exciting chance for Riley to tailor exercise to the individual, focusing on a patient’s personal goals and encouraging long-term adoption.
"It is really unique,” Riley said of the clinic’s one-on-one model. “It gives us more opportunity to focus on the behavior-change side of things. We want to set them up so that they can continue doing this on their own.”
The clinic also stands out for the range of patients it serves, offering exercise therapy to more than just cardiac patients.
“We get to see so many different chronically diseased individuals,” Riley said. “We're about to see a bunch of cancer survivors, which is a hugely underserved population. We see people who are struggling with kidney disease, diabetes, hypertension — a lot of the risk factors that would eventually lead people to end up in cardiac rehab. We can focus on exercise beforehand and get it under control so they hopefully don't have to go through any sort of cardiac event.”