Kay Ahern
International
Volunteer
Kay Ahern,
Assiniboine/Stone Sioux, is an experienced physical
therapist with a passion for learning and travel. In
the latter part of her career she has generously
volunteered her time and talent in distant parts of
the world. Her international volunteer work has been
under the auspices of an organization called Health
Volunteers Overseas: Improving Global Health Through
Education. “The goal of this organization,” says
Ahern, “is to make contributions that are sustainable.
This means that we spend most of our time mentoring
the local staff and students. Then they, in turn,
educate others.” When she’s not traveling, Ahern, a
mother of four and grandmother of 12, works part time
as a hand therapist in Arizona.
Bhutan
and Vietnam
In the 1990s
Ahern did volunteer work in Vietnam, where she taught at
Hanoi Bach Mai Rehabilitation Center. In 2001 Ahern she
worked for four months in the country of Bhutan at the
Jigme Dorji Wanghuck National Referral Hospital in the
capital city of Thimphu. In 2002 Ahern returned to Vietnam,
this time teaching at Da Nang orthopedics and
Rehabilitation Center.
At all three health care facilitates, Ahern gave formal
presentations to the staff. But she spent most of her time
doing teacher education. For example, she would oversee a
clinical supervisor as he, in turn, helped his students
diagnosis their patients' needs and develop treatment
plans. Then Ahern would teach the supervisors and students
anything they needed to know in order to carry out the
treatment plans.
Before her trips, Ahern solicited gifts of books and
physical therapy tools. She helped the Bhutanese and
Vietnamese staff members and students use these gifts so
they were comfortable using them after Ahern left.
Ahern gave a
lot to her colleagues and their clients, but she also
learned from them: “I brought back a little more calmness
and patience, a little more practicality," she says. "Every
day at 11 in the morning in Bhutan, calm descended when we
therapists had our tea break. In our busy clinics in the
U.S., patients wouldn’t be happy with that, but in Bhutan
it is considered a good thing for the therapists to have
their tea. Everyone works very hard, but they know how to
sit down and be calm and patient. My U.S. colleagues might
think it’s impossible to have calmness in our busy hand
clinics, but I think you can try. Both the staff and the
clients were realistic about what can be achieved. In the
U.S., our patients most often feel they should improve
100%.”
Ahern
was impressed with the efforts some clients and their
families have to make to get help. There are clinics in
some of the small towns, but the health care workers seldom
have expertise in orthopedic care. Consequently, people,
who live in remote, sparsely populated areas have to make
their way to a city. For some, this means walking or being
carried or carted for a couple of days before they reach a
road where they can take a bus to the city.
Travel Advice
Ahern
is an advocate for international travel. “If you desire to
learn about other people – how they live, how they think,
what they enjoy – travel is wonderful. It is a way to be a
participant in the world, rather than an outsider just
looking in."
One of her greatest joys is meeting people and hearing
their stories. To do this she goes to local markets and
restaurants where she engages people in conversation,
through interpreters, if necessary. Some international
travelers are wary about talking with local people, but
Ahern asserts, “People are as kind as you are. If someone
isn’t kind, go on to another person.” She found that the
many Buddhists she met were particularly kind because they
“practiced kindness”.
“Vietnam,” she says, “is a beautiful country. The people
are nice. The food is good.” Some of the Vietnamese people
educated her by asking tough questions. Referring to what
we in the U.S. call the Vietnam War, a young woman asked
Ahern, “Do Americans know what happened when they pulled
out? Were they concerned? What are you teaching in America
about the war?”
Ahern loves Bhutan. “Everything is relaxed. If they have
crime, it’s minimal. There is no problem walking alone at
night, except for the fact there are no streetlights.
People are relatively healthy. They eat lots of vegetables,
and they walk because most of them don’t have cars. They
have a good sense of humor and are kind.”
When
traveling, Ahern advises, “Know what the norms are.
Know what you should expect to pay for various things.
Don’t sweat the little stuff..” Kay also feels that
it’s okay to put up with some discomfort because of
the many joys that you can experience when traveling.
For example, Ahern has stayed in simple, Spartan
rooms, ridden in non-air-conditioned buses in hot
weather, traveled on the back of motorcycles, and made
do with all kinds of toilets. “Luxury,” she asserts,
“is a toilet that you can sit on.”
Finding
Her Path
Ahern grew up
in Wolf Point, Montana, a small town on the Fort Peck
Indian Reservation. “My heritage is rich in Assinboine
traditions learned from my grandmother and father and
reinforced by my Swedish mother.” Ahern remembers, “My
parents were young, and times were very difficult in those
depression years. I grew up on the land that my grandfather
homesteaded. This was land that my grandmother’s family
received during the reservation allotment. These were times
when survival and hard work were stressed. People said,
‘Educate the children so they won’t have our hard life.’”
“My mother wanted me to be the nurse that she had planned
to be, but I didn’t want to empty bedpans. I asked the
school counselor about options, particularly physical
therapy. She sent away for materials. When I read about
physical therapy, I knew what I wanted to do. Every course
that I took from then on pointed me in that
direction.”
Ahern
went to St. Olaf College. Her sophomore year she
transferred to the University of Minnesota so that she
would be in the best position to secure a place in the
university’s two-year long undergraduate physical therapy
program. Getting into this PT program was challenging. At
that time, there were not many PT programs, and there were
many applicants for each space. When she was accepted into
the program, Kay was able to get a loan from the Tribal
Board of her reservation. When she graduated summa cum
laude with a bachelor of science degree in physical
therapy, her loans were converted to a grant.
Working
and Raising a Family
Ahern worked
for three years – first at Omaha Nebraska Community
Hospital and then at the University of Minnesota Hospital.
She married and then didn’t work outside the house for 16
years while she cared for her 4 children. “One of the
positive features of physical therapy is the good system of
continuing education,” says Ahern. “When it was necessary
for me to take a lead in supporting my family and return to
physical therapy, I was able to take refresher courses. I
worked with a wonderful mentor who assured me that I would
remember my skills. I did. I worked in a small general
hospital and then in a large general hospital.” During the
seven years that her children were in college, Kay had a
second job working weekends as a “jack of all trades” in
hospitals. This generalist background later proved helpful
in her volunteer work.
Becoming
a Hand Therapist
In 1979 when she moved to Arizona, Ahern was hired by Ann
Galbraith, one of the pioneers in the specialty of hand
therapy. Galbraith taught this new specialty to Ahern
directly and also sent her to continuing education seminars
and urged her to observe hand surgery. On the road to
becoming a hand therapist specialist, Ahern had to go over
the hurdles required for becoming a member of the American
Society of Hand Therapists. Then in 1991 she passed the
exam that enabled her to become a certified hand therapist.
“This certification was a jewel I was happy to have
earned,” says Kay. “It is hard to put in words the absolute
passion I have had for hand therapy and the pleasure I have
derived from helping so many people regain or enhance the
use of their hands and arms after injury, surgery or
disease.
Ahern has been
active in the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).
For three years she served on the APTA’s Advisory Council
of Minority Affairs. She also served for 4 years as
Vice-President of the Hand Rehabilitation Section of the
APTA.
Advice for Prospective PTs
What is Ahern advice to people who are considering a career
in physical therapy? “If you have a passion, go for it.
Volunteer in a PT clinic while you’re in high school. Look
for mentors. Never stop asking questions. Sometimes you may
encounter a teacher who isn’t good at responding to
question or even puts you down for asking questions. But be
persistent. Find someone who you can turn to.”
Ahern's advice
to practitioners is drawn from her years of practice in the
United States and abroad. “Be respectful of culture. Be
aware of what people have and don’t have. Be resourceful.
Help people feel better. Don’t focus on perfection. Focus
on being the best that you can be!”
This
article was originally published in the Spring 2003 issue
of
Winds of Change. (The cover
artist is Burgess Roye, Ponca.)
Update
Kay Ahern has continued to work part-time as a hand
therapist in Arizona. She is also still active in Health
Volunteers Overseas (HVO). Since the publication of the
above article, in connection with HVO, she has done more
volunteer teaching in Viet Nam. She has also taught in
India and Peru and will soon teach in
Nicaragua.