Differential Diagnosis of the Upper Quarter

Presented by Eric Robertson

12-Month Subscription

Unlimited access to:

  • Thousands of CE Courses
  • Patient Education
  • Home Exercise Program
  • And more
This course is part of our OCS Prep-Program. Learn more about the full prep-program here: MedBridge OCS Prep-Program.

Differential diagnosis of the upper quarter covers medical screening and principles of primary care for physical therapists in the musculoskeletal setting. Reliable identification of conditions outside the scope of physical therapy practice is an explicit skill of the clinical specialist. This course will review common conditions encountered by physical therapists in the orthopedic realm.

Meet your instructor

Eric Robertson

Eric Robertson is an associate professor at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, and an associate professor of clinical physical therapy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. Previously, he served as director of graduate physical therapy education for Kaiser Permanente of Northern…

Read full bio

Chapters & learning objectives

Clinical Reasoning  and Differential Diagnosis

1. Clinical Reasoning and Differential Diagnosis

Differential diagnosis can be a broad term, so it helps to define it specifically. This chapter will introduce you to this concept, including how we think to solve diagnostic problems, and what tools we use to make an effective diagnostic process occur.

Common Conditions: Part 1

2. Common Conditions: Part 1

This chapter will review the very important topic of risk stratification for the upper cervical spine, including cervical arterial insufficiency and upper cervical ligamentous instability.

Common Conditions: Part 2

3. Common Conditions: Part 2

The discussion continues as we explore addition key conditions of the cervical spine and upper quarter.

Practical Application

4. Practical Application

This chapter challenges clinicians to apply their differential diagnostic skills to two case examples.