On Pointe: Physical Therapy – Taking Care of the Young Dancer’s Body

Dean of Students Lisa de Ravel will be joined by Dr. Dinesh Dhanaraj MD, MSPH, an orthopaedic surgeon with the Princeton Healthcare System, and Megan Advani, PT, DPT, Manager of Outpatient Rehab for the University Medical Center of Princeton at the Princeton Fitness and Wellness Center, to discuss how to best care for a young, growing dancer’s body in order to prevent injury.

About the Guest Speakers
Dinesh Dhanaraj MD, MSPH, is an Orthopaedic surgeon with the Princeton Healthcare System, specializing in Sports Medicine. He completed his surgical internship and orthopaedic surgery residency at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York City. While working at the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at the NYU Langone Medical Center, Dr. Dhanaraj worked extensively with dancers from numerous companies, including Alvin Ailey. Dr. Dhanaraj went on to complete an Orthopaedic Sports Medicine fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital System in Philadelphia, PA. This fellowship, combined with experience working with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), allowed Dr. Dhanaraj to become skilled at arthroscopic techniques in both adults and children.

Megan Advani, PT, DPT is the Manager of Outpatient Rehab for the University Medical Center of Princeton at the Princeton Fitness and Wellness Center in Princeton, NJ.  Megan has a doctorate in physical therapy degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark.  She has been treating patients in outpatient orthopedics for the past 17 years with a focus on treating dancers for the past 8 years.  When treating dancers In physical therapy, Megan evaluates dance specific movement patterns and focuses on finding the cause of injury.  Treatment includes manual therapy, specific strengthening, flexibility exercises, neuromuscular re-education, and correction of dance specific movements.