Editor’s Note: This is the inaugural edition of our Fast Class video series, which showcases faculty and staff members discussing their areas of interest and expertise.

Let’s be honest.

We take our thumbs for granted.

However, without them we wouldn’t be able to flip a coin, button a shirt, hold a pen, throw a dart, or perform other routine tasks. In this presentation, Professor of Occupational Therapy Peter Talty discusses the joints, motions, and muscles of the thumb and why it is an indispensable part of our daily lives.

After viewing this video, you will give the thumb a big thumbs-up.

About Professor Talty

Professor of Occupational Therapy Peter Talty has been an occupational therapist for over 40 years.

He has practiced OT in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, a hand therapy clinic, home care, skilled nursing facilities, school systems, factories (ergonomics), and community agencies.

Prior to joining Keuka’s faculty in 1987, he taught at the University at Buffalo, and has served as an adjunct professor at D’Youville College in Buffalo. Until 1997, he was also the owner and president of OT Works, a private OT practice serving numerous agencies in western New York.

Talty’s present teaching responsibilities are focused on intervention courses, in which students are given ample opportunities to practice clinical skills prior to working with actual clients.  He is constantly seeking to create learning experiences that build knowledge and skills with an emphasis on “real world” applications, but that also build the confidence in each student.

Talty is the 1994-95 recipient of the College’s prestigious Professor of the Year award. He may be contacted at ptalty@keuka.edu or (315) 279-5668.