Set criteria-based return-to-activity milestones so the decision rests on what the patient can demonstrate rather than on how long it has been — the test battery, the thresholds, the graded reintroduction, and the honest conversation about residual risk. Use when asked to plan a return to sport or work, set return-to-play criteria, decide whether someone is ready to return, or handle pressure to clear someone early. Produces the criteria by stage, the test battery with thresholds, the graded exposure plan, the residual-risk discussion, and the decision record. The clearance decision is the treating clinician's, made with the patient and the relevant medical team.
“Set return to sport criteria after ACL reconstruction”“Is this patient ready to go back to work?”“The coach wants them back this week — how do I handle that?”“Design a graded return to running programme”“What should I test before clearing someone to return?”
What to give it
▸The injury or condition — what happened, what was done, and the tissue-healing or condition constraints
▸The activity being returned to — its actual physical demands, not the label
▸Current status — objective measures, symmetry, capacity, and symptom behaviour under load
▸The pressures — a season, a job, a deadline, or a patient's own impatience, named openly
▸The team — the surgeon, physician, coach or employer involved, and who holds the clearance decision
✅ The bar it holds itself to
Every skill in this library self-verifies — these are this skill's own quality checks, straight from its definition.
✓The target demand is quantified, not named
✓Thresholds were set before the decision became live
✓Testing includes performance under fatigue and representative load
✓Symmetry is assessed alongside absolute capacity
✓Return is graded, with explicit step-back triggers
✓Residual risk was discussed and the patient's understanding recorded
✓The decision, its evidence, and any unmet criteria are documented
✓The clearance decision sits with the clinician who holds it
⚠️ What it refuses to do
**Time-based clearance.** Weeks since surgery say nothing about capacity.
**Testing fresh only.** Re-injury happens tired, and so should testing.
**Symmetry as the sole criterion.** Both sides can be equally deconditioned.
**Setting criteria during the decision.** They bend to the pressure in the room.
**Full demand on day one.** The single highest-risk moment in the whole process.
Install
npx pm-claude-skills add --agent claude # or codex · cursor · gemini · hermes
# or one-line MCP (every skill, any client):
claude mcp add pm-skills -- npx -y pm-claude-skills-mcp