SMU Attends World’s Largest Physical Therapy Conference

Students, faculty, and alumni from Samuel Merritt University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program convened in Anaheim, Ca. in February to attend the world’s largest conference dedicated to the PT profession.

The American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Sections Meeting 2016 broke attendance records this year with more than 11,000 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and physical therapy students participating.

SMU was well represented with students (pictured at right) from the classes of 2016 and 2017, as well as most of the SMU faculty. SMU hosted an alumni, student, and faculty reception on Friday evening in honor of Dr. Terry Nordstrom on being named a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the APTA last year.

Additionally, faculty and students presented educational sessions and posters at this conference.

Peer- reviewed Presentations by SMU Faculty:

Terry Nordstrom–Education Section, “Excellence in Education in the Health Professions: What We Have Learned, Parts 1 and 2”

Nicole Christensen–Education Section, “Transforming Teaching, Learning, and Assessment of Clinical Reasoning in Residency Education”

Susan Grieve–Education Section, “Teaching With Multimedia: Applying Evidence to Enhance Learning 

Peer-reviewed Posters by 2015 SMU DPT graduates and/or faculty:

Alexis Mielke/Rolando Lazaro/Gail Widener–Neurology Section - Degenerative Disease. “Using Symptoms to Dose Therapeutic Exercise for a Female with Multiple Sclerosis After an Acute Exacerbation: A Case Report”

[this poster was also just published as an open access article:

Mielke A, Lazaro R, Widener G. Using symptoms to effectively dose therapeutic exercises for a female with multiple sclerosis after an acute exacerbation: a case report. Phys Ther Rehabil. 2016; 3:2. http://dx.doi.org/10.7243/2055-2386-3-2

Full text online: http://www.hoajonline.com/journals/pdf/2055-2386-3-2.pdf]

Stephanie Hausle/Gail Widener–Neurology Section - Stroke. “Using Interprofessional Collaboration to Design Cognitive-Based Interventions for a Patient Following a Right Hemisphere Stroke: A Case Report” 

Gail Widener, Nicole Conley; Sarah A. Whiteford; Jason Gee; Anthony Harrell; Diane D. Allen; Cynthia Gibson-Horn; Valerie Block-Neurology Section, Degenerative Disease. “Changes in Standing Stability with Balance-Based Torso-Weighting in People with Cerebellar Ataxia: A Pilot Study”

Edward James Gorgon; Rolando T. Lazaro-Academy of Clinical Electrophysiology and Wound Management. “The Upright Motor Control Test: A Systematic Review of Measurement Properties for Patients with Stroke”