Fall 2017 CSU DPT Program Clinical Education Update

We are having an exciting fall in clinical education at the Cleveland State University DPT Program, and we would like to update you on some of what we have been doing.      

APTA Best Practices in PT Clinical Education Report & CSU DPT Town Hall:  You have hopefully already heard about the discussions occurring at the national level following the spring release of the report from the APTA Best Practices in PT Clinical Education Task Force.  In early October, CSU held a local town hall meeting to answer questions and discuss this report.  We were grateful to have had approximately 20 individuals (local clinical partners and representatives from the university) participate in this event.  The feedback we gathered was subsequently shared with APTA’s Board of Directors, who is considering this report this month.  Thank you for making your voices heard through our town hall, as well as through the online survey which many of you also participated in. If you are interested in keeping up to date with these discussions, you can follow along at: http://www.apta.org/Educators/TaskForceReport/PTClinicalEducation/. 

Education Leadership Conference:  In mid-October, several of our CSU faculty and clinical educators participated in APTA’s Education Leadership Conference (ELC) down in Columbus.  The theme for this year’s conference was “Through the Looking Glass: Transforming Physical Therapy Education.”  As a member of the Ohio-Kentucky Consortium of Physical Therapy Programs for Clinical Education, CSU helped sponsor 11 clinical educators (CIs and CCCEs) to attend.  If you have never been to ELC before, I suggest you consider attending a future conference. It is an amazing opportunity for academicians and clinicians to come together and brainstorm about innovative ways we can educate our students.  I always leave feeling energized!  You can find more out about ELC at the Education Section website: http://aptaeducation.org, and please let me know if you have any questions.    

Prestige Speaker/Outstanding Clinical Educator Award – Dr. Therese Lord:  The end of October brought our annual Prestige Speaker Event to help celebrate physical therapy month and honor our clinical instructors from the past year.  This year we were thrilled to present our first annual CSU DPT Program Outstanding Clinical Educator Award to Dr. Therese Lord.  This award has been designed to acknowledge a clinical educator who has made a significant impact in the development of a CSU DPT student(s), and who has promoted the mission, vision and core values of the CSU DPT Program through their clinical teaching. Clinicians are nominated by students with final selection by the DPT faculty. 

Dr. Lord received her DPT degree from CSU in 2011, and has been a strong clinical partner to our program since she became a clinical instructor in 2013.  She has mentored 11 students across the past five years, and is an APTA Credentialed Clinical Instructor.  Therese is employed by University Hospitals and has been working primarily in the outpatient setting at Parma with some time in sub-acute rehab as well.  Vestibular rehabilitation is a prime area of interest for her, and she completed the Emory University Herman Vestibular Course in 2015.  She also completed her ITPT certification in 2015 to appropriately manage patients post-concussion.  As one of her former students noted in the nomination form, “Therese is continuously learning and improving her practice,” with additional training in instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization, muscle energy, Kinesiotaping, pregnancy and postpartum care, and more.  Therese and her husband Paul are kept busy by their three children with one more on the way in 2018. Following is a brief excerpt from one of the student nomination forms that captures just a few of the reasons why Therese was selected this year: “Therese employs humor, laughter, games and compassionate listening to bring about healing.  She is committed to fostering improved health, function and mobility.  She teaches with wisdom, passion and humility.  It has been my pleasure to witness and participate in the therapeutic process that Therese creates with each patient.  I am thankful for her guidance and encouragement.  I am a better clinician because of her dynamic teaching, inspiring example and innovative mentorship.”

Thank you to Therese and to ALL of our clinical educators for your commitment to our CSU DPT students in 2017.  We look forward to continued collaboration in 2018! 

Karen McIntyre, PT, DPT – Director of Clinical Education, CSU DPT Program