CHCS Perspectives Winter 2014

PERSPECTIVES • WINTER 2014 – Page 46 Physical Therapy FORT LAUDERDALE Morey J. Kolber, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, and Scott Cheatham, a Ph.D. student at NSU, are currently co-editing a new textbook entitled Orthopedic Man- agement of the Hip and Pelvis . Because a book covering orthopedic management of the hip has not been published since 1990, this publication will serve to highlight much of the new clinical and sur- gical concepts and techniques that have emerged in the past decade. Melissa Tovin, Ph.D., PT, assistant professor, and Alicia Fernandez-Fernandez, Ph.D., assistant professor from the Depart- ment of Physical Therapy, are authoring chapters in this text as well. Contributions to Academia Giving back to the physical therapy community is a goal of the NSU Physical Therapy Department, as is keeping in touch with our alumni. Our community partners, who are actively engaged in providing the internship experiences required for our entry- level physical therapy students, do so out of personal commit- ment to the profession. The time they dedicate to being clinical instructors is integrated into their regular work days and com- pensation. Sharing the knowledge of our faculty members as well as our graduates is one way the department is able to contribute to the physical therapy community. As a way to engage both our alumni and community partners, the department sponsored the Third Annual Alumni and Com- munity Partners Day on November 9. Seven hours of continuing education were provided, highlighting faculty and alumni pre- sentations on current topics in physical therapy. The morning plenary session was followed by split sessions in order to pro- vide a wider array of programming. Over 100 participants enjoyed learning and socializing on both the Fort Lauderdale and Tampa campuses. Morning sessions were conducted via videoconference so attendees on both Florida coasts could participate. For the first time, a shared session was presented with one speaker on the main campus in Fort Laud- erdale and another in Tampa. With the technology available, dis- tance is not an obstacle. We look forward to our fourth annual event in the fall of 2014 as a way of saying thank you to our greater physical therapy community. By Debra F. Stern, D.P.T., D.B.A., PT Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Education Alumni and Community Partners Day: November 9, 2013 NSU physical therapy faculty members are well represented at all of the Amer- ican Physical Therapy Association national conferences. Particularly competitive is the annual Educational Leadership Conference which was held in Portland, Oregon, last October. Over 500 physical therapy clinical educators, clinical in- structors, and administrators met to exchange information and strategies in ap- proaching the changing population, health care, and provision of clinical education to a nationally increasing body of students. One of the overriding themes was in- tegrated clinical education (ICE), which the NSU PT Program has been engaging in since 1998. Our NSU faculty clinical education team and department directors presented both a poster and platform. The poster, presented by Bini Litwin, D.P.T., Ph.D., M.B.A., director and associate professor, and Debra F. Stern, D.P.T., D.B.A., PT, associate professor and director of clinical education, entitled “Promoting Cultural Competency in Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Students Through Collaborative Community-Based Learning,” exemplified an initiative in the de- partment’s service-learning program. Kim Smith, D.P.T., PT, Dr. Stern, Shari Rone-Adams, D.B.A., PT, associate pro- fessor, and Dr. Litwin gave a platform presentation entitled “Filling a Community Need: An Effective Partnership Between Town and Gown with an Innovative Self- Contained Clinical Education Model.” This program is a self-contained ICE initia- tive providing direct hands-on skill to a community-dwelling client population. Both presentations highlighted the program’s commitment to integrating clinical skills with community-based experiences, primarily serving the underserved in Broward County. For example, promoting cultural competence is one of the ob- jectives of participation in the annual Sistrunk Festival, which allows our physical therapy students—under faculty supervision—to perform anthropometric assess- ments and vital signs as well as provide educational information, including local resources for medical services and medications. In this interprofessional activity, the occupational therapy students provide developmental screenings. Initial physical therapy examination and intervention are provided under the onsite supervision of PT faculty in partnership with Broward Health in Fort Laud- erdale for underserved clients in Broward County, including those that are unin- sured or underinsured and possessing diverse backgrounds. This initiative supports the hospital’s physical therapy department in its efforts to manage pa- tients awaiting services. These self-contained ICE experiences are only a sampling of those the PT program actively includes in the curriculum. As other programs struggle to inte- grate these types of opportunities, the interest from other educational programs around the country was most rewarding. By Debra F. Stern, D.P.T., D.B.A., PT Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Education Drs. Debra Stern and Bini Litwin at the Educational Leadership Conference poster presentation in Portland, Oregon. PT Faculty Members Present at APTA Leadership Conference