CHCS - Perspectives Winter/Spring 2016

50 • NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Life is full of firsts—the first day of kindergarten, your first time driving, the first day of college, or even your first kiss. These firsts are forever burned in your memory. For the faculty and staff members in the Hybrid D.P.T. program, the class of 2015 was our charter class, and thus our first graduating class. Like the oldest child in a family, an inaugural class experiences all the trials and tribulations of having novice parents, or in this case, novice hybrid faculty members. As the faculty broke ground in the way PT education was delivered, it sometimes, inadvertently, broke the students’ backs. In the winter of their first year, the students had 36 assign- ments in the Medical Pathology course, but it was pared down to a mere 14 assignments. Being the first meant that the students had to navigate their own way since there were no upper classmen to act as guides or to reassure them. This was no small feat, especially with a program designed so that students learned online for three weeks, fol- lowed by four days on campus. Despite students living all across the country, they quickly came together as a group and found ways to help one another. Sometimes, however, being first has its advantages. In its first year, the charter class was the only class in the program and thus had the faculty members’ undivided attention. These students were the first to use the labs, classrooms, and equipment and never had hand-me-downs or leftovers from previous classes. They were trailblazers who navigated uncharted waters and set the pace for all the other classes that would follow. Sometimes, they had to overcome some initial prejudice against hybrid learning. Clinical instructors, who were admittedly leery about taking a student intern from our hybrid program, quickly changed their minds. As of early November, 17 of the 18 graduates had passed the National Physical Therapy Examination. Football coach Vince Lombardi’s quote applies to this class: “I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle—victorious.” While not on a battlefield, each of our 18 graduates fought many odds to become a member of the physical therapy profession. ■ Ode to the Hybrid D.P.T. Charter Class Physical Therapy TAMPA BY MARY T. BLACKINTON, ED.D., PT, GCS, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, HYBRID D.P.T. PROGRAM The Hybrid D.P.T. class of 2015 holds Melly Iglesias, academic support coordinator.