Current Events
Keep up with the faculty, staff, and students of the School of Physical Therapy! Events and other news will be posted here!
PT Students Awarded Study Abroad Scholarships
Two of our third year PT students were awarded study abroad scholarships. Anne Stovall and Danielle McMinn each received a scholarship from the Wallace Rasmussen Study Abroad Program. The scholarships assisted the students full-time physical therapy practice experience during the summer 2007 in London, England. The School of Physical Therapy congratulates our students for receiving this award and appreciates the generosity of the Wallace Rasmussen Study Abroad Program!
2007 Belmont Physical Therapy Mission Trip
A group of Belmont Physical Therapy students visited Guatemala City from March 3-9, 2007. The students worked with The Shalom Foundation which has an established relationship with the hospital in Guatemala City through medical mission trips they do in coordination with Vanderbilt Medical School. Learn more about the Belmont Physical Therapy mission trip by reading the Physical Therapy Missions Blog.
Belmont School of PT to Host APTA Courses
The School of Physical Therapy will host several courses offered by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) as part of their Advanced Clinical Practice Series. These APTA courses are designed for physical therapists to learn more about evidence-based approaches to patient/client management. To learn more about these courses, please visit the APTA website by using the links below.
Advanced Exercise: Effective Testing and Interventions for the Complex Patient (March 24-25)
Examination and Selected Interventions: Hand and Wrist (May 19-20)
Functional Biomechanics of the Lower Quarter: Implications for Movement Dysfunction and Musculoskeletal Injury (November 3-4)
Class of 2006 Pass Rate News
The graduating class of 2006 is the first class in the history of the program to have every member of the class successfully pass the National Physical Therapy Examination on the first attempt. The School of Physical Therapy also enjoys a 100 percent overall pass rate for the past three years.
Grant for PT Equipment
Belmont University recently received a grant of $194,555 from the Christy-Houston Foundation for Physical Therapy (PT) and Occupational Therapy (OT) equipment. The equipment will have positive impacts on all students in the PT and OT programs at Belmont as well as patients, both in clinical education and after graduation for practice in health care.
One piece of equipment that will be purchased through the grant for physical therapy is the SMART Equitest, by Neurocom International, Inc. The Equitest provides objective assessment of balance control and postural stability under dynamic test conditions to reflect the challenges of daily life. The system provides assessment and retraining capabilities with visual biofeedback on either a stable or unstable support surface and in a stable or dynamic visual environment. It is an evaluative tool for patients with balance problems and is also being used to evaluate Parkinson’s patients’ appropriateness for the cutting edge technology of deep brain stimulation. While the deep brain stimulation is performed by the Neurological Surgery Team at Vanderbilt University, an evaluation done before and after the surgery can be a key component to assessing clinical effectiveness. The Vanderbilt regional center of excellence for deep brain stimulation is working to educate physicians in out-lying areas on which patients are most appropriate for this surgical approach. It is hoped that over time, and with additional research, that this service will be provided to more patients and physicians in Middle Tennessee.
The equipment grant will also be used to purchase other items for physical therapy and occupational therapy, including a driving simulator that is instrumental for research pertaining to driving needs for an aging population. In addition, low vision equipment will be used for classroom training. Sewing machines will enable students to learn how to fabricate orthotics, slings and other adaptive equipment to restore function. With an impending shortage of physical therapists and occupational therapists, Belmont University is actively recruiting more students interested in allied health. The new equipment will provide essential tools for educating highly-competent, doctoral prepared PTs and master or doctoral prepared OTs.
More details can be found in the " Belmont News" section.
Faculty in Key PT Positions
The School of Physical Therapy has several faculty members who are serving in key positions in the physical therapy community. Gail Bursch, Associate Professor/Director for Clinical Education, is serving as the Vice-President of the Tennessee Phsyical Therapy Association (TPTA). Dr. Cathy Hinton, Associate Professor, is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Ethics and Judicial Committee. Dr. John Halle, Chair and Associate Dean, is serving as a Council Member of the Clinical Electrophysiology Speciality section and as the Research Chair of the national Section on Clinical Electrophysiology and Wound Management of the APTA. Dr. Kathy Galloway is the current Secretary of the national Section on Clinical Electrophysiology and Wound Management. Dr. Mike Voight, Professor, is serving as the immediate Past-President of the Sports section of the APTA and is also on the Board of Directors of the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy. Additional involvement with professional journals includes Dr. Voight as the Associate Editor of North American Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, and Dr. Halle as an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Orthopaedics and Sports Physical Therapy.
Dr. Greathouse named a Catherine Worthingham Fellow
Dr. David Greathouse, the former Chair of the School of Physical Therapy, has been selected as a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association. The School of Physical Therapy would like to congratulate Dr. Greathouse on this honor, and we are proud of him for his accomplishments while serving at this institution and presently.
Dr. Renee Brown has article published in journal
Dr. Renee Brown, Associate Professor, co-authored an article appearing in Fall 2006 edition of the Journal of Physical Therapy Education . The article entitled "Evaluating the Performance of the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education in Physical Therapist Education: Determining Appropriate Criteria and Assessors" discusses criteria which could be included in a faculty evaluation for Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education positions in schools of physical therapy. Such positions often include responsibilities that are not currently included in exisiting faculty evaluations, making evaluations more difficult. Brown and her co-author gathered information from physical therapy schools in the United States and sought their input for relevant criteria that could be used to create a new form of evaluation for Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education positions.
PT Student Activities
This year's set of student research project presentations was held on Tuesday, November 7 th. We also now have student affiliations spanning the globe, with ongoing affiliations in England, Mexico and Australia. Several current students and graduates from the School of Physical Therapy are involved with mission trips to Africa and Honduras. There have also been several community service projects ranging from assisting with ramp building to fund raising for the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Students provided support for the recent Dierks Bentley motorcycle ride and concert.
PT Students Help with Dierks Bentley Miles & Music for Kids Charity Event
During the October celebration of national physical therapy month, approximately 40 Belmont University Physical Therapy students and faculty volunteered their time to assist with the organization and on-site operation for the first annual “Dierks Bentley Miles & Music for Kids” charity motorcycle ride and concert to benefit Vanderbilt’s Children Hospital . The ride took place the second week-end in October when 2700 bikers came out to ride from the suburbs of Nashville to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds where a concert followed. Throughout the day, Dierks Bentley was joined by Jeff Foxworthy, Montgomery Gentry, Eric Church, Ray Scott, the Randy Rogers Band, and Trick Pony’s Ira Dean. This event was the largest motorcycle ride in Nashville history. “I’ve learned in the music business to aim high, but expect low,” says Bentley. “It would have been cool with 500 bikers, but the weather couldn’t have been better, and the Nashville community really rallied for this. We could not have done it without the help of my friend Mike Voight and his students at Belmont University .” The first time Miles & Music for Kids event raised over $100,000 for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. “This was a great learning experience that was not only fun for the students. Not only did they get to meet and work with the stars of country music, they also helped the community in a large way” say Mike Voight, faculty advisor for this project.
Student Creates Prayer Pals Program for Children
The School of Physical Therapy would like to spotlight one of our students, Megan Stinson. Megan has worked to create the Prayer Pals program with Special Kids, a Christian care center for children with special needs. The Prayer Pals program provides a “Prayer Pal Bear” to children throughout their therapy service and upon completion of the program. Stinson worked to acquire corporate sponsorships to fund the program and has been able to provide over 500 bears for the “Prayers Pals” program.
