Saint Louis University Program in Physical Therapy

The Saint Louis University Program in Physical Therapy in the Doisy College of Health Sciences is a graduate program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. In the Jesuit traditions of the pursuit of truth, development of the whole person, and commitment to service and justice, our community – faculty, staff, and students – prepares doctors of physical therapy who provide reflective, person-centered care that is interprofessional and evidenced-based.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

PT Student Brianne Keller, Editor for JSPTR

My name is Brianne, and I am a PYI student. I am one of the SLU student editors for the Journal of Student Physical Therapy Research (JSPTR). When Dr. Reinking sent out an e-mail asking if anyone was interested in editing for this journal, I responded because I really enjoy reading current research, especially research that is being done by students. It is exciting to see what physical therapy students are capable of and what they are contributing to the research world while still in school. I have also always been interested in editing, and I was excited to see that my passions could be combined, so I jumped at the chance to be a student editor.

I have been involved for one year now, and one of the articles that we edited was just recently published in the journal! It is a rewarding experience that has kept us up-to-date on the current literature and has correlated with the information we are learning in our coursework. The articles that we have edited have been related to neurological conditions such as stroke and spinal cord injury. I want to be as involved as I can in physical therapy because it is my passion. I am continuously amazed at all of the things we can do for our patients that help them to have the best quality of life possible. This has been a way for me to be included in the current research that is helping us to attain our professional goal of providing the optimal care in order to help the patient achieve the best quality of life possible. I am excited to see where the recent literature will take our profession and how it will improve our quality of care for our patients.

Saintsation and PT Student Alex Tepoorten Shares Her Story

My name is Alex Tepoorten and I am a sophomore at SLU. The past two years of my life have been spent in two ways: as a physical therapy student and a dancer on the Saintsations Spirit Team. I’ve been privileged to have the best seats, not only in the Allied Health Building, but in Chaifetz Arena. Through every performance at the home basketball games or every test to study for, I cannot lose sight of what got me to SLU in the first place. I am honored to share my story with you.

Thanks to a family friend of mine, SLU was on my radar. My mother was the one to convince me to send in an application. In the meantime, I was already committed to the plan I had made to attend a different university. With my roommates selected and a move in date marked on the calendar, I received my acceptance letter into not only Saint Louis University, but Saint Louis University’s Program in Physical Therapy. A decision then had to be made. It took a fantastic tour of this campus and my father’s comment that “my stars were aligned” for me to commit and start calling myself a Billiken.

I have been dancing since I was three, so I knew dance was something I couldn’t let go of, even in college. After deciding to attend SLU, I signed up for the 2011-2012 Saintsations tryouts. I have been on the team now for two years. I have had the honor of cheering at every men’s home basketball game, choreographing for our team, and most recently attending the A10 conference and the NCAA tournament. With the Saintsations family by my side, I was able to watch history as our basketball team set a school record for wins and won the A10 conference title. Spending a week cheering on my favorite team in San Jose was surreal. I was blessed to have professors that worked with me during my absences and allowed me to fully immerse myself in what was an unforgettable trip.

Being a student and an athlete has brought both challenges and great memories to my college career thus far. Though there are times I become stressed, I would not change one thing if I could. The experiences I have been part of are extraordinary and it is because of the students and faculty of this SLU community that make it happen.

Go Bills!

Alex Tepoorten

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

PT Faculty Member Joanne Wagner Recieves Pilot Grant

Joanne Wagner, Ph.D., was featured in Newslink this morning for receiving a $43,686 grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to study the relationships between spinal cord injury and mobility problems. Read the article from Newslink below:

Joanne Wagner, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical therapy, has received a $43,686 pilot grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society. The goal of the project, titled "Neuropathogenesis of Impairments in Bilateral Coordination of Gait in Persons with MS," is to quantify walking asymmetry and coordination and examine the relationships between spinal cord injury, sensorimotor impairment, symmetry and coordination of walking, and mobility problems in persons with MS. Wagner will lead a multi-disciplinary team of researchers, including Robert Naismth, M.D., Washington University School of Medicine and Meir Plotnik, Ph.D., Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel (motor control, novel gait analyses). This pilot project has direct implications in the development of clinical tools for the early detection of spinal cord injury-mediated walking problems and devising targeted therapies aimed at improving walking in persons with MS. About Doisy College of Health Sciences
Long a leader in educating health professionals, Saint Louis University offered its first degree in an allied health profession in 1929. Today the Doisy College of Health Sciences houses 17 diverse programs and offers health care education at the baccalaureate, master's, doctoral, and professional levels. The college supports the growth of research opportunities for students and faculty, and is committed to improving health care through research.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Photos from the Annual Irma Ruebling Distinguished Speaker Series Featuring Dr. Edelle Field-Fote

Brianne Keller Shares Her Showers of Service Experience

Don’t forget to sign up for Showers of Service! It will be April 13, 2013 from roughly 8:30am-2pm. There will be food, you receive a T-shirt, and it will be very fun. We asked PT Student Brianne Keller to reflect on her experience participating in Showers of Service:

My name is Brianne, and I am a PYI student. I have participated in Showers of Service every year that I have been at SLU. My first two years, I participated with the Micah Program, and my last two years, I participated with my APO family. I have done everything from cleaning empty lots of garbage to spending time with individuals with disabilities. Showers of Service is an amazing experience where the entire community joins together to make a difference in the community. It is so wonderful to see so many dedicated and selfless Billikens give up a few hours on their Saturday to make the community better in some way. No matter how small the task might seem, there are hundreds of students all around the neighborhoods making differences, and it ends up being a huge effort to serve the community in which we live.

Because you can pick which group you are with during this Saturday of service, you can choose to participate with any community or organization on campus. This gave me an opportunity to meet a lot of new people, even in my senior year on campus. There are so many people on campus, and this is a way to get to know more people. When I spent time with members of the community during this day, I was humbled and was able to see life from another person’s perspective. I was amazed at the stories that the people shared with me, and I will cherish these memories forever. Sometimes I take this community for granted because of our SLU “bubble”, and this is an opportunity for me to step back and realize that there is so much more to our community than I realize. Showers of Service is something I look forward to every year because I know that it is a day of helping to improve the community that I am a part of while also having a blast with other Billikens that share the same passion as me.