Physical Therapy Professor Dr. Mike Voight recently served as an invited research judge for the 2020 Scandinavian Sports Medicine congress in Cophenhagen, Denmark, sponsored by the Danish Society of Sports Physical Therapy (DSSF) and the Danish Association of Sports Medicine (DIMS).

As the editor in chief of the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, Voight was one seven editors chosen from the top Sportsmedicine journals in the world.

In his invited role, Voight served on a panel that reviewed several hundred abstracts submitted to the scientific committee to be considered for inclusion to the congress. Onsite, Voight reviewed and judged both poster and oral presentations to determine the best at the congress.

Belmont University Doctor of Physical Therapy students performed aquatic exercises to music with children and adolescents diagnosed with Down Syndrome this semester, with Occupational Therapy Professor Dr. Natalie Michaels and Physical Therapy Professor Dr. Nancy Darr. The water exercises were held at the Gordon Jewish Community Center under the direction of Aquatics Director Daniel Christmas.

These exercises were performed as part of a research project to see if aquatic exercises can help improve balance in this population. Balance was measured before and after the 6-week series of exercise sessions using the Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS). The PBS is a 14-item, criterion-referenced measure of balance that was developed by Mary Rose Franjoine and Nancy Darr to screen children for potential balance-related challenges.

Members of the student research team included Madeleine Youngblood, Taylor Jacobs, Anna Rungee, Carly Callahan and Courtney Alama. The research is currently in the data analysis phase. Regardless of the outcome, the participants appeared to greatly enjoy the sessions, and the team felt invigorated and rewarded by the experience.

International Society of Hip Arthroscopy (ISHA) World Congress

Dr. Voight also recently gave several invited lectures at the International Society of Hip Arthroscopy (ISHA) World Congress held in Madrid Spain. In addition to presenting on several topics related to the hip, Dr. Voight is on the ISHA scientific committee and helped judge more than 500 poster/platform research presentations for the best one in the area of physical therapy. The ISHA congress had over 750 participants representing 128 different nations from around the world. This three-day meeting is considered the premiere meeting in hip joint preservation.

On Oct. 5, several Belmont University Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students volunteered at Garrett’s Hero Run, a 5K event to raise money and awareness for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  Garrett Sapp, the event’s namesake, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and  is the son of Belmont DPT alumna, Amber Sapp (’05), and her husband, Randy Sapp.  The annual event is organized by the Sapp family to raise money for a nonprofit organization called Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), which is the largest nonprofit organization devoted solely to ending Duchenne.

Dr. Christi Williams, associate professor in the School of Physical Therapy at Belmont as well as a fellow 2005 alumna and classmate of Amber’s, shares Garrett’s story with current PT students at the start of each fall semester. “I feel strongly that there is something special here at Belmont, and we refer to it as the ‘Belmont PT Family.’  This ‘family’ serves to support you when you need it most,” Williams states.

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Three Belmont physical therapy graduates, Jack Davis, Jessie Mills and Shelby Smith, were inducted into the 2019 inaugural class of the National Physical Therapy Student Honor Society.

The National Physical Therapy Student Honor Society was established in 2018 by the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) to recognize and honor exceptional individuals who have demonstrated exceptional academic accomplishments and advocated for the profession of physical therapy.

Specifically, the mission of the Society is to recognize and honor physical therapy students who exemplify outstanding traits in leadership, research and service to society, as characterized by consistent demonstration of strong moral character and ethics. As a member of the Society, individuals are expected to uphold and implement the core values of the physical therapy profession.