Associate Professor in the School of Occupational Therapy Dr. Teresa Plummer was recently featured in Siloam Health’s 30th Anniversary video. Plummer spoke about the impact of Siloam’s work in global health care. Watch the full video here.
Dr. Mike Voight, Professor in Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy, spent the last week traveling the country lecturing.
He began in Las Vegas at the 2021 International Orthopaedic Summit, one of the nation’s most premiere Orthopaedic meetings with more than 10 simultaneous tracks. This year, the International Society of Hip Arthroscopy partnered with OSET for their annual meeting. With over 1500 orthopedic surgeons and specialists in attendance, Dr. Voight gave seven presentations on various orthopedic topics. While there, he also gave a presentation to the Hip Arthroscopy Society on return to play guidelines following hip surgery.
From there, Dr. Voight traveled to Pennsylvania to give an all-day presentation to the medical staff of the Philadelphia Phillies MLB baseball club. The topic was on movement assessment to recognize and prevent baseball injuries.
On November 13, the School of Physical Therapy celebrated the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program Class of 2022 as they completed their coursework and transitioned to full-time clinical education experiences in preparation for Graduation in August 2022. The White Coat Ceremony and Reception were sponsored by Upstream Rehabilitation. In addition to students and their families and guests, the ceremony was also attended by College of Health Sciences & Nursing Dean Dr. Cathy Taylor, Regional Vice President Benchmark Physical Therapy Dr. Rob Colasso and School of Physical Therapy faculty and staff. Dr. Casey Kalb, Vice President of Operations at Upstream Rehabilitation, addressed the Class offering encouragement and wisdom. The ceremony also included the Presentation of White Coats by the students’ advisors, Blessing of the Hands led by University Minister Heather Daugherty and the reading of a Professional Oath.
Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy was well represented at the 2021 Educational Leadership Conference recently held in Atlanta, Georgia.
A collaborative effort of the APTA Academy of Education and American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT), the Conference is designed to excite, educate, invigorate and facilitate discussion among all stakeholders in physical therapy education. The conference seeks to provide opportunities to meet and engage in collegial discussions with physical therapy educators from across the country. This year’s theme was “Habits for the Development of an Impactful and Sustainable Future for All.”
Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Education at Belmont Dr. Gary Austin (pictured above) presented a poster on “Healthcare educator’s knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about pain” submitted by he and his co-authors Sue Curfman and Ryan McConnell.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond, many have felt the effects of self-isolation, as they stayed home to protect others. With the hope of spreading joy and a sense of togetherness, Belmont School of Physical Therapy Class of 2024 students teamed up with Lauren Scanlon, a geriatric certified specialist at Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute at Vanderbilt, to provide letters to senior adults as part of APTA’s 100 Days of Service.
Together, letters and artwork were crafted and sent to Letters Against Isolation, an organization that provides handwritten letters to residents of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities.
Associate Professor Christi Williams said, “This project served as a great way to get connected with the community and put a smile on someone’s face. Thank you to Pi Beta Phi for collaborating with our physical therapy students on such a thoughtful project. Spread joy and togetherness today and every day!”
For more information about the Letters Against Isolation organization, visit: https://www.lettersagainstisolation.com/
Dr. Mike Voight, professor in Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy, was recently accepted as one of the newest members of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). WAME began in 1995 as an association of editors of peer-reviewed medical journals from countries throughout the world who sought to facilitate worldwide cooperation and communication among editors of peer-reviewed medical journals.
Given the world-wide proliferation of predatory journals, the goal of WAME is to expand the voice and influence of medical editors to enhance the exchange of educational information, while at the same time improving editorial standards. Enhancing editorial standards helps to promote peer review as a vehicle for scientific discourse and enhance quality assurance in medical education. This in turn will help to achieve the highest level of ethical medical journalism.
The Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame this week inducted its 2020 and 2021 classes at a ceremony held in Belmont’s newly opened Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. The dual-year class is made up of 10 health care leaders and legends from across the state.
The Hall of Fame, which was created by Belmont University, Belmont’s McWhorter Society and the Nashville Health Care Council, seeks to recognize and honor the leaders that have formed Tennessee’s heath and health care community.
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College of Health Sciences and Nursing Dean and Professor Dr. Cathy Taylor recently served on the Chronic Disease Prevention Task Force for the State of Tennessee, spearheaded by Senator Rosalind Kurita. Taylor, along with two other experts, received an invitation from the Governor’s Office, in conjunction with the commissioner of health, to act as a subject matter expert to make recommendations for improving the health of Tennesseans.
Taylor and her team, which included Belmont public health students Genevieve Delano and Deviyani Bajpai, conducted online research and interviews to make recommendations to the task force. Despite the interruption of COVID-19 on the team’s research, Taylor and her team contributed to the final recommendation to allow local authorization to limit tobacco smoking and vaping in public spaces. The recommendation was passed into legislation by the 112th General Assembly.
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Dr. Mike Voight, professor in the School of Physical Therapy, was an invited speaker this past week at the 16th Annual University of Colorado Sports Medicine Fall Symposium.
This marks the second time Voight has spoken at this well-attended meeting for physicians and rehabilitation providers. The focus of this year’s meeting was the management of injuries to the lower quarter. In addition to serving as a panelist with other surgeons, Voight presented on multiple topics: “Return to play after non-operative and operative treatment to the knee;” “Rehabilitation following regenerative injections for the knee;” “Overview of the clinical examination of the hip;” and “Five keys to the successful management of core muscle injuries.”
In addition to in-person attendance at this meeting, there was also a large virtual audience participating. Following the meeting, Voight was a special guest at the Colorado Buffalo vs Texas A&M football game held the following day.
On July 13, the College of Health Sciences and Nursing hosted approximately 70 high school teachers and advisers for the Tennessee Career and Technical Education Conference. The participants rotated through demonstrations and presentations of each of the disciplines in the College of Health Sciences and Nursing, exposing them to the professions and giving them suggested activities to introduce their students to these careers.
In addition, this was an opportunity to showcase the Belmont facilities to teachers and advisers who will be working with high school students as they consider their college options.
The feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive, including “I have been going to this conference for years and this has been the best.” Many expressed interest in bringing their students to campus.
Belmont University has announced the sixth and seventh inductee classes of the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame. Because last year’s inductee class was not able to be recognized in person due to COVID-19, this year’s event will honor both the 2020 and 2021 classes at a ceremony on October 19.
With a mission to honor men and women who have made significant and lasting contributions to the health and health care industries, the Hall of Fame was created in 2015 by founding partners Belmont University, the McWhorter Society and the Nashville Health Care Council.
“Over the course of the past 18 months, the COVID-19 pandemic has refocused the spotlight on the health care industry and the important role health care professionals play in each of our lives,” said Belmont President Dr. L. Gregory Jones. “Now more than ever, we want to honor the leaders in this vital field, individuals who demonstrate the character, compassion and strength of purpose that quite literally transforms lives on a daily basis.”
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Dr. Teresa Plummer, associate professor in the School of Occupational Therapy, presented on her current research involving 40 international experts in the field of pediatric powered mobility entitled: Global Partnerships: Opportunities and Challenges: The development of a training guide for teaching infants how to use the Explorer Mini (a new powered mobility device for infants 12-36 months. She and co-researchers Feldner, Hendry and Leire have created an evidence-based guide for therapists and caregivers of children with mobility impairments.
Additionally, she co-presented a poster entitled: What if ‘Early’ Is Too Late? Supporting the Theoretical Perspective of On Time Mobility In Early Childhood Intervention.
The European Academy of Childhood Disabilities is an international forum for individuals interested in advocacy and research in conditions that affect infants and children.
On May 14-16, physical therapy students Ann Shikles and Marissa Arnerich participated in a Virtual Service Experience (VSE) in the Dominican Republic through a nonprofit organization called Here for Kids. Here for Kids aims to help at-risk children through sending teams of students and young adults to various locations throughout the world to share their sports and educational gifts. For this VSE, Here for Kids partnered with an organization called Kids Alive Dominican Republic.
Shikles and Arnerich worked with two sites in the Dominican Republic during their virtual service experience. These sites have both a children’s home and school associated with them that are run by Kids Alive. The students learned about the sites and the work they do there, took a virtual tour of the neighborhoods that house the sites and the sites themselves, and met with missionaries placed in the Dominican Republic.
Arnerich explained, “We also were able to virtually meet and play with the kids living in the children’s home at one of the sites. In addition to learning about our partner sites and organizations, we also learned a lot about each other through testimonies and devotionals. Together, we spoke about our faith journeys, reflected on the importance of service and what it truly means to serve, and how we as future physical therapists will be able to apply our hearts for service into our profession.”
Dr. Natalie Michaels, PT, EdD, professor in the occupational therapy department at Belmont University, has been named co-editor of the Journal of Aquatic Physical Therapy. This is the primary peer-reviewed journal of the Academy of Aquatic Physical Therapy, a section of the American Physical Therapy Association. Michaels will be serving in this capacity with Anita Van Wingerden from the School of Health Professions at Rutgers State University of New Jersey.
Dr. Michaels has been actively involved in aquatic physical therapy for many years. She was awarded the 2021 Richard Ruoti Research Award for Excellence at the 2021 Combined Sections Meeting and has published numerous articles in the field, ranging from the use of aquatic exercise for weight loss in older adults to the efficacy of activity monitors ion land and in the water. She is a recipient of the Hydroworx Research Grant and has served as a reviewer for the Journal of Aquatic Physical Therapy. She holds an Aquatic Clinical Competency Certificate through the Aquatic Section of the American Physical Therapy Association and an Aquatic Certification through the Aquatic Therapy and Rehabilitation Institute (ATRI).
New Belmont University President Dr. L. Gregory Jones isn’t easing into his new position. Rather, Dr. Jones—along with his wife, the Rev. Susan Pendleton Jones—is using his first day in office to make an immediate impact with campus and community leaders through a full day of meetings and conversations across the city, all introducing his theme for his inaugural year, “Let Hope Abound.”
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On April 24, Dr. Mike Voight from Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy gave the 5th Annual James R. Andrews Endowed Lectureship in Sports Medicine at Tulane University Institute of Sports Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Along with Dr. Thomas Byrd, Voight presented a course on The Hip: A Comprehensive Course on Evaluation, Surgery and Rehabilitation of the Athletes Hip. Given in a hybrid in-person/online event, Chief of Orthopedics at Tulane Medical School Dr. Felix Savoie and the incoming President of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery welcomed approximately 500 clinicians to learn more about the implementation of cutting-edge conservative and surgical techniques associated with the athlete’s hip. Dr. Voight presented on the modern philosophies on rehabilitation of the hip from both a conservative and post-operative perspective.
Occupational Therapy Associate Professor Dr. Teresa Plummer, PhD, OTR/L,ATP, CEAS, CAPS is presenting a series of lectures in South America via zoom. She will present a weekly series in May regarding pediatric mobility. Having postponed this lecture series for 2 years, the decision to go virtual will be a bonus to South American occupational and physical therapists, allowing professionals from Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chili, Argentina and Columbia to attend.
Translated in Portuguese and Spanish, more than 150 therapists participate in this five-week educational series. Topics include “the relationship of vision, posture and mobility,” “the importance of on-time mobility” and “visual deficits and treatment.” This evidence-based education is particularly helpful to therapists in areas hit hard by the pandemic like Brazil as it helps them maintain current clinical practice.
On April 19, students from Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy volunteered for the First Annual Tracy Lawrence Mission Possible Celebrity Golf Shootout to benefit the Nashville Rescue Mission. Students along with their faculty advisor Dr. Mike Voight arrived early in the morning to help set up the guest registration area and prepared the on-course refreshment stations. Shortly thereafter, 30 teams of golfers along with more than 40 celebrities from stage and screen began arriving for a day of golf and fellowship.
During the event, many of the students served as marshals / witnesses for various on-course challenges that included cars/trucks for a hole-in-one as well as a final shootout for $150,000 in cash. The day finished up with an informal acoustic concert given by the various musical celebrities who had participated during the day.
At the end of the day, the real winner of the day was the Nashville Rescue Mission as more than $225,0000 was raised to help feed the homeless. Tracey Lawrence, Kid Rock and PGA tour player John Daly all publicly praised the students and personally thanked them for their help in making this event a success and have already begun planning for a bigger and better event next year.
In April, second-year students in the Belmont Doctor of Physical Therapy program volunteered to construct a wheelchair accessible ramp on the home of a community member in need who uses a power wheelchair. The previous ramp was not built to ADA-compliant regulations and was too steep and slippery when wet, creating a hazard when leaving the home. The students performed well under pressure and completed the project quickly during the community member’s doctor appointment so as not to be an inconvenience.
The ramp build is an annual project between second-year DPT students and United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee. This year’s ramp build was coordinated by Dr. Cathey Norton, assistant professor in the School of Physical Therapy at Belmont. During the course of the project, 21 students with a range of talents and experience came together to run power saws and nail guns to complete the ramp in five hours, with careful monitoring from Professor Dr. Renee Brown.
Due to the rapid shift to remote learning last spring, this project became a casualty of the pandemic. This was a welcome opportunity to get back out and serve the community.
Belmont University announced today that its new College of Medicine, first announced last October, will be named in honor of health care icon Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Jr., co-founder of HCA Healthcare. In addition to its name, the Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont University enjoys strong ties with HCA Healthcare, whose Nashville-based TriStar Health will provide residencies and clinical rotations for students of the college.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “We have exceedingly high aspirations for this new College of Medicine. We know that we will have to earn a world-class reputation over time, but we intend to deliver a world-class learning environment beginning on day one with outstanding faculty, staff, students, physical resources and clinical experiences. It’s been said that a good name is more valuable than anything else, and the name ‘Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine’ signals our determination to create an innovative, entrepreneurial approach to compassionate, patient-centered care that will settle for nothing less than the very best. We are deeply honored by the trust that Dr. Frist has shown in us by linking his name with our College of Medicine, and we are committed to build on the legacy of Dr. Frist and his fellow HCA Healthcare co-founders Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Sr. and Mr. Jack Massey.”
Jessica Smith, a current 3rd year student in the Belmont Physical Therapy program, has been awarded the Belmont University Graduate Student Scholarship Award. The Award recognizes an exceptional student within all Belmont University graduate programs distinguished through outstanding academic performance as demonstrated through a consistent pattern of academic success coupled with the production of original scholarly research, writing, creative output and/or performance, as appropriate to the student’s discipline and graduate degree. This award is conferred in recognition of the recipient’s capacity to engage with insight, integrity, diligence, creativity, and reflection in professional activity relevant to the graduate degree sought, while demonstrating habits of mind reflective of open-mindedness, maturity, and generosity essential to becoming an inspiring professional in his or her chosen career path.
Jessica has gone above and beyond in her research efforts, and has served as a leader and inspiration in the area of scholarship within the DPT program. As part of the requirements for the physical therapy program, students are placed in groups of 4-5 to conduct their research. The students then develop their review of literature, research question(s), determine the best methods to address their question(s), collect and analyze their data and then present their data at our research symposium, held in the fall semester of their third year. All of this work has to be performed at the same time the students are taking their course work (average of 20 hours per semester) throughout the program. Students are connected with a faculty research mentor for their projects, and in this case, Smith worked extensively with Dr. Kevin Robinson, PT, DSc, OCS, on data collection related to the Nashville Ballet.
Dr. Robinson notes, “I have been working with the Nashville Ballet for the past 6 years, studying ways to identify performers who are at risk for musculoskeletal injuries during the course of their season. Jess was the lead member of her group. As the lead member, she took on the responsibilities of coordinating the data collection with the dancers and the Ballet staff, analyzing the 3 dimensional data and strength data that was collected, and she was the lead editor of the group paper.”
In an email to current and incoming students on April 6, Belmont University announced plans to return to in-person classes this fall following more than a year of a combination of in-person, remote and hybrid courses due to the impact of the worldwide pandemic.
“We are nearing the conclusion of what has been one of the most unique and challenging years for our campus community and for higher education in general,” said Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher. “Thanks to the vaccine rollout and improving trends related to COVID data, we have every reason to be optimistic about providing a more traditional learning and living experience on campus this fall. And most importantly, the outstanding leadership of our Health Services team and truly extraordinary cooperative spirit and actions demonstrated by our students, faculty and staff this past year have shown our commitment to living together in community.”
Campus leaders will continue to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and shift or evolve plans as needed based on trends and insights from local, state and federal public health officials. In addition, the University will implement recommended protocols as needed to ensure the health and safety of the campus community.
At this point, the campus expects to operate in-person classes at full or near-full capacity with more robust campus life experiences in place, including in person meetings, events and activities. The University is also making plans for a traditional fall schedule, allowing for observance of traditional holidays and Fall Break.
Belmont’s Spring 2021 semester concludes over the next two weeks with final class meetings and exams. The University will be hosting four separate, socially distanced in-person commencement ceremonies to honor graduates on April 22-23.
Gail Bursch, professor in Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy, was recently presented with the 2021 Hall of Fame Award from the American Physical Therapy Association of Tennessee. The award is granted to an APTA TN member who has a minimum of 25 years of continuous contribution to APTA TN as a clinician, educator, clinical educator or a combination of these roles.
Previously, Bursch became a national trainer for the APTA Credentialed Client Instructor Program and has taught more than fifty clinical instructor credentialing courses.
The recipient must also have a history of service to the APTA TN Board of Directors, contributions to the growth of the profession through the formal state, national or international presentations and demonstrated exceptional contributions to APTA TN and the profession.
Dr. Lorry Liotta-Kleinfeld, Professor of Occupational Therapy at Belmont, served as a collaborator on the 2020 Tennessee Men’s Health Report Card. Vanderbilt University Center for Research on Men’s Health recently released its 5th health report card filled with data to guide policy and practice for the improvement of men’s health.In a video issued with the press release of the health report, Dr. Derek Griffith, director of Vanderbilt’s Center for Research on Men’s Health, shared that “the report card is meant to stimulate conversations, efforts, policies and practices to improve men’s health, not to just sit on the shelf.” He closes by sharing the goal of the report card is to recognize men’s health in addition to family members and other members of the Nashville community.
Dr. Liotta-Kleinfeld, who has served on the advisory board for the last three report cards, shared how hopeful she was that “the report card findings will be carefully considered and will lead to action planning and continued implementation of strategies to promote men’s health.” She emphasized the vital role that students who are enrolled in health-related fields play in promoting health in the future.
The report card, although focused on men’s health, also provides general information to the public on how to support the health and wellness of everyone. Read some of the key findings here.
Photo from VUMC Voice by Donn Jones
Vanderbilt University Medical Center recently honored Belmont DPT alumna Grace Cronin with their Credo Award which recognizes an employee who provides excellence in healthcare, research and education; who treats others as we wish to be treated; and who continuously evaluates and improves their performance.
Dr. Cronin graduated from Belmont’s DPT program in 2016 and then completed the Pediatrics Residency offered jointly by Vanderbilt and Belmont in 2017. Her residency led to a position in Pediatric Rehabilitation Services for Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt as a physical therapist with a specialty in pediatric oncology, where she now serves with distinction.
Dr. Gary Austin, Chair of Belmont University School of Physical Therapy, acknowledged, “For years, we have touted ‘our students and our graduates are our credentials’ and Dr. Cronin is a true representative of that ideal.”
You won’t want to miss the story and video linked here by the VUMC Voice which highlights Dr. Cronin’s exemplary service.
