PT Professor Mike Voight recently gave a keynote address to over 100 medical clinicians in Dublin, Ireland on the topic of Golf Fitness. Pictured with Dr. Voight are Lance Gill, Head Athletic Trainer for Titleist Golf Company, and Padraigh Harrington, three time major champion and past PGA player of the year and currently ranked in the top 10 players in the world.
Category Archives: School of Physical Therapy
From third-year PT student Ann Howard. . . .
Hello from Jackson, Mississippi!
Wow! I cannot believe that the second of our four 8-week clinical rotations is soon coming to a close. I am definitely sad to leave Mississippi Methodist Rehabilitation Center (MMRC), but excited about the knowledge and relationships gained from an incredible clinical experience working with patients who have suffered spinal cord injuries. This rotation has truly been life-changing! Patients in rehab facilities require physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual therapy. I am so grateful that MMRC encourages this type of care. I also have enjoyed and learned from the team approach involved at MMRC including the physicians, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, recreational therapists, speech therapists, respiratory therapists, and neuropsychologists.
At MMRC, the therapeutic recreational therapists provide many opportunities to take patients on “outings” when they are medically stable. Last week, my clinical instructor and I had joined the recreational therapist and two of our patients on a “movie theater outing”. Through this, I’ve seen how extremely important it is to provide these patients with the motivation they need to regain experience in the environment. You could see it on the patients’ faces how excited they were to be outside of the hospital and enjoying life again! What a blessing it has been to work in this field of physical therapy!
From third-year PT student Stacey Apple. . . . .
Greetings from Virginia Beach!
The first clinical of the third year is already half way over! I am currently working in an outpatient neurological rehabilitation center. It is completely different from any setting I have been exposed to thus far. The clinic consists mainly of patients who have had strokes; however, there are currently additional diagnoses including traumatic brain injury, amputee, and spinal cord injury. Every patient comes to “Day Rehab” for 6 hours a day for intensive therapy. Each patient must qualify for at least two out of the three disciplines offered: physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. I have been very fortunate to gain experience working in a clinic that focuses on a team approach to therapy. A speech therapy student and I just had the opportunity to plan a Super Bowl party for the patients incorporating therapeutic activities and, of course, football. It was not all work for the patients though. The halftime show of karaoke was a huge hit!
The clinic has recently purchased a Wii system and a Wii balance board to be used during therapy. Therefore, I have logged many hours on the Wii and the WiiFit finding different ways to incorporate all three disciplines into “Wii-habilitation” and choose activities appropriate for each individual patient to present as an inservice to the clinic. Who would have ever thought that a patient with a spinal cord injury could sit on the balance board, and his weight shifting could be tracked the same way an ambulatory patient would? It has been a wonderful experience using a commercially available technology to train my patients and find new, entertaining approaches to therapy.
College of Health Sciences to host civil rights pioneer, Fred Gray
Noted Civil Rights attorney and minister Fred Gray will appear on Belmont’s campus on Wed., Jan. 20 for a special forum and lecture. Gray—the former attorney for Rosa Parks, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study victims—will discuss “Lessons Learned from a Civil Rights Pioneer about Health, Social Justice and Christian Service.” This morning-long event is free and open to the public, courtesy of financial assistance provided by the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee. Both the forum and the lecture will take place in Belmont’s Massey Performing Arts Center.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “It’s a distinct honor to welcome Fred Gray to Belmont’s campus, especially during the week when our nation celebrates the accomplishments of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights movement. At Belmont we encourage our students to use their gifts and talents to impact the world. There are few better examples of individuals who have accomplished that mission than Fred Gray.”
The event will begin with an 8:30 a.m. panel discussion featuring Gray along with the following special guests:
• Dr. Henry Foster, Jr., professor emeritus and former dean of the Meharry College School of Medicine and nominee for U.S. Surgeon General under President Bill Clinton
• Dwight Lewis, columnist and member of the editorial board for The Tennessean
• John Seigenthaler, founding editorial director of USA Today, founder of the First Amendment Center and award-winning journalist who briefly left his career in the 1960s to work in the civil rights field.
Following a 20-minute intermission at the conclusion of the panel forum, Gray will return for a keynote lecture at 10 a.m. His presentation will conclude with a question-and-answer session.
Tommy Thompson Diagnoses the Healthcare Debate
Article from Nashville Medical News
Politics in Play
Tommy Thompson, four-term Governor of Wisconsin and former Secretary of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, recently painted a scenario of political intrigue filled with back room bargaining and deal-making worthy of the latest political best seller. However, he wasn’t speaking of a fictional thriller but of the real life maneuvers that will be necessary to get a healthcare reform bill out of Congress.
Speaking at Belmont University a week before Thanksgiving, he predicted that Congress would pass a new, comprehensive healthcare bill, but not without some Congressional arm twisting, “and a lot of shootouts and deal cutting” before reaching a “cantankerous” compromise.
“The president wants the healthcare bill out. Nancy Pelosi wants it out. Harry Reid wants it out,” he explained, of the push to move quickly. Thompson added that, for Democrats, the specter of “what happened in 1994 with the Clintons’ attempt at healthcare reform hangs over their heads.”
The briefing, part of Belmont University’s continuing speaker series, Diagnosing Our Future, was held at the university’s Gordon E. Inman Center.
Belmont PT Grad featured in East Tennessee Newspaper Story
Belmont alumna Erin Cook was featured in her hometown newspaper, The Elizabethton Star, for her work in the Sports Residency Program at Physical Therapy Services in Elizabethton, Tenn. Cook, who received her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Belmont in 2009, is preparing to take the Certified Sports Physical Therapy Specialty exam. Cook is currently working with with Dr. Danny Smith, a Belmont adjunct professor, and his son Dr. Justin Smith, a 2006 graduate of Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy.
Belmont PT Students Host Sports Day for Empower Me Day Camp
The students of Belmont’s DPT Class of 2010 recently put on a Sports Day for kids with special needs at the Wilson County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, TN. Empower Me Day Camp, which is a summer camp for kids with special needs that is held at the fairgrounds during the summer, also hosts activities throughout the year including Sports Day, Christmas Camp, and Spring Break Camp.
About twenty kids total attended the camp and enjoyed various activities ranging from kickball to mummy wrapping both students and kids alike in toilet paper. The kids also participated in bowling games, monster musical walk (a Halloween spinoff of musical chairs), a “witch witch ghost” version of duck duck goose, and playing parachute games with a full size parachute. The kids also got to dress up in costumes of different hats, tiaras, sunglasses, and beads and walk through a curtain of streamers where bubbles were being blown around them as they then participated in a bean bag toss into pumpkin and ghost cutouts. They also had the chance to get a little messy by having to find “eyeballs” (or grapes) in bowls of marshmallows, flour, rice, and spaghetti. Finally the kids participated in an arts and crafts activity in which they designed and decorated their own paper plate masks with feathers, cotton balls, construction paper, markers, crayons, and stickers.
At the end of the day each of the kids received a special award certificate for an activity that they did exceptionally well at. All in all, both the Belmont students and kids alike really enjoyed this special Halloween themed Sports Day and made memories that will last for a long time.
In Tommy Thompson’s scenario, health reform passes this year
From Erin Lawley of the Nashville Post. . . .
In a lively presentation at Belmont University Monday afternoon, Former U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson discussed the potential future of health reform legislation currently before Congress.
Thompson said he expects a bill will be on President Obama’s desk before Christmas. That bill will include a public option, health insurance exchanges, taxes for people who make more than $200,000 per year, taxes on so-called “Cadillac” health plans, and employer credits for wellness and prevention programs.
Click here to read the full article.
Where in the World is Mike Voight?
PT Professor Mike Voight serves in a variety of consulting roles for businesses and organizations which provides opportunity for him to travel the world and meet fascinating people. Where has he been lately? The answer – Madrid, Spain.
Dr. Voight was one of two keynote speakers at XI Jornadas Nacionales y Internacional de Fisioterapia held in Madrid, Spain recently. The event was held in conjunction with the Spanish Olympic Committee and hosted at their National headquarters. The topic of his presentation was Current Concepts in Hip Pathology. In addition, Dr. Voight was also a guest of the Spanish Soccer Federation and the Real Madrid Football club and spent time in their facilities.
4 of The 14 Best Jobs in America
Money magazine recently published a list of The 50 Best Jobs in America which bodes well for graduates of the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing. Four of the top 14 jobs were careers for which our students are preparing. The 4th best job in America was a Nurse Practitioner. At #7 was a Physical Therapist. At #13 was a Pharmacist. And at #14 was an Occupational Therapist. With doctoral programs in Physical Therapy, Pharmacy and Occupational Therapy, and master’s programs in Family Nurse Practitioner and Occupational Therapy, Belmont is well positioned to prepare students for some of the best jobs in the 21st century.
In the companion lists to The 50 Best Jobs in America, Physical Therapist was ranked as the 8th best position for job growth with a 27% increase in opportunities expected during the next 10 years for 181,000 total jobs. Physical Therapist was ranked 2nd for low stress with 59.5% of those surveyed saying their job is low stress. Occupational Therapist was ranked 9th for low stress with 50% saying their job is low stress. 97.3% of those nurse practitioners surveyed said their job was secure ranking Nurse Practioner as the 4th best for job security. Physical Therapist also made the job security list at #8 with 96% saying their job is secure. Nurse Practitioner was #7 on the list for future job growth and #6 on the list for job satisfaction. Occupational Therapist came in at #10 for job satisfaction. And finally, Nurse Practioner was ranked as 9th best for those who think their job makes the world a better place.
See more at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/2009/.
PT Students Hear from Amputees
from Ashley Vidrine, PT Class of 2011
Second year physical therapy students recently participated in a prosthetics lab in which local amputees volunteered their time to come in and talk about their conditions. The class was able to perform an evaluation and get an understanding about what it’s like to live with a prosthetic limb. Earlier this year, the class also participated in a disability project in which everyone was to spend 4 hours in a wheel chair. Students got a taste of what it feels like to be a disabled person in public, and experiences were shared in class. It was a learning experience that most won’t soon forget.
Tommy Thompson to Speak at Belmont
Former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, will be on campus Monday, November 16, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. for a Healthcare Reform Briefing: How Will Reform Impact Providers, Payors and Individuals? An RSVP is required, but admission is free compliments of Medical Reimbursements of America, who is co-sponsoring this event with Clayton Associates, the Nashville Health Care Council, and the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing. The lecture is part of the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing Diagnosing Our Future Speaker Series.
Look on the Speaker Series webpage for upcoming presentations in the speaker series with Fred Gray on January 20, 2010 and Dr. David Williams on March 25, 2010.
Belmont Tops Out New Health Science Building, Home for Schools of Pharmacy and Physical Therapy Ceremony celebrates completion of $30 million building’s frame
Nearly one year after breaking ground, Belmont University celebrated the “topping out” its new $30 million health sciences building last week, which will serve as the future home for the School of Pharmacy, a Belmont program which welcomed its second class this fall. The building, which has an anticipated completion date of June 2010, will also house the School of Physical Therapy and will include expansion space for the Schools of Nursing and Occupational Therapy as well as the Social Work and Psychology programs. (Click here to view a photo of gallery of the event.)
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “In addition to providing a time to celebrate and thank all the workers behind this immense project, a topping out is also a time to look forward to when this structure is complete. This building will be a model, 21st century academic facility, providing a venue where our students and faculty resources can intersect in service to help meet the medical needs of our community and our world.”
PT alum named an Emerging Leader
Cara Felter, a 2004 DPT graduate of the School of Physical Therapy at Belmont University, has been named as an Emerging Leader by the American Physical Therapy Association.
Felter was recognized in the October 2009 issue of PTinmotion Magazine with the following tribute: “Cara Felter, PT, DPT, is a senior physical therapist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute International Center for Spinal Cord Injury, in Baltimore, Maryland. Also a Brain Injury Specialist certified by the Brain Injury Association of America, she has a passion for working with individuals with brain and spinal cord injuries. Felter, who joined APTA in 2001, has been a member of the APTA Neurology Section since 2005. A former member of the Tennessee Physical Therapy Association, she is a current member of the APTA of Maryland, where she serves on the Continuing Education Committee and is being mentored to become the director of education. Felter expects to complete her Master of Public Health degree at The Johns Hopkins University in December 2009. In addition to her APTA activities, Felter raises dogs that are trained to help people with disabilities.”
In relating her honor to the School of Physical Therapy, Felter provided the following comments: “When Belmont says, ‘From here to anywhere,’ they really mean it. My education in the Belmont DPT program prepared me academically and clinically. My professors challenged me to think analytically and use research to guide clinical decision making. They also encouraged me to get involved in the APTA as a means of protecting and promoting my profession. I could not have asked for better mentors on the path to becoming a physical therapist.”
PT Students Pitch In for Dierks Bentley’s Miles & Music for Kids
Professor Mike Voight reports. . . .
During the October celebration of national physical therapy month, approximately 100 Belmont University Physical Therapy students and faculty volunteered their time to assist with the organization and on-site operation for the 4th annual “Dierks Bentley Miles & Music for Kids” charity motorcycle ride and concert to benefit Vanderbilt’s Children Hospital. The ride took place on October 11th when thousands of leather-wearing folks gathered on their ‘hogs’ to ride along-side Dierks Bentley for his annual Miles and Music for Kids. Starting off at the Cool Springs Harley Davidson in Franklin, TN; the ride wound its way through the Natchez Trace down to Riverfront Park downtown Nashville. There, Dierks was joined by some his best celebrity buds to entertain the masses … literally THOUSANDS of people all to raise money for Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.
PT Graduate Chosen as Outstanding Young Alumna from APSU
Dr. Bethany McKinney Froboese, a 2003 graduate of Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy, has been chosen as an Outstanding Young Alumna by her undergraduate alma mater, Austin Peay State University. The award recognizes her contribution to APSU as a volunteer. Froboese will be honored with other alumni award recipients during homecoming festivities at the end of October.
After receiving her Doctor of Physical Therapy from Belmont, Froboese took a job as a physical therapist with Inmotion Rehabilitation. Three year later, she joined Premier Medical Group and, in 2007, she found her current position as a physical therapist with Tennessee Orthopeadic Alliance.
Froboese is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and the Tennessee Physical Therapy Association and is a Susan G. Komen lymphedema treatment provider. She is a certified Lymphedema therapist, a certified clinical instructor and a certified sole supports provider.
Her volunteer work also extends into her community, such as assisting in a one-day teaching experience for Clarksville-Montgomery County School System anatomy and physiology AP classes about physical therapy and physiological principles used for her profession.
Gov. Bredesen, U.S. Rep. Cooper Lead Healthcare Conversation at Belmont
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and U.S. Representative Jim Cooper provided the keynote addresses for “Diagnosing Our Future,” the inaugural presentation in Belmont University’s Gordon E. Inman College of Health Science & Nursing Speaker Series. The event was held on October 13 in the Frist Lecture Hall in the Inman Center on Belmont University’s campus.
The theme of the speaker series, “Diagnosing Our Future,” reflects the call to collaboratively advance new ideas to improve healthcare and healthy living for future generations. The purpose of the series is to connect these ideas with the greater community of Nashville and Middle Tennessee and with students in Belmont’s health science programs who are preparing to serve society as physical therapists, pharmacists, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, occupational therapists, and social workers.
Belmont Board Member R. Clayton McWhorter receives award for service
R. Clayton McWhorter has been named the recipient of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s 16th annual Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award. McWhorter, a businessman and former health-care professional, serves as chairman of the board for PharmMD, and he is on the board of trustees for Belmont University.
Gail Bursch review of new book by Jill Bolte Taylor
Book Review of My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD
published in The Art of Teaching
reviewed by Gail Bursch, Belmont University School of Physical Therapy
In the midst of beginning another hectic school year, take a deep breath and a moment to imagine the consequences of suddenly having a stroke or traumatic brain injury. Consider the misfortune of a successful neuroscientist, who taught Harvard medical students and conducted research at the Brain Bank, having a massive stroke at the age of 37. After surviving a massive bleed in the left hemisphere of her brain, Dr. Jill Taylor wondered if she would be able to speak again, to walk again and would they take her PhD away?
The ways in which Jill connected with the outside world for help during the four hours her brain was hemorrhaging is an amazing story. Because the left hemisphere contains the speech and language centers, she could not speak intelligibly nor recognize phone numbers. Each normal function shut down one by one as the bleed progressed. The curious neuroscientist in her monitored the details; overcoming the fear and desire to succumb to a peaceful death. Jill described the loss of her ‘brain chatter’, which refers to the left brain monitoring time and details, categorizing everything so that we can make sense of the world. With the left brain injured, her right brain became dominant resulting in silent euphoria and feeling at one with the universe.
Congressman Cooper’s Chief of Staff visits College
Lisa Quigley, Chief of Staff for Congressman Jim Cooper, recently visited the College. Pictured here from left to right are Ms. Quigley; Christopher Coates, President & CEO of American Seniors Foundation; Beth Williams, Simulation Assistant; Jack Williams, Dean of the College; Phil Johnston, Dean of the School of Pharmacy; and Joy Cook, Adjunct Professor of Nursing.
PT Student Develops Equipment Innovations for Amputees
Dr. Chad Hobbs, an August 2009 Physical Therapy graduate, received a Special Recognition award last week for his work in developing equipment innovations for amputees. As part of his clinical education experience, Hobbs worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Amputee Center in Washington, D.C., where he created a glove for an amputee who had lost a portion of his hand and elliptical foot plates for lower extremity amputees.
In his recognition at the School of Physical Therapy Hooding Ceremony, Professor and Associate Dean of Physical Therapy Dr. John Halle introduced Hobbs, noting, “As an inventor and entrepreneur, he exhibits a collaborative and humble spirit that facilitates working with other health care providers and patients. He has developed collaborative devices with two clinical instructors, a faculty member and with patients. He has eight products that are in the final stages for marketing and four more products in development. Additionally, he has taken his products and combined them with existing health care products to develop a company that can meet patients’ needs with ‘one stop shopping’ at a reduced cost.”
PT Faculty Awarded by Susan G. Komen Foundation
Belmont Physical Therapy faculty Renee Brown, PT, PhD, worked with two Vanderbilt faculty members on a project which was awarded $75,000 from the Susan G Komen Foundation, Greater Nashville. The project is titled “Transitioning from cancer patient to survivor: physical and functional considerations after breast cancer for primary care providers and survivors.” This project will focus on educating primary care providers about long term physical and functional problems after breast cancer as well as providing them with education materials to provide their patients.
Frist Advocates for ‘Hope Through Healing Hands’
Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., made a special appearance on campus recently to speak on “Hope Through Healing Hands,” his global health initiative that strives to change the world through raising awareness and taking action against global disease, extreme poverty and other health-related issues.
Frist’s talk focused on his medical mission work in Africa over the past decade and how that work inspired him to found Hope Through Healing Hands, an organization that seeks to use health “as a currency for peace.” He spoke of Lui, Sudan, a village he’s visited frequently that’s located 500 miles west of the Nile.
“What started as American medical volunteers operating on a single patient in an abandoned school house grew to a hospital that now sees 40,000 patients each year from hundreds of miles around with 60 Sudanese workers… People say in Africa there’s no hope, there’s nothing we can do. But we can make a difference.”
Frist advocated that Americans’ work in Africa is not only the morally right thing to do, but it also makes this nation safer. “You don’t go to war with someone who has saved the life of your child.”
Quoting from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Frist concluded by reminding his audience of the inextricable connections that exist throughout the worldwide community. “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
For more information, visit www.hopethroughhealinghands.org.
Safely Home
2009 Mission Trip to Guatemala
The Team arrived back in Nashville safe and sound in the early hours of Sunday morning. We had a fabulous trip. We are grateful for all the prayers and support and well wishes throughout the trip. We were so blessed by the experience and hope that we were able to contribute to the people of Guatemala in some small way.
Saying Hasta Luega
2009 Mission Trip to Guatemala
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We went back to the hospital on Friday morning to say goodbye to the staff. We had the opportunity to see the children again and help with their treatments. The OTs had an interesting experience. In Guatemala, when it is someone’s birthday, they set off firecrackers. So, Friday must have been someone’s birthday because firecrackers went off close to the OT room, but the OT students thought it was gun fire and they all “hit the deck”. After they realized that it was firecrackers, the staff and the students all had a good laugh! After that, the OT students and staff discussed the similarities and differences in their schooling and professional careers. They talked about using their resources and being creative to make whatever they need for therapy without funding.
The PTs treated some of the patients again, and then had a “goodbye” party with their new amigas and colleagues. They made traditional Guatemalan snack for us: tostadas. Our speech therapist, Gwen, fed a baby who was usually taking an hour and a half to eat. With Gwen’s help, the baby was eating in 20 minutes. The mother was so grateful! It was a great morning.
In the afternoon, we went to Antigua for “retail therapy” (tourism). Finally, we went to the Casa Santa Domingo for dinner. This restaurant is inside the monastery and hotel, where you must make reservations a year in advance to stay there. It was a perfect end to a beautiful week!
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