Physical Therapy, Class of 1997

What is your current title

Associate Professor and  Program Director, University of South Carolina Physical Therapy Program, Department of Exercise Science.

What are your primary responsibilities?

Ensuring DPT student education is of high quality; day-to-day business of keeping DPT program going and excelling; providing leadership and voice to DPT program and faculty at school and university level: teaching DPT students: running research lab (writing grant proposals, collecting data, publishing, mentoring PhD students).

Why did you choose the UK College of Health Sciences for your studies?

I was an undergraduate at the University of Kentucky and was very interested in physical therapy early on in my college career. It was a natural fit for me to apply to and attend the Physical Therapy program at UK CHS.  

Do you have any concerns about your current field? What are they?

With the changes in health care, all health-related fields are at a dangerous precipice. I think this is our time as physical therapists to make sure both the community and the policy makers know the importance of PT. I also think PT needs to continue to fight to be frontline practitioners, to be the “go-to” profession for not only neuromuscular problems but for prevention.

What do you hope to accomplish in your new position?

To improve on an already excellent DPT program, to produce quality practitioners and quality future faculty.  

Do you have any advice for students interested in the PT field?

Remember: "If exercise were a pill, it would be the most widely prescribed medication in the world.”