By Ryan Clark
CHS Communications Director

Students and faculty from the College of Health Sciences attended the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists Annual Conference in St. Louis, October 26-29.

Charles Hazle, Jr., PT, PhD and associate professor in CHS' Department of Physical Therapy, and 13 students attended the prestigious conference, where some even made a presentation entitled "Diagnostic and Procedural Imaging Curricula in Physical Therapist Professional Degree Programs: Current Status."

"Since 2015, AAOMPT has exclusively used University of Kentucky students as their volunteers in assisting for the conference — and there are over 300 PT programs in the country," Hazle said. 

"It was great! Bryson McKee, Rebecca Watts and myself were actually able to present at the conference on the behalf of Dr. Charles Hazle and Dr. Bill Boissonnault, who is emeritus faculty from the University of Wisconsin-Madsion," said Trent Letcher, a PT student from the Class of 2024 based on the Hazard campus. "It was a great experience to be able to learn from so many of the people that are referenced on the articles that we use in class. I am very thankful for the opportunity!"

"The AAOMPT conference provided us with invaluable learning opportunities from some of the best in the business," said Jared Golden, a PT student from the Class of 2024. "We were able to network with many great clinicians and educators to further enhance our field of PT knowledge. The lectures and material presented were very reinforcing to our the material we have learned in the program thus far so that was very encouraging."

"I had a wonderful experience at AAOMPT," said Kristin Meece, a 3rd-year DPT student from the Hazard campus. "I felt welcomed by everyone in attendance and got a chance to take my manual skills to the next level. I sat in on new research by some of the biggest names in physical therapy and had amazing networking opportunities."


The students who attended were:

• Jared Golden
• Trent Letcher
• Rebecca Watts
• Bryson McKee
• Emily Bennett
• Ellie Jury
• Katie Crabtree
• Kristin Meece
• Hannah Young
• Casey Skeens
• Sidney Rudd
• Hannah Cleveland
• Natalie Kleier