������Ƶ’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program made an exceptional showing at the 2025 Education and Leadership Conference (ELC) of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), in Kansas City, Missouri, showcasing the university’s strong presence in physical therapy education and research.

Representing ������Ƶ’s DPT program were Assistant Professor Jack Magill G’14,��Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Education Christopher Scott G’17,��Assistant Professor Megan Kim,��and Associate Professor Melissa H. Scales

Magill and Scott delivered a platform presentation titled “Temporal Proximity to Didactic Instruction Predicts Post-Clinical Musculoskeletal Knowledge, Independent of Clinical Instructor Characteristics.” Their work, conducted with ������Ƶ DPT students, explored innovative insights into how the timing of coursework influences clinical knowledge retention, underscoring ������Ƶ’s commitment to evidence-based education.

Kim, one of the program’s newest faculty members who joined in summer 2025, also presented a platform presentation titled “Use of Acute Care Virtual Simulation to Affect Interprofessional Attitudes in First-Year DPT Students.” Her research highlights the growing emphasis on simulation and interprofessional education in the health sciences.

The conference also featured an impressive contingent of ������Ƶ DPT alumni contributing to the national dialogue in physical therapy education.

• Andrea Attori G’11, assistant professor at Lincoln Memorial University participated in the conference.
• Dana Tischler G’10, associate professor at the New England Institute of Technology presented the poster “From Concept to Practice: Developing and Implementing an Interprofessional Simulation Case for Collaborative Healthcare Training.”
• Tiffany Adams��G’10, assistant professor at Duke University, presented a poste,r “Perspectives of Clinical Education Faculty about Professionalism in Physical Therapist Students” and led an Education Section session titled “In a World of Uncertainty, Structural Competency Brings a Clear Path to Health Equity.”
• Jodi Miller ’07, founder of Clinical Connections Mentoring, presented the Education Session “Thriving not Just Surviving: Student Success in a Hybrid, Accelerated Doctor of Physical Therapy Program.”
• Tim Miller ’07, director of Strategic Distance Education at Rehab Essentials, Inc. was also in attendance, representing another ������Ƶ graduate engaged in advancing the profession.

This remarkable participation by ������Ƶ faculty and alumni demonstrates the university’s continued leadership in physical therapy education, scholarship, and innovation.

This virtual conference brings a multidisciplinary group of researchers and clinicians together to study and share knowledge of human movement, most specifically gait. Her presentation was titled, “Immediate and six-week effects of using carbon fiber footplates on gait in children with idiopathic toe-walking.”

Idiopathic toe-walking is a condition hallmarked by a child walking habitually on their toes without an explanatory neurological diagnosis. It is difficult to treat. Children who walk on their toes can have pain in their feet, tight calf muscles, and changes in the bony structure of their feet. Children who toe-walk may require physical therapy, to wear orthotics, or at worst case, surgery. Carbon fiber footplates are a minimally researched intervention. They are stiff metal plates that are placed under the insoles of the child’s shoes which do not allow the child to rise up on their toes if the shoes are tied snugly.

Using an instrumented Zeno walkway system in the Biomechanics Laboratory at ������Ƶ’s Francis Center, children who toe-walk walked with and without the carbon fiber footplates and their walking was compared. The Zeno Electronic Walkway is used to study walking in multiple different patient types within the Francis Center. “The Zeno is akin to walking on butcher paper with ink on your feet, with the computer calculating walking speed, the distance between legs and steps, how much of the foot touches the ground, and much more,” Scales said.

Preliminary data appears to be positive that carbon fiber footplates increase the foot area that contacts the floor of the child that has idiopathic toe-walking, and the timing of walking significantly changes to be more similar to the timing of a typically walking child. A six-week trial of the carbon fiber footplates did not lead to significant changes in walking, but the footplate wear times were greatly varied for each child and the number of participants who completed the six-week intervention were few.

Scales and Vallabhajosula worked with Doctor of Physical Therapy students to collect data for this ongoing study. If you know a child or adult who walks on their toes without cause from a neurological diagnosis, ������Ƶ’s Department of Physical Therapy Education would be interested to work with them.

​Students and faculty from the ������Ƶ School of Health Sciences recently spent time providing medical services at , a pro bono medical clinic in the Toledo District of Belize.

Melissa Scales, assistant professor in the ������Ƶ Physical Therapy program, provided physical therapy services and education, and four students in ������Ƶ’s Physician Assistant Studies program — Hajar Sakhi, Matt Wallman, Kristy Edmisten, and Bethany Eaton — worked on interdisciplinary teams to screen and provide medical services in a variety of settings including an on-site clinic, home health, mobile clinics in outreach Mayan villages, and community health education.

​Although English is the primary language of Belize, Scales and the students learned about working with different cultures of the area, dialects, and interpreters for Mayan languages in the villages.

Diabetes, high blood pressure, and general musculoskeletal pain were common in the Toledo district of Belize which is a primarily fishing and agricultural district. Hillside Clinic is the only clinic in the entirety of the Toledo District to provide rehabilitation services; including stroke and amputation rehab, sports rehab, and pediatric rehab for children with developmental disabilities.

There is no school for physical therapy in Belize and there is a great need for this type of service as well as overall disability awareness.

The time in Belize offered a rich global learning opportunity for these ������Ƶ students. They were provided the chance to serve in the host country while learning about culture in a deep and meaningful manner.

Scales notes that an individual is not able to provide the best medical care for someone until the provider understands and experiences how someone carries their baby, gets their water, travels their community, or makes dinner.

These activities are universal but the variability makes every one unique, she said. Through these global learning opportunities, ������Ƶ students experience the variability on more than a superficial tourist level.