PT Faculty Receive Grants to Support Research Projects

Amy Foley, MA, PT, DPT received a grant of $5,000 to support her project titled, "The Effects of Hormonal Fluctuations in the Menstrual Cycle on Knee Joint Laxity". The aim of the project is to better understand the relationship between hormone levels and ligament laxity in female athletes.

The purpose of the study is to determine whether hormonal level fluctuations affect ligament laxity which may put female athletes at higher risk for ligament injures. The study will compare the laxity of knee ligaments (as measured by the KT-2000) with progesterone and estrogen levels (as measured by saliva samples). Dr. Foley will complete the study in collaboration with a team of PT students. They anticipate that the results of this will have a great impact on injury prevention for high school girls participating in sports.

Catherine Thompson, PT, PhD received a grant of $3,000 through Healthy Start for her project titled, "Increasing Parental Self-Efficacy through Early Intervention."

Dr. Thompson is currently conducting the project with students in all three PT classes. This longitudinal study will explore the benefits of using an audiovisual Baby Builders' program which features gross motor development activities for infants and their caretakers.

The Healthy Start program is housed in the Department of Maternal and Child Health and serves at-risk families in the Kansas City area. The grant will provide incentives for parents to engage in exercise with their babies with the guidance of DPT students under Dr. Thompson’s mentorship.

Brian McKiernan, PT, PhD received a Rockhurst University Presidential Grant of $4,000 in April 2007 to fund his study titled, "The Effect of Using an Audience Response System on Quiz Scores in a Graduate Neuroscience Course."

This study is the first in a series that Dr. McKiernan plans to conduct with the help of student research groups in the DPT curriculum. Computerized audience response ("clicker") systems are being used with increasing frequency in grade school, high school and university classrooms. The projects will investigate the effect those systems have on student learning and performance in the classroom.

The Department of Physical Therapy Education would like to extend congratulations to all 25 members of the Class of 2007 who graduated on May 13, 2007 in a ceremony at Municipal Auditorium.

We would like to extend a special acknowledgment to several members of the class who received special awards from the faculty at the class graduation banquet after the commencement ceremony.

Michelle Gartner was awarded the 2006-2007 Lampe-Loescher Award for the graduating student who exemplifies exceptional leadership and service and demonstrates potential for exceptional leadership and service to the physical therapy profession.

Ashlie Black was awarded the 2006-2007 Donna J. Calvert Award for Outstanding Professionalism and Communication.

Meaghan Moore won the 2006-2007 Ellen Spake Award for Outstanding Leadership.

The department gave a new student award for the first time this year. The Magis Award acknowledges students who have demonstrated "Generous Excellence and Commitment to Others" throughout their time in the PT program. This is an award that will not necessarily be given each year, but only when the faculty believe a student or students meet the criteria. This year, Magis Awards were given to Laurie Kietzman, Kristin Sibilia and Lauren Simpson.

Students Walk to Fight Breast Cancer

Two members of the Class of 2007 completed the Breast Cancer 3-Day sponsored by Susan G. Komen for the Cure last September in Chicago, IL. Carmen Briscoe and Mariah Jones each walked 60 miles over the course of three days (September 8-10). In the process, each student raised $2,200 to help support breast cancer research and patient support programs funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

They slept in tents each night and made the last day's walk in the rain, but both report that it was an amazing experience. Thanks to these students for providing such a powerful example of service in action.

Steve Wilkinson Completes Doctorate

Congratulations to PT faculty member Steve Wilkinson on the successful defense and completion of this PhD!!

Steve's dissertation was titled, "Computerized Ontology Methods for Teaching Musculoskeletal topics to Physical Therapy Students." He made his oral defense in November 2006 and has now completed final editing of the manuscript.

He is graduating from the University of Utah, Department of Biomedical Informatics (School of Medicine). He joined our department in August 2005 and teaches in the musculoskeletal and clinical decision making course sequences.

Steve's future research will focus on topics including: continued development of physical therapy ontologies for academic and clinical use; the development and use of electronic health records in physical therapy; and the application of informatics to develop physical therapy clinical prediction rules, diagnosis algorithms and treatment guidelines.

Faculty Member Publishes Book on Prevention Practice

Catherine Thompson, PhD, MS, PT realized a vision that was years in the making when her book "Prevention Practice: A Physical Therapist's Guide to Health, Fitness, and Wellness" was published by Slack Incorporated in January 2007. The book contains 19 chapters and features input from eight contributors with diverse backgrounds in physical therapy, rehabilitation and healthcare.

Catherine is the primary author of the book, but she got very capable assistance from two other members of the PT faculty. Amy Foley, MA, PT, DPT wrote three chapters for the book and Ann Marie Decker, MSA, PT, GCS wrote one chapter.

According to the publisher, this book is among the first of its kind and presents, "the fundamental health, fitness, and wellness concepts that are critical for providing preventive care to healthy, impaired, and at-risk populations as outlined in the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice and Healthy People 2010."

Congratulations to Catherine and her collaborators for creating this marvelous new resource.

The Department of Physical Therapy Education at Rockhurst University has earned renewed accreditation for 10 years. The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education voted to reaffirm the department’s accreditation through 2016 at its meeting on April 26.

The department submitted a comprehensive self-study report last summer and a site-visit team from CAPTE visited the department last fall. During a three-day tour of the department, members of the team reviewed the facilities and talked with a large number of people involved with the operation of the program.

In its summary report of the visit, the team said, "We have found consistent evidence of a high quality entry-level program that prepares graduates for the practice of physical therapy. Faculty and students alike exemplify the mission of 'learning, leadership and service in the Jesuit tradition' through their involvement in professional as well as community endeavors."

Brian McKiernan, Ph.D., department chair, said that the renewed accreditation is a testament to the energy and enthusiasm displayed by everyone associated with the program.

"We are fortunate to have such a well-qualified team working together to provide the highest quality educational experience for our students," McKiernan said. "We have a wonderful and dedicated department faculty, and we receive tremendous support from other administrators, faculty and staff on the Rockhurst campus. The clinicians who supervise our students on clinical internships are outstanding, and the graduates of this program are consistently supportive of our efforts to provide the best possible preparation for future therapists. We'd like to extend a sincere thanks to everyone who helps us achieve excellence."

CAPTE's mission is to serve the public by establishing and applying standards that assure quality and continuous improvement in the entry-level preparation of physical therapists and physical therapist assistants, and that reflect the evolving nature of education, research, and practice.

Home Improvement — PT Style

They may not have the resources of Ty Pennington and the crew on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," but a group of second year PT students joined forces on a home improvement project last fall.

The sister of PT student Jessica Meyer has some mobility impairments and needs to stretch every day with the help of her mother to maintain as much movement as possible in her arms and legs. It was getting harder for the two of them to get down to the floor for stretching sessions, so the second year PT students designed and built a padded mat table that is just right for activities, then folds and rolls out of the way for storage.

PT students Lynsey Fugate, Michelle Gartner, Erin Shannon, Kristin Sibilia and Emily Spurgin joined forces with Jessica for the project. They surveyed the house and got a sense of how big the table could be and how it would have to fold and be moved for storage. They designed a padded table with collapsible legs. When the table is folded for storage there are wheels on one edge and handles on the opposite edge to make it easy to roll down the hall to the closet.

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