News
The GREAT Weekend - 2008 UM PT and MAPTA combined All Class Reunion and Fall Conference: September 26-28, 2008.
It’s about time!
Please join us and other Griz PT alumni and friends for UM PT’s All Class Reunion. It was 1981 when The University of Montana graduated its first class of physical therapists. Twenty-six more classes have followed since then with a grand total of 598 UM PT graduates set loose into the world. It’s about time we celebrated that! So please join us for the first ever UM PT - All Class Reunion and Continuing Education offerings.
Events include:
- Friday night barbeque on the deck at the Skaggs Bldg: Friends and family welcome (see registration brochure)
- Tour of campus and our facilities in the Skaggs Building
- Discounted weekend CE courses for UM Alumni and Clinical Instructors:
- Science and Practice of Tissues Specific Rehabilitation of the Lower Extremity: Cartilage, Tendon, Ligament (UM PT sponsored) Or
- Chronic Pain and the Complex Musculoskeletal Patient (MAPTA sponsored)
- Saturday afternoon open for those attending the UM PT sponsored course to tailgate, recreate, relax or just relive old memories of Missoula with friends
- Griz Football – UM vs Central Washington
- Limited # of football tickets available to alumni for purchase until a week prior to the game at which point any remaining tickets will be available to non-alumni attending the CE courses. To purchase, please call Mark Schliecher - 406-243-4222 or email: mark.schliecher@mso.edu
- Saturday evening: UM PT Alum and MAPTA Banquet, including auction and live music. (may purchase tickets separately)
Click here for more information: http://www.mapta.com/pdf/08FbrochureWEB.pdf
Click here to register on line: https://www.123signup.com/register?id=tybhz
Hard copy registration brochures will be mailed also.
If you have questions, contact Dave Levison at 406-243-2678 or email at david.levison@umontana.edu
Transitional Doctor of Physical Therapy will be offered at UM
A transitional Doctor of Physical Therapy (tDPT) curriculum that will lead to the awarding of the DPT degree has been approved by the Montana Board of Regents and is scheduled to be offered through The School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science beginning this fall. The first cohort will be for clinicians who hold a master’s degree from an accredited university and who are licensed to practice physical therapy in the United States. This is a cooperative educational venture that is 90% on-line with just a single weekend course for each cohort of students. Students should be able to complete this affordable program in less than two years. To learn more about the program, link to http://umt.rehabessentials.com/. To apply, click on the program tab, apply, admissions form.
UM participating in Centralized Application Service for 2009
The University of Montana is participating this year in the centralized application service (PTCAS) for first-time physical therapy students along with nearly 70 other schools in the US and virtually all of the schools in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain states. In this system, applicants need only fill out a centralized application once for all the schools to which they wish to apply, along with a short supplemental application specific to the University of Montana’s School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science. At UM, the application will be launched August 1st. Our application period therefore will change to August 1st through December 15th, 2008. Watch this site for additional details as well as our supplemental application, which will also be available August 1st. For more information, go to www.ptcas.org.
Faculty Awarded Sabbaticals; Richard Gajdosik appointed Senior Research Fellow
In the Spring of 2008, Drs. Richard Gajdosik and Chuck Leonard will travel to New Zealand and Mexico, respectively, to enhance their research agenda and scholarly contributions while taking the Schools expertise to international locales.
For his sabbatical assignment, Professor Rich Gajdosik has been appointed Senior Research Fellow within the Health Rehabilitation Research Centre of The School of Physiotherapy, Auckland University of Technology. Dr. Gajdosik will be assisting with several investigations as a member of interdisciplinary research teams and collaborating on reports, conference papers, seminar papers and publications from the research. He also will mentor junior faculty on writing for publication and he will teach in undergraduate courses in Neurosciences and postgraduate courses in Biomechanics.
New Directions receives Christopher Reeve Foundation Grant
New Directions received an $18,000 grant from the Christopher Reeve Foundation to purchanse an ERGYS 2 FES bike. This bike allows wheelchair users with poor or no sensation in their legs to exercise. To read articles about this please click on the following links:
Sue Ostertag receives Nora Staal Evert Award
Sue Ostertag, PT and Clinical Instructor in the School, has been awarded the Nora Staael Evert Award by the Montana Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association (MAPTA). This award is for outstanding clinical expertise and commitment to education; Sue receives the award at the MAPTA autumn meeting in Missoula in late September.
Faculty Research and Presentation
Dr. Sheng Li co-chaired a scientific session at the American Society of Biomechanics (ASB) 2007 annual meeting at Stanford University on August 22-25, 2007, attended by some 570 scientists and including 408 presentations. Dr. Li also presented some of his recent work at the meeting: Sheng Li, Elizabeth R. Ikeda, Adam Borg, Devn Brown, Jessica Malouf, Kathy Showers (2007) Effects of breathing on muscle strength of large muscle groups.
Students to Kyrgyzstan
In May 2007, a multi-disciplinary team of physical therapy, pharmacy, and social work students traveled to Kyrgyzstan to work at The Learning Center for Children and Teenagers with Disabilities in Bishkek, and to a Center for Adults with Disabilities in Karakol, under the direction of Professor Carrie Gajdosik. These Centers provide limited services for individuals with disabilities, many of whom suffer from extreme economic hardships as well. The students developed rehabilitation programs for the children and provided seminars on medication and care for the parents.
Board of Regents Actions
Effective July 1, the Montana Board of Regents approved the promotion of Carrie Gajdosik to Full Professor. The Regents also approved the proposal to create a joint MBA/DPT option for the School.
Humphrey receives Award of Excellence
On October 20, Reed Humphrey, Professor & Chair, received the AACVPR Award of Excellence in Salt Lake City (to read more about the award, click here). He provided a keynote lecture in the symposium Physical Inactivity: A Global Conundrum in Public Health, with Research Award winner Dr. Jon Myers of Stanford and the Palo Alto VA. Dr. Humphrey also provided lectures at the California Physical Therapy Meeting in Los Angeles, the American Kinesiotherapy Meeting in Virginia and at the 12th International ACAPS conference in Brussels during the fall semester.
