April 7-8
Join Us For The 2022 APTA Wisconsin Spring Conference - April 7-8, 2022
8 am - Noon; 2 - 5 pm
Foundations for the Primary Care PT: A Hands-On Workshop is a 7-hr course designed for physical therapists interested in enhancing their skills in comprehensive medical screening and initial management of adults seen in primary care settings. In this course, participants will learn various models of PT primary care, current best practice for medical screening and referral, psychomotor examination skills related to medical screening, and foundations of musculoskeletal imaging. Instructors will cover how to properly identify signs and symptoms that may be outside the scope of physical therapist management, including cardiovascular and pulmonary, gastrointestinal, urogenital, neurologic, traumatic orthopedic, and psychiatric conditions. Participants will learn how to triage various clinical presentations into Critical Medical, Non-Critical Medical and Conservative PT management schemes. They will also learn how to screen for and treat impairments related to non-communicable diseases. By the end of this course, physical therapists should feel confident and competent serving in primary care roles
Dr. Katie O'Bright is a physical therapist and educator who has spent the majority of her career in multidisciplinary primary care settings. She started her career as an active duty Army PT where she worked in a Solider Centered Medical Home, co-located with primary care physicians, psychologists and other valued support staff. Since then, she has worked in multidisciplinary care settings in academic health systems and private practices. Dr. O'Bright founded a company with the mission of getting more physical therapists into multidisciplinary care settings, starting with primary care. She currently lives in Chicago with her husband and two sons.
Alyssa Torn is a physical therapist practicing in outpatient orthopedics and women's health/pelvic floor with Bellin Health in Green Bay, WI. She graduated from Carroll University with her DPT in 2011, completed her OCS in 2018, and is currently a Fellow in Training with Bellin College in partnership with Evidence in Motion and anticipates graduating from the program in April 2022. She has been involved in Bellin's PT in primary care program for the last four years.
8 am - Noon; 2 - 5 pm
Introduction to vestibular rehabilitation and the clinical decision-making process in assessment and treatment of patients with dizziness. The course will provide a brief review of vestibular anatomy & physiology, with focus of the course being proper performance and application of vestibular assessment techniques, differential diagnosis of central versus peripheral vestibular pathology, cervicogenic dizziness, and multi-factorial dizziness. Lab sessions will allow practice and feedback on proper performance and modifications of assessment techniques and diagnosis-specific treatment techniques based on the current evidence. Small and large group discussion and review of case studies will be utilized to reinforce clinical decision-making and application of didactic materials.
Colleen Sleik PT, DPT, OCS, NCS has been working with vestibular patients since 2005. She completed the Competency-based Course in Vestibular Rehabilitation with Susan Herdman in 2010, and continues to update her education by attending the the International Conference for Vestibular Rehabilitation in 2018 and Vestibular Rehabilitation: An Advanced Course and Update through University of Pittsburgh in 2018 and 2021. Colleen has been teaching continuing education courses across the country since 2015. Clinically, her focus is on the treatment of patients with dizziness, including post-concussion syndrome, and general orthopedics.
8 am - Noon; 2 - 5 pm
Optimal rehabilitation outcomes are imperative in today's complex healthcare environment. This course will take a deeper dive into principles of Neuroplasticity across the rehab spectrum to include early mobility and functional task specific training in acute care, inpatient rehab and continuing into outpatient settings for patients with neurological dysfunction.
Becky Bliss PT, DPT, DHSc is a board certified neurological clinical specialist with 20 year's experience in the field of physical therapy. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri and serves as the Program Coordinator for the Neurological Physical Therapy Residency. Becky is also adjunct faculty for Bellin College and leads the educational curriculum in the DSc program.
8 am - Noon
This course will focus on case studies that show how to implement telemedicine into your therapy practice. There are many ways to engage patients, employers and customers within your community and within your market including telemed in addition to or in lieu of traditional care. The course will focus on some examples of where telemed in your practice can enhance your opportunity to engage with your patients. We will review some technology opportunities that exist in the market, and case studies of key patients that have benefited from this as part of their care. High level review of billing and documentation requirements will be included as well.
Jim Cumming, PT, OCS, practices out of UW Health. He treats a wide variety of orthopedic conditions, including conditions affecting the back and neck, hip, shoulder, knee, elbow, foot and ankle. He treats patients with dizziness and balance disorders as well.
Marcus Boehm, PT, OCS, and Seugnet DeBauche, PT, OCS, work at Bellin Health based out of Green Bay, both treating a wide variety of orthopedic conditions. They are involved in promoting telemed utilization throughout the system.
8 am - Noon
The Safe Zone Project was implemented to provide an environment for LGBTQ+ students where they feel valued and safe. Education centered on increasing awareness of LGBTQ+ identities, gender, sexuality, as well as unlearning preconceived prejudices. The "safe zone" premise has evolved into the development of "brave spaces" in order to acknowledge and prepare students to be uncomfortable at times while simultaneously laying ground rules to cope with that discomfort and productively challenge one another. It was a call on students to be "brave" in the face of discomfort. These student concepts can easily be translated into strategies for clinicians to support their LGBTQ+ clients. This course will utilize the theoretical framework and course curriculum adopted by the Safe Zone Project, however the training will be recognized under the umbrella of Brave Space Training to foster qualities of self-efficacy, empowerment and pride among members of the LGBTQ+ community. Specific case examples focused on increasing practitioner, faculty and student awareness will be used to demonstrate current LGBTQ+ disparities in healthcare and the classroom.
Dr. Jonathon Weiss is the Assistant Program Director for the Bellin College DPT Program and is a member of PT-Proud, whose goal is to improve healthcare access for LGBTQIA+ people and empower physical therapy students, faculty, and clinicians to positively influence the health and well-being of sexual and gender minority populations. His research interest includes the effects of provider cultural competency training on healthcare outcomes.
Dr. Amethyst Messer is the Bellin College DPT Program Clinical Education Coordinator. She received her DPT from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse and is a Board Certified Specialist in Geriatric Physical Therapy. She has >10 years of clinical experience in home health care.
2 - 5 pm
After years of hard work, walking across the stage and earning a DPT is a fulfilling achievement. This is only magnified when you see that green circle signifying a passing score on the boards exam. But now what? How do you take the next steps and transition from the didactic world into the profession of physical therapy? What's the best way to navigate the job search process to land a rewarding position? This course will cover topics including how to begin the job search, considerations when applying, and tips to navigate an offer for employment. Speakers converse on the topic from a variety of perspectives to allow students to ask questions and gain insight into how to make the shift from student to practicing clinician. Bring your questions to this collaborative session.
Rachel Davis, PT, DPT, is a recent graduate from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse (2020). After graduation, she accepted an acute care position working at Marshfield Clinic Health System. Since this time, she has been providing care for a variety of patient populations including neuro, pediatrics, med surg, and those in intensive care. She enjoys the variability of the hospital setting and the opportunity to learn from patients' and colleges each day.
Brian Weidner, MBA, is the President of Career Tree Network, a recruitment advertising and human resources firm based in Milwaukee Wisconsin that helps Physical Therapists connect with career opportunities. Since 2007, Brian and his team have helped thousands of Physical
2 - 5 pm
Participation in both competitive and recreational running has continued to increase over the past several decades. Regular physical activity including running, brings many health benefits; however, runners experience high rates of running-related musculoskeletal injury. Analysis of running gait to identify potential biomechanical contributors to injury is an important part of the physical therapy evaluation of an injured runner. Findings from running gait analysis help determine whether gait retraining is a worthwhile intervention for the injured runner. In this session, evidence will be presented to inform clinicians in the assessment and management of injured runners. The main purpose of this session is to provide attendees with practical implementation strategies and considerations for the analysis of running form of injured runners in the clinic. The evidence and clinical considerations incorporating gait retraining interventions will be discussed as well.
Lace Luedke, PT, PhD, DPT is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the UW Oshkosh. She earned her PhD in Orthopedic & Sports Science from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions, her DPT from the University of Central Arkansas, and her BS in Physical Therapy from UW LaCrosse. She is an ABPTS certified specialist in orthopedic physical therapy and an NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist. She researches injury risk factors in athletes and in the clinic, specializes in evaluation and treatment of competitive and recreational runners.
8 am - Noon
To advance the physical therapy profession over the next 100 years, we must understand the current state of practice throughout the world and in the USA as well as how we got to this point in our history. This presentation will describe the history of the PT professional development and advocacy to attain practice rights and provide an overview of the current physical therapy practice rights in the USA and internationally.
To advance our profession as we enter our next century, an interactive visioning exercise will take place to consider what practice may/should look like and what it will take to attain the vision for a successful future. To set this discussion up, a global and US-specific history of advocacy efforts overview will be provided, along with the current state of practice.
William Boissonnault is professor-emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and holds multiple adjunct physical therapy faculty positions. He recently served as Executive VP of Professional Affairs, APTA. He has presented nationally and internationally on topics related to direct access, diagnostic imaging, and medical screening, and has provided direct access consultation to over 90 hospitals/health systems. Dr. Boissonnault has served as president of the Academy of Orthopaedic PT, APTA, and the Foundation for Physical Therapy, Inc. He has received: APTA's Baethke-Carlin Award for Excellence in Academic Teaching and Lucy Blair Service Award, APTA's Academy of Physical Thera Education Distinguished Educator Award.
Dr. Ken Olson is a private practitioner in DeKalb, Illinois and an adjunct faculty member at Northern Illinois University. He is the Immediate-Past-President of the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists (IFOMPT) and is a past president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists (AAOMPT). He is also past-chairperson of the IPTA legislative committee, the AAOMPT Practice Affairs committee, and the APTA Manipulation workgroup. He has lectured internationally on topics related to advocacy and manual physical therapy examination and management of spine and TMD and is author of the textbook Manual Physical Therapy of the Spine 3d ed. Elsevier, 2022.
2 pm - 5pm
Conventional wisdom is alive and well in physical therapy education. However, this "wisdom" is unfortunately often disconnected from reality. Many stakeholders in physical therapy education claim there are too many physical therapy education programs when there's actually insufficient capacity to meet current or future demand for PTs. The health needs of society including the growth of aging population with chronic health conditions, coupled with the acceleration of direct access will only increase the role and need for physical therapists. The problem isn't too many physical therapy education programs, rather the failure to ignore the unintended consequences of "degree creep," the regulatory structures that often restrict innovation in higher education along with workforce distribution challenges in meeting critical health needs. We can all agree that student debt is a significant concern and that programs should be resourced with qualified faculty that have adequate depth and breadth of clinical education and produce competent practitioners. Rather than limiting the expansion of PT education to achieve these goals, innovative approaches to address important challenges in meeting our societal obligations are needed. During this session, we explore common myths related to physical therapy education, professional development, and discuss innovative solutions to solve these important challenges. The presenters hope to tailor the discussion to the needs of the audience members. After registering for this course please send any questions or topics you would like to be discussed by the panel to aptawi@aptawi.org.
Dr. Childs is a co-founder of Evidence In Motion (EIM) and partner in Confluent Health, which includes EIM, a network of 380 outpatient physical therapy centers, and Fit for Work, which provides workplace injury prevention services. A Distinguished Graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy (1994), he completed a Masters in Physical Therapy from Baylor University, MBA from the University of Arizona, and PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. Having served 20 years in the Air Force, Dr. Childs has collaborated on more than $10 million in grant funding and published more than 150 papers in leading scientific journals. He served for 10 years as Associate Editor for both the Physical Therapy and Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy journals. Dr. Childs has received numerous awards to include being an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist and San Antonio "Health Care Hero". He is also the youngest ever Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association.
Dr. Jensen is Vice Provost for Learning and Assessment and Professor of Physical Therapy at Creighton University. She is known nationally and internationally for scholarly contributions in expert practice, clinical reasoning, professional ethics, and interprofessional education. She is author or coauthor of more than 90 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has coauthored 13 books. She led the research team that completed a National Study of Excellence and Innovation in Physical Therapist Education funded by the American Physical Therapy Association and APTA components. She received her master's degree in physical therapy and her PhD in educational evaluation both from Stanford University.
Dr. Buford completed is degree in physical therapy at the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1984. He began his career at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in Neurologic Rehabilitation. He then went on to graduate school, earning a PhD in Kinesiology with a specialization in Neural Control of Movement from UCLA. As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington in Neurophysiology, he developed a non-human primate model for the study of reticulospinal system control of voluntary movement. He joined the faculty of The Ohio State University in 1999, and became director of the program in 2011. He has served on multiple university level committees at Ohio State, including the school's budget advisory committee, appointment promotions and tenure committee (as chair), and the university’s Council on Academic Affairs (as chair) and Council on Enrollment and Student Progress (as chair). He has overseen multiple NIH grants, and served on NIH study sections, and on the scientific review committee for the Foundation for Physical Therapy, and trained multiple PhD students. He is a graduate of the ELI fellowship program. He helped found the research intensive programs in physical therapy consortium within ACAPT, and has was among the original members of finance committee for ACAPT. Presently, he is in his second term as a director on the ACAPT Board of Directors. He has served as one of ACAPTs representatives to the Educational Leadership Partnership, and presently serves as the ACAPT board liaison to the National Consortium for Clinical Education (NCCE) and for the Simulation in Physical Therapy Education Consortium (SIPTEC).
Merrill Landers, PT, DPT, PhD, is a Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the Director of the Gait and Balance Lab. He has been at UNLV since 2001 and is in his 11th year as the Chair of the Department of Physical therapy. He earned a BS in Exercise Science from Brigham Young University, a DPT from Creighton University, and a PhD in Integrative Physiology from UNLV. He is a graduate of the APTA Fellowship in Higher Education Leadership. Dr. Landers’ current research interests focus on understanding fear of falling avoidance behavior and exercise neuroprotection in Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Landers is the Chair of the Education Leadership Conference for the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy.
Slides from the Spring Conference Hot Topics/Professional Issues Forum are now available for viewing and download!
Congratulations to the 2021 recipients of the APTA Wisconsin peer, patient and student awards! Award winners will be recognized at the APTA Wisconsin spring conference at an awards dinner Thursday evening, April 7 at the Best Western Premier in Oshkosh. Thank you to those who took the time to recognize a peer for their contributions to the PT and PTA professions.
PT of the Year Award - Maria Chilbert, DPT, FAAOMPT
PT of the Year Award Honorable Mention - Dan Garbacz, DPT
PTA of the Year Award - Michael Stimac, PTA, ATC
Clinical Instructor of the Year Award - Stephanie Semerda, PT, DPT, NCS
Clinical Excellence Award - Todd Winney, PT, OCS
PTA Award of Excellence - Jeff Komay, PTA
Mentor of the Year Award - Charles Vannatta, PT, DPT, SCS
Rookie of the Year Award - Allison von Brevern, PT, DPT
Student Emerging Leader - Christine Eble, SPT
More Than
+300
Attendees
Over 300 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, students and guests from throughout Wisconsin are expected to attend APTA Wisconsin 2022 Spring Conference in Oshkosh.
A block of rooms has been reserved under "APTA Wisconsin"
at the Best Western Premier for registrants and their guests. Rates are $109.99 single/double. Be sure to make your reservation by contacting the Best Western Premier at 855/230- 1900 by March 17, 2022.
Check-in is after 3 pm and check-out is prior to 11 AM. Room and rate availability are not guaranteed after March 17.