EMPOWER: The Impact of Mentorship on a Student’s Professional Journey
.10 CEU
Join on Zoom
Event Details
As Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) and Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) programs aim to diversify their student cohort, it is essential programs are in place to support students on this educational journey and beyond. The EMPOWER Program – Elevating Mentorships in PT: Opportunity, Wisdom, Engagement, and Resilience – was designed for DPT students who are from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds or are considered academically “at-risk” upon admission to the program. This 18-month program matches small groups of students with physical therapy mentors who engage in semi-structured hourly meetings approximately 6 times a semester. The goal of this session is to share the structure of the EMPOWER Program, the impact it has had on current students and mentors, current outcomes, and engage in dialogue of the challenges and successes of this Program.
Learning Objectives:
After this presentation, learners will be able to:
1. Describe common challenges of DPT and PTA students who are from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds or are considered academically “at-risk” upon admission to the program.
2. Summarize the structure of one paid mentorship model aimed to support DPT and PTA students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds.
3. Explore if this Program, or a similar Program, can be implemented on your own campus.
Level: Intermediate
Speakers:
Angela Spontelli Gisselman PT, PhD, DPT
Angela Spontelli Gisselman PT, PhD, DPT, is an Associate Professor and Director of Admissions at Tufts University's DPT Program in Phoenix, AZ. She received her BS degree kinesiology from Miami University and DPT from Duke University. She completed an orthopedic clinical residency at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and is an ABPTS-certified Orthopedic Physical Therapy Specialist. She earned her PhD in Physiotherapy from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Her primary area of scholarship focuses on the role of health metrics, such as heart rate variability (an index of the autonomic nervous system, ANS), in understanding the physiological burden of disease, injury, or stressors on the ANS. Other areas of research interest include the developing cultural safety in DPT education, musculoskeletal injury risk and rehabilitation, and mechanisms of manual therapy. She has national conference speaking experience and over 25 peer-reviewed publications.
Melissa Burgemeister, PT, DPT, ATC
Melissa Burgemeister has worked in clinical athletic training/physical therapy for 20 years and has held various faculty positions for over 10 years. She is currently working in a Student Affairs role and is passionate about providing student support services to diverse student bodies. Her research interests include pedagogical techniques in health science education and student mentoring/coaching models.
Within 5-7 business days, the webinar recording and assessment will be posted in the Academy of Education Course Catalog on the APTA Learning Center (https://learningcenter.apta.org/educationcatalog). Upon completion of this assessment, you will receive your CEU certificate. CEU: 0.10*