NEUROLOGY SECTION AWARDS 2013
Service to the Section
Purpose: To acknowledge and honor a member of the Neurology Section whose contributions to the Section have been of exceptional value.
Recipient: Karen McCulloch, PT, PhD, NCS
The choice for the Service to the Section Award, whose purpose is to acknowledge and honor a member of the Neurology Section whose contributions to the Section have been of exceptional value, was easy this year. This year’s honoree has logged over 22 years of service to the Neurology section. On this year’s recipient’s curriculum vita there is a long list of Neuro Section activities, including service and leadership on various committees, Special Interest Groups, and the Board of Directors as well as editorial and advisory positions. This recipient is responsible for large initiatives like formulation of the Neurology Section Home Study Course, and was a member of the Consensus Conference on Entry-level Education, the III STEP planning committee and she co-founded the Brain Injury Special Interest Group. Not to be forgotten, are the other service endeavors she has done with smiles, laughter and enthusiasm, like serving on the 20th and 30th anniversary events.
On the Neuro section Board of Directors, she has served as secretary from 1994 to 1998 and again from 2005-2008. She became the first Director of Education for the Neuro section, and she served in this position from 2008 until 2011. Finally, she is not a Neurology section Board Member, so she is eligible for this award. She is still serving however, APTA Neurology Section -TBI Edge Task Force - Outcome Measure Recommendations Committee Chair, Journal of Head Trauma Task Force, Editorial Board Member of Physiotherapy in Theory and Practice. She continues on the review panel for many journals including Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy, Physical Therapy and the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
One person who wrote a letter of recommendation had this to say about this year’s service to the section award winner, “....her vision for the Section’s educational initiatives is nothing short of inspirational. As a result of her leadership, the Section realized a huge expansion of its educational offerings.” And another, “among her most notable qualities have been her steadfast patience and ability to work with varied groups. It is remarkable how flexible and reliable her service has been.” This recipient also has a successful research and education career. Her research on traumatic brain injury is making a difference in the lives of our soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
This remarkable candidate’s contribution to our Section and to the field of neurological physical therapy and evidence-based intervention for people with traumatic brain injury, is monumental. This year’s recipient, Dr Karen L McCullough, is most deserving of the APTA, Neurology Section Service to the Section Award.
For a list of past award recipients, please click here.
Clinical Excellence
Purpose: The Award for Clinical Excellence in Neurology recognizes an individual who has demonstrated clinical expertise in neurologic physical therapy, contributed to the overall development of physical therapy as a caring and scientific profession and shared their clinical expertise by mentoring others.
Recipient: Dana McPhee, PT, MS, NCS
Dana Mcphee is an outstanding clinician who has met these criteria and has done exemplary work in her pursuit of excellence. Ms. Mcphee is the recipient of this year’s award for Neurologic Clinical Excellence.
Dana McPhee is an expert neurologic clinician. She is a board certified specialist in neurologic physical therapy since 2004 and works in the physical therapy department and program development staff training at North Idaho Advance Care Hospital. Her expertise is working in acute care with neurologic ICU patients and traumatic brain injuries. She has been working with neurological patients in the span of two decades. She is an adjunct faculty for Eastern Washington University Doctor of Physical Therapy program and Spokane Falls Community College Physical Therapy Assistant Program where she enjoys teaching physical therapy management of neurological disorders. She has volunteered her services, time and own money for medical care in Haiti with Healing Hands Organization showing the world why physical therapy is not a just a profession but also “calling” to help others in need.
One of her colleagues wrote: “Ms. McPhee has engaged in full time clinical practice in the care of patient with neurological dysfunction in sub-acute and rehabilitation settings since 1993 and has a reputation for clinical knowledge, expertise and excellence worthy of her clinical specialization and this prestigious award. She is eminently deserving of this recognition and epitomizes the exceptional clinician committed to the excellent care of her patients and to the development of the next generation of physical therapy professionals.”
Another colleague and nominator stated: “Dana has been engaged in full time clinical practice treating patients with neurological medical diagnosis for nearly twenty years. This practice experience, combined with her specialty certification in Neurology makes her an invaluable resource to our Doctor of Physical Therapy program. Dana has gone above and beyond the typical expectations of an expert clinician and provides evidence that she exceed the eligibility criteria of this award.”
Please join me in acknowledging Dana McPhee for this well-deserved award.
For a list of past award recipients, please click here.
Clinical Excellence in Education
Purpose: To acknowledge and honor a member of the Neurology Section whose clinical and/or academic neurologic educational contributions have been of exceptional value.
Recipient: Sara Kraft PT, DPT, NCS, ATP
The purpose of the Award for Excellence in Neurologic Education is to acknowledge and honor a member of the Neurology Section who’s clinical or academic neurologic educational contributions have been of exceptional value. This year we had many individuals nominated for this award. Dr Sara Kraft, who is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC, in Charleston, South Carolina, was chosen as this year’s award winner. Sara not only had letters of recommendations from colleagues across disciplines and her director, but also from students themselves who note the influence Dr Kraft has had on their education. One student stated:” If I was granted one wish for my future I would ask to be like Dr. Sara Kraft”.
Through her teaching and her practice, she is a role model to students not only in providing excellence in evidence-based practice in neurological physical therapy, but in the manner in which to put the patient first and allow patients accomplish much more that the health care system is designed to allow them to accomplish. She teaches not only in the classroom and the laboratory but through her involvement in a pro-bono interprofessional clinic at the Medical University of South Carolina, and when consulting to an adaptive waterski clinic and a wheelchair basketball team.
The director of MUSC, Dr. David Morrisette, PT, PhD, OCS, ATC, FAAOMPT, describes her as evolving into one of the most outstanding and effective teachers and clinicians he has had the opportunity to know in the 25 plus years he has been in the field of PT education. In his letter of recommendation, Dr Morrisette states, “Dr. Kraft is not only a great lecturer, lab instructor, and role model, she is someone who changes people’s lives and attitudes”. Dr Kraft received the Teacher of the Year, 2011-2012 at the College of Health Professions, Medical University of South Carolina. She is recognized as setting the bar for quality instruction and as an agent for change. Dr. Kraft epitomizes what it means to provide unconditional, compassionate care and the example she sets for students is one of devotion, respect, and integrity that culminates in the understanding that physical therapy is not a job, but a higher calling to serve humanity. Please join me in acknowledging Dr. Sara Kraft for this well-deserved award.
For a list of past award recipients, please click here.
Excellence in Research
Purpose: To acknowledge and honor a member of the Neurology Section who has demonstrated continuing excellence in research related to neurologic physical therapy science, theory, practice, or education.
Recipient: Judith Deustch, PT, PhD
The contributions of this year’s award recipient, Judy Deustch, go far beyond these criteria. In fact, it could be said that Judy’s vision and research agenda have helped shaped the direction of the profession. Recently the APTA recommended that the profession needed to ‘Promote the translation and integration of technology and science and foster collaborations with engineering, industry and others.’ Judy had the vision and focus to start this research 2 decades ago before it was appreciated or fashionable. Dr. Deutsch’s body of work explores the interface of neurological physical therapy practice with advances in technology presently appearing within clinics and gradually gaining entrance into home environments.
Dr. Deutsch conducts her research interprofessionally and globally. She has been remarkably successful working with bioengineers to apply their knowledge and skills to enhance physical therapist interventions. Her international collaborations with other physiotherapists have been successful in “spreading the word” about the value of virtual reality as a modality to enhance recovery in persons with neuromuscular diagnoses.
While Dr. Deutsch has demonstrated vision and foresight in her individual research agenda, her impact extends far beyond. Dr. Deutsch has recognized the importance of helping others translate neurologic physical therapy research evidence into practice. During her tenure as the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy she championed the application of research findings to clinical practice and dissemination of evidence to the wider rehabilitation research community. She helped guide the transformation of the Neurology Report to the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy, a leading, peer-reviewed journal indexed in Pub med. More recently, she is the founding co-chair of PTNow, an APTA initiative to design, develop and evaluate an accessible, multifocal and integrated web resource (portal) to translate physical therapy knowledge into action, support evidence-informed care and improve clinical decision-making.
In summary, Dr. Judith Deutsch is an exemplary researcher and scholar whose work is highly respected and on the cutting edge of physical therapy research. The impact and recognition of her work extends to other countries and other professions. The combination of this work with her contributions to JNPT and to the APTA makes her a truly deserving recipient for the Neurology Section Research Award.
For a list of past award recipients, please click
here.
Barnes-Leahy PODS I & II Scholarships
Purpose: An award for post-professional studies in neurology given in memory of Neurology Section members and accomplished physical therapists Marylou Barnes, PT, FAPTA and Patricia Leahy, PT. Members of the Neurology Section provided generous support for this award through the Foundation's Neurology Endowment Fund.
PODS I: Kristan Leech, PT, DPT, BS – Northwestern University*
PODS I Scholarships provides up to $7,500 per year in support of the coursework phase of post-professional doctoral studies prior to candidacy. This award is given in memory of APTA Section on Neurology member, accomplished physical therapist, and Foundation Doctoral Training Research Grant recipient, Patricia Leahy, PT, MS, NCS. Leahy was a professor at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and
was one of the first physical therapists ever to receive the Neurologic Certified Specialist (NCS) certification.
*Funded by the Neurology Section's endowment
PODS II: Miriam Rafferty, PT, DPT, NCS- University of Illinois at Chicago
Jessica Cassidy, BS, DPT- University of Minnesota
PODS II scholarships provide up to $15,000 in support of the post-candidacy phase of post-professional doctoral studies. This award is given in memory of APTA Section on Neurology member and accomplished physical therapist Mary Lou Barnes, PT, FAPTA. Barnes was the founding director of the West Virginia University physical therapy program and served as chair of Georgia State University's program. During her terms, both programs achieved national recognition. Members of the Neurology Section provided generous support for this award through the Foundation's Neurology Endowment Fund.
Golden Synapse Award
Purpose: The award recognizes the most outstanding article published in JNPT each year.
The decision is made by the JNPT Reviewers and Associate Editors and is based on the article’s conceptualization, execution, presentation and contribution to physical therapy practice.
Aerobic Exercise in Subacute Stroke Improves Cardiovascular Health and Physical Performance. Sandra Billinger, Anna Mattlage, Abigail Ashenden, Angela Lentz, Gabe Harter, and Michael Rippee.
For a list of past award recipients, please click here.