Neurologic physical therapy residency program is first in Southwest

The School of Health Professions at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas Woman’s University and TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston have created the first residency program in neurologic physical therapy in the Southwest. It is one of only seven such programs in the United States.

The 12-month program started in July 2009 with two residents and was recently credentialed by the American Physical Therapy Association. As in many health care fields, there is an acute shortage of neurologic physical therapists. Neurologic physical therapists specialize in the management of clients with neurologic dysfunction, work with people who are recovering from strokes, brain and spinal cord injuries and such neurological diseases as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

The partnership between two universities and a health care organization is unusual, said Jill Seale, an assistant professor of physical therapy at UTMB who formerly worked at TIRR Memorial Hermann and was instrumental in establishing the residency program. “The onsite credentialing team from APTA asked if we didn’t see that as competition. We said, ‘we play well together.’”

The residents attend both UTMB and TWU for classroom instruction. Hands-on patient care is conducted at multiple facilities throughout the Memorial Hermann System.

The residency program benefits UTMB in several ways, Seale said. “For one thing, it may recruit doctoral students for our rehabilitation sciences program. They come down here, they get to know the university, meet some of the collaborators. Some of them will definitely be pursuing academia, at least in the long term.”

Physical therapists with doctoral degrees are highly sought after for faculty positions. The UTMB physical therapy faculty and students also benefit from the residency, as residents assist faculty with teaching in neuromuscular dysfunction courses.

The residency program accelerates learning well beyond what is achieved in a classroom environment.

“It’s sort of like taking you from wherever you are in your PT experience and adding several years’ worth of experience in just one year of practice,” Seale said.