See who is making news and notable career moves in the physical therapy world
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PT Professor Publishes on Fragile X
SAN MARCOS, CA –The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) announced Aug. 29 that Cornelia C.E. Lieb-Lundell, PT, DPT, MA, PCS, contributing faculty in advanced pediatrics, has been published in Physical Therapy, the Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association. Her research article, titled “Three Faces of Fragile X,” provides an in-depth look into the genetic disorder Fragile X Syndrome (FXS).
FXS is passed on through generations. The mother of a child with FXS can carry Fragile-X-associated primary ovarian insufficiency syndrome, and the grandfather of a child with FXS can have Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome. Together, these three disorders are called Fragile X associated disorders (FXD).
“The purpose of this article is to make physical therapists knowledgeable about Fragile X so they can properly diagnose and treat the disorders,” Lieb-Lundell said. “FXD can be misunderstood by affected individuals, their families and the healthcare community, and is regularly underdiagnosed. It’s important to recognize the relevance of understanding the genetics and advocate for the appropriate screenings of FXD.”
Lieb-Lundell has been teaching at the San Marcos campus of the University of St. Augustine since 2008. She designed and taught child development and continues to teach advanced pediatrics.
Lieb-Lundell is a 1965 graduate of the University of Southern California’s physical therapy program and received her master’s in physical therapy from the University of Southern California in 1973. In 2011, she received her DPT from USAHS.
VCU Opened Student-run Clinic, September 21
Virginia Commonwealth University physical therapy students celebrated the grand opening of their student-run clinic on September 21. The Community Accessible Rehabilitative Exercises Services (C.A.R.E.S) Clinic at VCU provides free physical therapy care to uninsured and underinsured individuals who live in Richmond.
“The clinic is an opportunity to serve Richmond,” said second-year physical therapy student Elizabeth Goodwin-Horn. The 23-year-old has been working with her peers from the School of Allied Health Professions’ Department of Physical Therapy since last year to start the clinic, a student-run organization with faculty advisors. Goodwin-Horn volunteers as the clinic board coordinator on the 18-student board.
The clinic is located on the second floor of the Center for Healthy Hearts at 1200 W. Cary St. Services are focused on optimizing patients’ movement and improving quality of life, while using evidence-based care specific to each patient’s functional limitations.
Patients who are referred to the clinic from Crossover Free Clinic and Health Brigade are 200% below the poverty line.
In addition to seeing patients who are referred from local free clinics, the C.A.R.E.S clinic at VCU provides physical therapy services to patients who are being treated at the Center for Healthy Hearts, a local free clinic that provides chronic disease management services to uninsured Richmond individuals. The Center for Healthy Hearts partners with VCU School of Pharmacy students to provide medication management services to the community.
Students mostly treat orthopedic conditions at the clinic, but they also expect to see patients with issues related to past injuries and neurological conditions.
Patients at the clinic are seen by teams of two students with oversight from a licensed physical therapist from the community. About 15 local physical therapists volunteer at the clinic.
“It is exciting to have physical therapists teaching us while we are treating patients,” Goodwin-Horn said. “They come from a variety of backgrounds, so it is a fantastic learning experience.”
Accelacare Hires Newest PT
Dr. Cody Kelly, the newest physical therapist at Accelacare in Garden City, feels his experiences dealing with cancer will help him be a more understanding doctor for his own patients.
Kelly, 27, grew up in south-central Kansas in the small town of Geuda Springs and attended public school at nearby Oxford.
He did his undergraduate work in biology at Newman University and is a recent graduate of Wichita State University. He started in June at Accelacare.
Originally, Kelly was pursuing a pre-med path at Newman, but two events his junior year had a big impact on his career plans: First, his father died, and six months later, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system that is part of the body’s immune system.
“That time period was crazy for me. I did about six months of chemo, 21 radiation treatments, and it really changed my outlook of what I wanted to be,” he said. “The pre-med route wasn’t for me. I just knew I was going to have to give people bad news or harsh truths, and I just didn’t want to be anywhere near that.”
Instead, Kelly wanted to do something to help people succeed or bring them hope. After researching several different healthcare professions and shadowing a physical therapist, Kelly fell in love with physical therapy.
“We get to return people back to things they haven’t done in years. It’s awesome to see, awesome to be a part of,” he said.
Kelly believes the cancer diagnosis helps him as a therapist understand some of the things a patient goes through when seeking help.
Kelly plans to do more orthopedic therapy to complement skills on the neurological side.
“Some of my internships and clinicals I was working with more neuro patients – strokes, people with MS, spinal cord injuries, and also chronic pain patients. That is something I’m really passionate about. I like the tough cases,” he said.
Atlantic Rehabilitation’s flagship facility, located at 95 Mount Kemble Avenue in Morristown, has been accredited by CARF International for a period of three years for its inpatient acute rehabilitation program and the stroke specialty program.
This is the eighth consecutive three-year accreditation for the facility by the international accrediting body. This is the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows the facility’s substantial conformance to the CARF standards. An organization receiving a three-year accreditation has undergone a rigorous peer review process and demonstrated a commitment to offering programs and services that are measurable, accountable and of the highest quality.
“We are honored that once again, the high-quality services that our skilled staff offers to our patients have been recognized by CARF,” said Kathleen O’Donnell, nurse manager for Atlantic Rehabilitation. “As the need for rehabilitative services increases this type of recognition by an independent third party is reassuring for our community.”
Atlantic Rehabilitation Site Accredited for Impatient and Stroke Care
Atlantic Rehabilitation’s flagship facility, located at 95 Mount Kemble Avenue in Morristown, NJ, has been accredited by CARF International for a period of three years for its inpatient acute rehabilitation program and the stroke specialty program.
This is the eighth consecutive three-year accreditation for the facility by the international accrediting body. This is the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows the facility’s substantial conformance to the CARF standards. An organization receiving a three-year accreditation has undergone a rigorous peer review process and demonstrated a commitment to offering programs and services that are measurable, accountable and of the highest quality.
“We are honored that once again, the high-quality services that our skilled staff offers to our patients have been recognized by CARF,” said Kathleen O’Donnell, nurse manager for Atlantic Rehabilitation. “As the need for rehabilitative services increases this type of recognition by an independent third party is reassuring for our community.
“Atlantic Rehabilitation, part of Atlantic Health System, a non-profit health care delivery system in New Jersey, includes the full breadth of inpatient, outpatient, acute and subacute rehabilitation services offered throughout Atlantic Health System, including Morristown, Overlook, Newton and Chilton medical centers and Goryeb Children’s Hospital, as well as the Atlantic Rehabilitation flagship facility in Morristown, NJ and ancillary locations throughout the state, such as New Providence, Pompton Plains, Union and Wayne. Atlantic Rehabilitation specialties include all areas of cardiovascular medicine, neuroscience, oncology, multi-trauma, orthopedics, outpatient pediatric rehabilitation, aquatic therapy and more.
