SHRS Blog

Assistant Professor Allyn Bove (SHRS ’20) became interested in studying health disparities while observing the needs of patients in a free New York City medical clinic during her physical therapy education at Columbia University. After returning to Pittsburgh and working in a private practice that offered frequent pro bono physical therapy services to uninsured patients, she became passionate about the topic and decided to pursue a PhD at the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS). The program combined her interests in arthritis and joint replacement with her growing dedication to understand and address health disparities.

Professor Kelley Fitzgerald recently retired after spending 25 years as a faculty member in the University of Pittsburgh Department of Physical Therapy. Kelley was a professor within the Clinical and Translational Research Institute, founder and inaugural director of the University of Pittsburgh Physical Therapy Clinical and Translational Research Center (PT-CTRC) and associate dean of Graduate Studies in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS).

Second-year Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Hybrid student Amanda Klein from Spokane, WA, has started her third of four clinical education placements in the DPT program this summer. Klein, a U.S. Air Force veteran, was awarded a special clinical education placement at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, and is writing a short blog series about her experience. Her insight is valuable to any student preparing for their clinical education placement, whether in another city or in their hometown!

For students in health care fields, obtaining experience in a clinical setting is a cornerstone of their academic journey where they can finally put their coursework into real-world practice. In the University of Pittsburgh Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, residential and hybrid students are required to complete 42 weeks of full-time clinical experiences over the seven terms of their program. This includes at least one inpatient and multiple outpatient clinical experiences where they will learn to support a variety of patient populations. The clinicals are a progression of their learning experience as students take the foundation they’ve learned at Pitt and build on it by learning from clinicians outside of the DPT program.

Beginning January 2024, students in the Pitt Doctor of PA Studies (DPAS) program will be able to register for the nation’s first digital health course offered to physician assistant (PA) students. Vice Chair for Innovation and Professor Dipu Patel who is leading the course says, “The curriculum was designed to harness the most current topics and trends in digital health and use them to inform and prepare students to improve their practice and care. This space continues to rapidly evolve and therefore, this course will continue to evolve as new tools, technologies, and research come to light.”

The world-class technology and advances developed by the Pitt Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology (RST) were represented by faculty, students and alumni at two spring conferences: the 38th International Seating Symposium in Pittsburgh, and the International Society of Prosthetics and the Orthotics (ISPO) Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Although Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved over the past 70 years and has been embraced by some members of the health care community, the HexAI Research Laboratory in the Department of Health Information Management (HIM) stands alone.  

According to Health Informatics (HI) Assistant Professor Ahmad P. Tafti, director of the Pitt HexAI Research Laboratory, “The HexAI Lab not only combines AI strategies with clinical data, it also improves AI-powered clinical applications by promoting AI explainability and interpretability.”

As professor and program director for the hybrid option of the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, Kim Nixon-Cave is both commander-in-chief and artistic director of a unique component of the hybrid students’ experience—the immersion.

The University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS) is proud to present the 2023 AccelerATe Scholarship awards. 

I am energized by our ability to infuse technology into practice, adapt to the unique needs of community-oriented practice, and serve those who are most vulnerable in society. Occupational Therapy has a long history of being adaptable, and these are just a few examples that I see coming ahead.

The University of Pittsburgh Rehabilitation Science and Technology Department has received a five-year grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research to support clinicians with post-doctoral fellowships to advance their careers in assistive technology practice, research and policy.

The University of Pittsburgh Department of Physician Assistant Studies (PAS) is again leading the way in developing innovative teaching for its students. The department’s PAS-Hybrid program has recently added telehealth to its curriculum, becoming the first hybrid program in the U.S. to incorporate this important communication tool between practitioners and patients. Vice Chair for Innovation and Professor Dipu Patel explains the curriculum and why Pitt PAS students are better positioned after they graduate.