SHRS Blog

The Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS) has received special recognition from the Pennsylvania Counseling Association (PCA). During this year’s PCA Conference, the Counseling program was named the 2022 PCA Outstanding Counselor Education Program. ...

Only one month after graduating with his PhD in Rehabilitation Science, Proessl moved into his new position as director of Sports Science at Pitt Athletics in June 2022. It was a position he seemed destined for ten years after he first began looking into how science could improve his own athletic performance. He is continuing his work with the men’s soccer team, but he is now also a resource for all other sports. He explains, “My task is to centralize data, ensure it’s collected and processed at the ‘gold standard’ and then create digestible reports to inform the decision making of coaches and the support staff.”

Drive and passion. The University of Pittsburgh has become a nexus for students who live by these traits to fulfill their academic and professional goals. Felix Proessl, 2022 graduate of the Rehabilitation Science PhD program, is the embodiment of drive and passion and the success they can lead to. They have taken him from the small town of Weiden in southeast Germany where he grew up, to the wide-open ranges of Nebraska and Colorado, and finally to the research and sports haven of Pittsburgh where he is pushing the boundaries of athletic performance as the new Director of Sports Science at Pitt Athletics. 

Kim Peterson, assistant professor in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS) Health Informatics (HI) program, is passionate about where the world of HI will take us. “We have tons of electronic health information. Now, how do we get the data out and analyze it to make sense of it?” After 25 years directing health information management (HIM) at local hospitals and working alongside fellow Pitt HI researchers, Peterson is convinced that “the cure for cancer is in the data. ...

It's officially Hispanic Heritage Month, which takes place from September 15 to October 15 and is recognized as a time to celebrate the history and culture of Latinx and Hispanic communities in the United States. I can't help but reflect on how my Latinx heritage has influenced so much of my life! ...

“What’s the game-changing need right now in rehabilitation research?” poses Beth Skidmore, associate dean for Research and professor of Occupational Therapy in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS). The answer to her and many others in the field is clear ...

On August 24, 2022, the expansive windows of Bridgeside Point filled classrooms with an abundance of light as School of Health and Rehabilitation Science (SHRS) researchers participated in the third annual Rehabilitation Research Retreat. It was as if the bright afternoon sun symbolized a new phase reuniting them together in person for the first time since the inaugural virtual retreat in 2020.

One of the few Health Informatics (HI) programs in the United States is at the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and it is transforming the future of health care. In June—in recognition of its leadership and innovation in the growing field of health data science—the HI program received a one-year $300,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH). ...

When I was first applying to colleges, I didn’t know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go. I knew I wanted to work in the medical field and be a physician assistant (PA), but didn’t quite know how I would get there or what undergraduate degree would set me on the right path. 

“Anybody who is different is looked at and stared at. That happens around the globe,” observes Sue Whitney when asked how society views children with cerebral palsy (CP).  

As co-director and professor of the Master of Science in Physical Therapy (MSPT) program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS), Whitney has decades of experience teaching students and working with adults and children who have neuromuscular movement disorders. For children, a life of independence and prosperity could easily be disregarded by society. Their ungainly stance and inability to control subtle motor skills, like hand movements, elicit stares and often relegate them to a life of constant caregiving by family and special education classes in school. “It’s really hard for parents,” Whitney continues. “I think it’s especially hard because these kids grow older and become adults, and I think people are nicer to children than they are to adults. We need to train children to be productive members of society so that they can be employed.” 

Kori Morgan completed the APP course last fall and is a nurse practitioner at UPMC Central PA in the Primary Care division. Currently, she is the program manager of the Advanced Practice Providers (APPs). Read more about her time in the program.

As an alumna, instructor and now vice chair of Post-Professional Education of Pitt’s PT Department, I am uniquely situated to share the many benefits of the University of Pittsburgh’s Master of Science in Physical Therapy program. I joined the physical therapy profession after becoming inspired by the innovative work in the field of orthopedics and sports medicine that was occurring under the direction Dr. Freddie Fu and James (Jay) Irrgang at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine. They were leading the way in new surgical and rehabilitation techniques that I wanted to be a part of.