Okay, this blog can get more interesting I suppose or challenging now that we need to actually start developing the sports residency program. As mentioned, our facility (Premier Physical Therapy) works with 2 local high schools which gives us immediate access to a large athletic population hence why we are working on developing a sports program. The owners are very supportive and excited to develop a residency program but my biggest challenge is where to begin. Having been through a credentialed residency program myself (graduated from the University of Delaware Orthopaedic Residency) in 2010, I feel I have a good idea as to components of the program I found particularly important and beneficial in developing me into a clinical specialist.
I began the process by browsing all available information. I went onto the APTA website and followed links to residency and fellowship development (http://www.apta.org/Educators/ResidencyFellowship/). I was able to find several resources including the application, application resource manual, the sports description of specialty practice (DSP) and contact information for support staff at ABPTRFE. I have found ABPTRFE to be very helpful and prompt with answering any questions I have had thus far.
After doing research on my own as to what the residency program involves and what additional components are required (athletic coverage, physician/surgeon involvement and other components outlined in the DSP) I was able to present this information to the owners of the clinic. They were able to look at the financial involvement and how a residency would fit into Premier’s business model. At the same time, I designed what I figured a weekly resident schedule would look like to determine the mix of clinical hours, mentored hours and outside experiences to make sure this too would work for the clinic and patients while following the guidelines set by ABPTRFE. Another one of my first undertakings was to determine when the majority of PT programs graduate to determine what may be an appropriate start date that would encompass the ability for new graduates to apply and work well with a high school sports schedule.
Realizing what a large undertaking this project will be, we have committed to having weekly meetings at which time one of the owners and myself will meet and slowly work away at the application. Aside from desiring to be a credentialed residency program, we figured the best way to ensure that we set up our program correctly would be to base it on the DSP and components required in the credentialing application. So now that we have a better understanding of what a residency program entails, and what components are required, we are ready to begin plucking away at the application.
Jen Flug PT, DPT, OCS
Premier Physical Therapy and Sports Performance
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