Progress

Well, we have started to announce our residency program which is really exciting! One of our clinicians did a presentation on another topic for a nearby PT program and was able to announce our residency to the class which will be graduating in December. And as mentioned in the last blog, we are getting ready to announce the residency on our company website in the coming weeks….I will keep everyone posted.

I had a meeting with another clinician this week and she is going to help me gather documents for the resident’s handbook. We have a pretty solid outline of what to include, but need to begin to gather the materials we find to be relevant and put them in a hard format for a resident to have when he/she arrives. It was also nice to have a fresh set of eyes looking at everything I have been working on and making sure things make sense from another person’s perspective.

I also took the time to begin to discuss curriculum with my colleague and believe this is where I will begin to focus my efforts. In thinking about the curriculum and what needs to be included in accordance with the Description of Specialty Practice (DSP). I have started to compile a list of physicians and surgeons in the area I would like to approach for participation in the residency program. I plan to discuss this with the clinic owners in the next week or two so we can begin to approach the doctors now and then I can develop the resident’s yearly calendar taking everyone’s schedule into consideration.


Jen Flug PT, DPT, OCS, SCS
Premier Physical Therapy and Sports Performance
www.premierptsp.com

Section 1 Completed!

Now that we have a pretty solid base for the residency (having Section 1 of the credentialing application to ABPTRFE all but completed) we are beginning to look towards the next few sections. However, we have decided now is a great time to announce our residency to begin the search for our first resident. In doing so, I have sat down with one of the owners to set some important dates. This has included the start date for the resident (who we hope will start early 2013), a date for when the applications will be due and a tentative date for when we would like to have selected a resident. This included building in time for interviews and allowing us adequate time as a clinic to select a candidate.

I have also spent a lot of time lately researching residency programs online to begin to develop the portion of our website that will house all of our residency information including the application for potential residents to fill out. I was able to learn a lot from other programs and really pinpoint what I felt was imperative for a potential resident to know about Premier Physical Therapy and Sports Performance prior to applying. We will be working with our website design team to get this information public. My goal is to have this information up and running by mid-July so tune in to see the website live and in action!

Jen Flug PT, DPT, OCS, SCS

Premier Physical Therapy and Sports Performance

www.premierptsp.com

Residency Handbook

Well, it was very exciting to present Section 1 of the credentialing application document to the two Premier Physical Therapy and Sports Performance clinics and to let everyone know what we have been working on over the past few weeks. The information was very well received by all of the clinicians and valuable advice was given by everyone. I am now going back and making changes based on people’s recommendations including changing what we are going to ask in the application we have developed for potential residents to apply to our program. We have decided to have candidates write a personal statement as well as a professional statement to help us get a better idea of who they are as a person prior to inviting candidates for an interview.

One of my biggest struggles right now is determining what will be included in the residency handbook. I have begun a table of contents which I have noticed is going to be a work in progress throughout the development of this residency. I am going to be teaming up with another clinician to help develop this handbook as I think having the insight of somebody else will be very helpful. I am trying to include all aspects of the residency program from those required by ABPTRFE, as well as basic human resources and new hire information, and rehabilitation practice guidelines and clinical prediction rules frequently used at Premier Physical Therapy and Sports Performance.

On a side note, my clinic had a big week this week- myself and one other clinician found out we passed the SCS exam which really helps us move forward with this residency program. We now have three clinicians in our Middletown office that are sports certified specialists which will be a huge asset to our program!

Jen Flug PT, DPT, OCS, SCS

Premier Physical Therapy and Sports Performance

www.premierptsp.com

Preface

As mentioned in my previous blog, I am now taking time to work on the preface statement that will introduce the residency program and begin the application. This part has taken some thought to make it concise but also to be sure that it encompasses our true vision of a residency and what makes our facility an ideal location for a sports residency program. I have asked for the input of others as to what they would like to see the preface include and have started writing based on this.

I have also been working on the policies and procedures related to the retention (section 1.2.3.1.B) portion of the application. Pat and I really want our residency to appeal to new graduates and current physical therapists alike; therefore we had several discussions regarding this topic. We had to determine how we would word some of this for a new graduate who may not yet have obtained entry-level licensure and how this may or may not affect the program.

At this point, I have gathered the majority of the information for Section 1 of the application and will work to fine tune it all and make sure everything concisely communicates what I was intending as it is the plan to introduce all we have done to both of our clinics next week for feedback. After looking at it over and over again, I really think it will be beneficial to have a fresh set of eyes to look over everything, plus I’m very excited to show everyone where we are at and that this residency dream of mine is really going to happen!

Jen Flug PT, DPT, OCS

Premier Physical Therapy and Sports Performance

www.premierptsp.com

Section 1

I am now fully underway with beginning Section 1 of the credentialing application. After looking at all of the necessary components, I have decided to start at the top. The owners will be providing the information for the first two evidence numbers (the umbrella organization’s mission and goals and the ongoing methods used to evaluate the effectiveness of the umbrella organization’s performance). I will be working from scratch at writing the preface and developing the mission, goals and objectives for our residency program.

I explored the examples provided in the application resource manual and also looked online at residency programs that I was familiar with to see what information was accessible to help guide my process. Developing the mission came relatively easy, but developing the goals and objectives took a lot more tweaking and work. This became a joint effort with Pat (one of the clinic owners and clinician) and I. We spent several meetings looking at the goals I had previously developed to ensure that they encompassed all aspects of the residency. I also found the sports DSP to be helpful in determining objectives for each program goal that related specifically to advanced clinical practice. As a clinic, we are also very involved in the local community and made sure that the goals addressed this aspect as we feel it is important for a resident to gain this exposure and participate in community activities.

At the same time as working on the program’s mission, goals, and objectives, I am working on getting the resident application prepared for potential residency candidates to complete. Our plan is to have this application posted to our program’s website by early summer in order to begin the enrollment process for our first resident. For this candidate application I have developed the components I feel are necessary information to collect from the applicant. The first page of our application will include general information (I am working on developing questions that I would want the resident to fill out including general contact information and information regarding licensure status etc.), a written statement that will allow the candidate to express why he/she is a good fit for the program, and a page with instructions for references. Once I have this done, I plan to present it to the rest of our staff for feedback prior to putting it on our website. We have also begun to openly announce the starting of the residency program to PT students in the area and when we come in contact with others in the profession.

It is nice to have some things down on paper and I feel that the residency development in now well under way. I will continue to hash out Section 1 of the credentialing application while adjusting the goals as I see fit. I will also work on the preface that will serve as the introduction to the credentialing application.

Jen Flug PT, DPT, OCS

Premier Physical Therapy and Sports Performance

www.premierptsp.com

Starting the application

I have now begun to look closely at the application for credentialing a residency and going through the application resource manual that I accessed through the APTA website. These 2 documents are very extensive and a bit overwhelming but provide some examples for each section of the credentialing document that provide good insight into program development. This also helps to understand on a more global level what will be expected and involved in the credentialing process.

The owners of the clinic are working on the financial aspect of the residency so that we can figure out what we will offer a resident while taking into consideration the clinic and resident’s needs. We have also started a discussion about local physicians and surgeons that may be interested in participating in the program and what needs each person will be able to fulfill in accordance with the sports Description of Specialty Practice (DSP).

We have discussed as a clinic when we feel an appropriate start date would be for a resident being mindful of athletic schedules and PT school graduation dates to encompass appealing to a wide range of applicants. We have decided that early spring would be ideal as new graduates that finish school in December/January would be able to apply, and residents would be able to start prior to spring sports and not have to begin in the middle of a high school sports season. With this date in mind, I have started to develop an application for potential residents to fill out as we would like to have this completed and ready for distribution by early summer. This would allow us the ability to interview applicants in mid/late fall and then begin the program in February. Another advantage to this start date is that we could then submit our document for credentialing soon after with the hopes of being credentialed prior to our first resident graduating from the program. So with all of this in mind, it is my goal for the next week to research what other programs have included in the application and to determine any additional information we feel is of importance.

While keeping curriculum development in the back of our minds, we realize we will be able to meet all of the needs of the residency on one way or another. Therefore, we are starting to complete the credentialing application from the beginning in Section 1, rather than starting on Section 3 of the application that deals with the curriculum.

Jen Flug PT, DPT, OCS

Premier Physical Therapy and Sports Performance

www.premierptsp.com

Where to start?

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

www.premierptsp.com