OMPT Fellowship

This course provides an introduction into what it means to be a manual physical therapy fellow. A variety of professional topics are discussed including the history of manual therapy, professional organization(s), and current and emerging issues.

This course is designed to improve the participant's understanding and use of evidence-based practice and its impact on person-centered clinical reasoning. Participants learn how to effectively and efficiently the quality of peer-reviewed articles and accurately interpret specific findings. Learners will apply research appraisal skills that will form the foundation for future fellowship course work to build upon.  The goal of this course is to develop consumers and users of clinical research that will improve the quality and impact of the participant’s clinical practice on the people they serve.

This course reinforces the importance of evidence-informed, person-centered exercise prescription. The learner will investigate specific dosage parameters related to strength, endurance, motor control, power, and agility exercises and how to adapt these parameters to reach a person’s functional goals. The goal of this course is to distinguish basic dosage prescription strategies within a person-centered reasoning approach.

This course provides an in-depth review of the current concepts in pain sciences. The course challenges presuppositions and provides evidence-based insight into the current myths and gross misunderstandings of pain.

This course will explore the physical therapist’s role in optimal health promotion and wellbeing through select lifestyle medicine topics. Learners will investigate the impact that sleep and nutrition have on pain, health, and disability. Learners will review strategies to empower people to adopt behaviors that support a healthy lifestyle and address pain. The goal of this course is to empower the fellow-in-training to take an active role in inspiring healthy behaviors within in a person-centered approach to meet the needs of society.

This course will define person-centered clinical reasoning grounded in the signs and symptoms approach used in orthopaedic manual physical therapy practice. The learner will explore concepts surrounding person-centered care, shared-decision making, hypo-deductive reasoning, severity, irritability, nature, stage, and stability and how these factors play a role in one's clinical reasoning. Evidence-informed behaviors and reasoning skills surrounding the interview process and physical examination will also be a center-point of this course which will guide the learner in establishing a person's prognosis and/or theranosis. The goal of this course is to lay foundational person-centered clinical reasoning knowledge that prepares the learner for future clinical reasoning refinement and clinical application.

In this course, students’ function as teaching assistants for students enrolled in DSC 650 Management of Lumbopelvic Disorders. Under faculty oversight, students participate in course oversight, instruction, student evaluation and mentorship.

In this course, students’ function as teaching assistants for students enrolled in DSC 651 Management of Lower Extremity Disorders. Under faculty guidance, students participate in course oversight, instruction, student evaluation and mentorship.

In this course student’s function as teaching assistants for students enrolled in DSC 653 Management of Cervical and Thoracic Disorders. Under faculty guidance, students participate in course oversight, instruction, student evaluation and mentorship.

This course provides an in-depth review of current concepts and published evidence related to the clinical examination, evaluation, diagnosis, and interventions for patients with disorders of the lumbopelvic spine and hip. Evidence based classification systems, diagnosis, and outcomes tools, are addressed. 

In this course, students function as teaching assistants for students enrolled in DSC 666 Management of Upper Extremity Disorders.  Under faculty guidance, students participate in course oversight, instruction, student evaluation and mentorship.

This course integrates manual therapy and exercise intervention techniques in the management of individuals with lower extremities musculoskeletal disorders. The course includes discussion of radiology rules for acute lower extremity injuries as well as diagnostic information for systemic and vascular disorders affecting the lower extremities. An intensive laboratory weekend is included.

This course integrates manipulative intervention techniques in the management of individuals with cervical-thoracic spine and ribcage disorders. It includes the application of diagnostic imaging as a component of the diagnostic process. Classification systems and outcomes assessment tools, within the framework of evidence-based practice are included. An intensive laboratory weekend is included.

This course integrates manipulative intervention techniques in the management of individuals with upper extremity disorders and dysfunction. Classification systems and outcomes assessment tools, within the framework of evidence-based practice, are included. Diagnostic information for the medical screening of systemic and vascular disorders is discussed. An intensive laboratory weekend is included.

This course includes the preparation of two up-to-date, well-researched, evidence-focused presentations on pre-approved topics. These presentations must be: 1) recorded for posting in an open access forum, 2) presented live at weekend intensive or other approved post-professional continuing education course, 3) presented to a multi-disciplinary audience, 4) presented to a direct consumer audience, or 5) presented to another pre-approved audience.

This weekend intensive lab focuses on the advanced examination/interventions targeting the upper and lower quarter, including mechanical diagnosis and therapy concepts, adverse neural dynamics, mobilization/manipulation techniques, and manual resisted exercise.  The class includes discussion on optimizing the patient history, key differentiation testing to use in the physical exam, and strategies to select optimal intervention procedures.

This course requires the student to complete a scholarly project that may include a patient case report or case series, data collection for a research project, contribute to a systematic review or contribution to scholarly work.  Fellow in Training may choose their scholarly project topic but must have it pre-approved through the Fellowship Program Director.

This course will expand on the person-centered and signs and symptoms reasoning approach used in orthopaedic manual physical therapy practice through the integration of evidence-informed communication strategies and hypodeductive reasoning. The learner will work to become competent in a systematic person-centered interview process that aims to develop a strong therapeutic alliance and empower the person seeking care. There will be a focus on refining appropriate communication skills related to the subjective examination of a person through the critical review of case presentations and peer critical review. The goal of this course is to develop explicit communication behaviors and skills required to perform an efficient and well-organized interview that allows the learner to construct appropriate person-centered hypotheses, physical examination plans, and intervention strategies.

This course will build off the foundational content and practice in person management framework 2.  The learner will refine their skills and behaviors surrounding communication and interviewing in order to guide and perform an evidence-informed physical examination. Learners will develop their reasoning skills in order to synthesize data from both the interview and physical exam in order to form an accurate person-centered hypothesis.  There will be a focus on refining appropriate psychomotor skills related to the physical examination of the spine and extremities through the critical review of case presentations and peer critical review. The goal of this course is to become proficient in the performance of a hypo-deductive reasoning approach to the physical examination that is founded in precise psychomotor performance that guides an evidence-informed intervention plan

This course will build off the foundational content and practice in person management framework 3. The learner will refine their reasoning skills so that they reach proficiency or mastery in specific elements of person-centered care. There will be a focus on optimal communication strategies for addressing complicating or significant influencing factors and progression of the plan of care. The learner will continue to refine their psychomotor skills related to the physical exam and evidence-informed intervention strategies. Refinement of reasoning skills through critical review of case presentations and peer feedback will be a hallmark of this course. The goal of this course is to prepare the learner for successful implementation of the person-centered model in order to pass the capstone practical examinations.

This Clinical Practicum is an advanced clinical practice experience in orthopaedic manual physical therapy in which students are mentored in both live 1:1 clinical practice hours and orthopaedic manual physical therapy clinical practice hours based on current American Physical Therapy Association requirements. Emphasis is placed on advanced clinical decision-making, outcomes evaluation and autonomous patient management.

This independent study course includes the completion of self-paced coursework focused on the foundations of manual physical therapy practice and the standardized manual physical therapy examination. This course is satisfied through successful completion of four practical examinations involving the lumbopelvic, cervical and thoracic, upper extremity, and lower extremity regions.