PT Reviewer

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Official page for http://www.ptreviewer.com/ which provides reviews and updates on current research and clinical practice, from a physical therapist's perspective.

10/29/2026

Incredibly humbled and honored to learn that I have been selected to receive the Merit Award from the APTA Academy of Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Physical Therapy!

This is an award I’ve had my sights set on since I first became involved with the Academy over 13 years ago; and is the oldest award given by our academy! What makes it even more special is that it came as a complete surprise. I had no idea I had even been nominated!

I received the news during my final official Academy Board meeting last night, which made the moment particularly meaningful. As my time as Chief Delegate comes to a close in December, this feels like a fitting way to celebrate more than a decade of service to an organization that has meant so much to me.

It’s surreal to reflect on that journey. I started as a social media representative, helping modernize the Academy’s social media presence, eventually chairing the committee and launching the Vitals Are Vitals campaign during my tenure, which grew into one of the most recognizable advocacy and awareness initiatives in our profession. Along the way, I’ve had the privilege of serving as Nominating Committee Chair, Chief Delegate, and Associate Editor for CPTJ, among other roles. I even created and hosted the podcast for CPTJ!

Each opportunity has allowed me to work alongside incredible colleagues, build lasting friendships, and contribute to a profession I care deeply about.

What makes this recognition even sweeter is that I’ll receive the award in Philadelphia, with a former PT school classmate presenting it to me! I’m also hopeful that my family will be able to attend. Living so far from home means they rarely get to share these professional milestones with me in person, so having them there would make this occasion especially meaningful.

While this chapter of my Academy leadership is coming to a close, my journey of service to our profession is far from over.

Thank you to the Academy, its leadership, and the many colleagues and friends who have been part of this journey. I am truly grateful for this recognition and look forward to celebrating together in Philadelphia!

10/19/2026

One of the best signs of a successful advocacy campaign is when its message continues to resonate, even years later, and even when you’re not in the room.

I was reminded of that this past weekend at the ELC 2026 when my dear friend and colleague, Brian Young was presenting on medical screening in physical therapy education.

During his presentation, Brian referenced the Vitals Are Vital campaign. Before he could even finish the phrase, the entire room enthusiastically responded in unison: “Vital!”

I wasn’t there to witness it firsthand, but the multiple messages I received from colleagues who were in attendance made my day!

Nearly a decade after its launch, it’s incredibly rewarding to see how deeply this campaign has resonated with its intended audience, from students and early career clinicians to seasoned physical therapists and educators.

It’s a reminder that successful advocacy isn’t just about getting a message out. Which we have across the globe. It’s about creating a message that sticks, becomes part of the professional culture, and continues to influence practice long after the initial campaign.

Almost 10 years later, Vitals Are Still Vital!

10/18/2026

Returning from DC with some extra hardware! 2026 ELC Oxford Debate Champions! Great job by both teams and our moderators!

Thank you also to the audience for making the environment fun and lively all night! It was great to see and catch up with so many good friends and colleagues!

Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon in my hometown of Philadelphia for CSM 2027!

10/12/2026

🎤⚔️ Oxford Debate at ELC 2026!

Excited to be taking the stage for another Oxford Debate at this year’s Educational Leadership Conference (ELC) alongside an incredible group of colleagues and friends! And I have to say, our competition is pretty impressive too!

This year’s topic is particularly interesting because I’ll be arguing against the inclusion of artificial intelligence in PT and PTA education, a position that challenges my usual perspective! It should be a fun intellectual exercise to step outside my own views, challenge some assumptions, and make a compelling case for the other side.

It’s also a bit nostalgic! The last time I participated in an Oxford Debate was at the final APTA Annual Conference in Chicago back in 2019. Seven years later, I’m excited to return to the debate stage!

And this time, my team gets the final word! 😎

Looking forward to some spirited debate, plenty of laughs, and perhaps a different outcome this time around! 🤖🔥

10/01/2026

A potentially unpopular question for PT education: Are we sure competency-based education is the direction we should be heading?

I’ll acknowledge my bias upfront: I am not yet sold on competency-based education as a model for professional education.

That doesn’t mean I am opposed to assessing competence. Of course DPT graduates should demonstrate competence. But moving from a traditional, time-dependent model organized around semesters and credit hours toward a truly time-independent, competency-based model is a much bigger shift than people may realize.

It changes how we structure curriculum, student progression, assessment, remediation, but also faculty workload, tuition, financial aid, and other systems built around the time-dependent model of credit hours. And, at least within PT education, I’m not convinced we yet have a sufficiently robust evidence base to justify that degree of transformation.

But there is another issue that increasingly concerns me.

At the same time we are discussing CBE, we are also having serious conversations about the preparedness of students entering professional education. We hear concerns about foundational academic skills, time management, independent learning, and students’ ability to manage the demands of professional education.

Yet we are simultaneously considering an educational model that may require more of many of those same skills.

CBE is not students teaching themselves. Done well, it requires substantial faculty facilitation, coaching, assessment, feedback, and scaffolding. But it also places considerable responsibility on learners to manage their learning, identify gaps, respond to feedback, and demonstrate mastery.

That feels like an incongruence worth discussing.

The CBE train started moving years ago. But the student entering professional education today may not be the same student we were designing for when many of these conversations began.

If we genuinely believe learner preparation has changed, shouldn’t that new information cause us to revisit some of the assumptions underlying the educational models we’re pursuing? Also, have we asked students at large their preference?

Maybe the answer is still CBE. Maybe elements of CBE belong in professional education while maintaining more traditional structures. Or maybe a fully time-independent model isn’t the right answer for DPT education.

But I don’t think the train should keep moving simply because it already left the station.

Educational innovation should not become an inevitability. Sometimes we need to stop and ask whether the direction we started moving years ago still makes sense for the learners we have today.

09/28/2026

There has been increasing discussion about declining foundational skills and knowledge among students entering DPT programs. From what many of us are seeing, I think there is some truth to the observation that, nationwide, students may not be entering professional education with the same level of academic preparation we have historically expected.

But I think there is another side of this conversation that we don’t discuss enough.

Once a program admits a student, the responsibility shifts.

Admissions standards are supposed to serve as a filter. Programs establish the prerequisites, determine the requirements, and decide how applicants are evaluated. Ultimately, when a program offers someone admission, it is saying: This applicant has demonstrated the capacity to succeed in our program.

So if DPT programs are consistently finding that admitted students lack the foundational skills necessary to succeed, I don’t think that responsibility can simply be placed back on the students.

The program admitted them.

Students absolutely have responsibility for their own learning. They have to engage, study, respond to feedback, develop their clinical reasoning, and ultimately demonstrate that they meet the standards of the profession.

But once admitted, it becomes a two-way street.

Education should be transformational, but there is also an inherently transactional component to professional education. Students are investing substantial time, effort, and money in an education intended to prepare them for a profession.

Admission isn’t a guarantee of graduation or licensure. But it is an institutional judgment that a student has met the standards established by the program and has a reasonable opportunity to succeed within the educational program that institution designed.

That should give us some pause for introspection.

If student preparation has changed, have admissions processes changed with it? Are the measures being used still identifying the skills necessary for success in DPT education? If admitted students increasingly need support in foundational skills, are programs identifying those needs early and providing the necessary resources?

And we should be willing to examine the other end of the process: outcomes.

If we are seeing national concerns about student preparedness alongside changes in remediation, progression, and licensure outcomes, perhaps we need to examine the entire process.

That doesn’t mean lowering the bar. It means asking whether the system; from who is admitted, to how students are educated, to the outcomes ultimately produced is working as intended.

Perhaps the conversation shouldn’t simply be:

“What’s happening to today’s students?”

Perhaps we should also be asking:

“If students have changed, how should admissions processes and educational systems change with them?”

Once a program admits a student, it can’t put the outcome entirely on that student.

Their success becomes a shared responsibility.

09/28/2026

🎬 “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV…”

Except I actually am a doctor. Just… not that kind of doctor. 😂

Had a great time stepping a little outside my usual world and serving as an extra in a short film! A huge thank you to Adam McNinch for the opportunity to come on set and be part of the project.

It was really cool getting a behind-the-scenes look at just how much work goes into filmmaking; even for a short film. I also enjoyed being able to draw a little on my background as a healthcare provider and offer some insight for the scenes I was in.

Thanks as well to the entire cast and crew for making it such a fun experience. Looking forward to seeing everything come together in post-production, and wishing Adam and the team lots of success as the film makes its way to the festival circuit!

09/14/2026

Great time in Pittsburgh for the 2026 APTA Academy of Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Physical Therapy Conference!

One of the highlights was presenting “Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation” alongside a fantastic group of collaborators. It was a particularly meaningful full-circle experience getting to work with colleagues spanning different generations of the University of Miami Physical Therapy, as well as a trainee of my colleagues from the UK.

I led the diaphragm ultrasound portion of the session. Our primary goal was simply getting ultrasound imaging into the hands of more PTs. Which I think we accomplished. These skills are much more approachable than they may initially seem, and it was great seeing people realize that firsthand. As physical therapists continue to expand our role in primary care, I think POCUS offers another unique skill set we can bring to patient examination and clinical decision-making.

There was another full-circle moment for me: getting to teach respiratory muscle ultrasound to one of my former professors and mentors Dr. Larry Cahalin; the person who taught me my foundational knowledge of respiratory muscle assessment when I was a DPT student at UMiami!

Beyond the excellent keynote, presentations, it was great reconnecting with colleagues, meeting new people, and exchanging ideas throughout the weekend.

Thank you to Academy of Cardiopulmonary PT for another excellent conference. As a Penn State grad, though it pains me slightly to admit it, the University of Pittsburgh was a great host!

And a special thank you to EMST150™ for supporting multiple sessions and activities throughout the conference. It was great spending time at the booth again and talking with clinicians about respiratory muscle training.

Already looking forward to next year and the collaborations that come from conferences and conversations like these!

08/28/2026

And the crazy thing is that it’s so obvious when an account starts outsourcing the creative process to a bot. Immediate unfollow.

I’m not interested in the output of a data aggregator bot or software that follows predictable and stereotyped patterns for content creation. I’m interested in a person’s unique creation both in thoughts, words and graphics.

Be original! Be weird! Be unique! That’s the whole point!

08/28/2026

In the era of AI, too many content creators are too focused on engagement, and forgetting that the most important part of content creation is CREATING content.

The whole point is creating something unique and interesting. The process is an expression of your thoughts and creativity. If you’re outsourcing that whole process to a bot or an app, what’s the point?

Why should anyone care? It’s not original.

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