EUGENE, Or - The Lane Community College Physical Therapist Assistant has reached significant milestones since it began in 2008 and will host the Oregon Physical Therapist Licensing Board on Friday, October 26, in the Health and Wellness Center, Building 30, PTA Lab-Room 122, main campus, 4000 E. 30th Avenue in Eugene.
The board chose to meet at Lane in an effort to increase opportunities for physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and students living outside of Portland to participate in a session from 12:30-3 p.m. The board will discuss issues pertinent to the profession.
Last November, Lane's program earned five-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, paving the way for students to obtain licensure. Only one other Oregon college is accredited for PTA, Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham.
"Unlike other health professions at Lane," says program coordinator Christina Howard, "our first graduating class started and finished the program without the assurance that their degree would result in employment. It was up to these students, faculty and the college to prove Lane's program would meet national standards, and we did."
Job prospects are very good, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Between the present and 2018, the field is expected to grow by 33 percent. Lane admits 24 PTA students a year.
In addition to accreditation, Howard won a 2012 Innovation of the Year Award from the League for Innovation in the Community College, an organization representing two-year colleges in the United States, Canada and other countries. She was recognized for her project called "Death to the Red Pen" which uses screen-casting technology to quickly provide students with personalized feedback focused on learning outcomes. She produced a 15-minute video about the tool and presented it at Technopalooza, the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections conference in Chicago in February. The video is online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22cUWRvRuWc&feature=youtu.be
Another faculty member honored this year is Michael Gores, who won the Clinical Instructor of the Year Award at Pacific University. He is the center coordinator for Clinical Education for Pinnacle Healthcare and is a clinical instructor at South Hills Rehabilitation in Eugene. He has been a clinical instructor for Pacific University for many years. He teaches part time at Lane where he was Clinical Instructor of the Year in 2011-12.
Finally, instructor Beth Thorpe was named Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (ACCE) for Lane's program. She is known for partnering with hundreds of sites and developing innovative ways to help students internalize techniques and practice styles that are essential to the practice of physical therapy. She won a Winter 2010 Faculty Recognition Award at Lane, and authored an article in the August 2012 issue of the American Physical Therapy Association monthly magazine, titled "ACCE Was in the Cards."
About the Physical Therapist Assistant program—
About the Oregon Physical Therapists Licensing Board—
The board was created in 1971 to regulate the practice of physical therapy in Oregon. Its purpose is public protection and to establish professional standards of practice which assure that physical therapists and physical therapist assistants are properly educated, hold valid/current licenses, practice within their scope of practice and continue to receive ongoing training throughout their careers.
Lane is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution. Visit online at www.lanecc.edu or www.twitter.com/lanenews or www.facebook.com/lanecommunitycollege
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Media contact: Joan Aschim, PIO, aschimj@lanecc.edu or (541) 463-5591