Grow and develop skills as an orthopaedic physical therapist.
The Orthopedic Physical Therapy Residency is one year in length, beginning in January or July. Within that year, residents receive an average of 45 hours per week of structured time. The breakdown of those hours includes 36 hours of patient care, including 5 hours of one-on-one hands-on mentoring, plus 4 hours of lecture/lab and 5 hours of experiential learning, research, and interprofessional collaboration.
What makes this program unique?
- Opportunity to work with 4 different mentors throughout the course of the year to give varying perspectives on clinical practice
- Designated mentor hours weekly with 1:1 instruction and real time feedback
- Clinical instructor credentialing provided with subsequent physical therapy student during residency year
- Exclusively in-house residency structure
- Weekly in-person classes on specific body regions to review up to date concepts and practice hands on skills in lab
- Numerous outside clinic experiences with healthcare professionals, including physicians of multiple specialties (orthopedic surgeons, family medicine, pain management, occupational medicine) to develop professional relationships and communication skills
- Large number of board-certified orthopedic physical therapists contributing to the coursework and mentoring sessions
Sample rotation schedule
The information below provides an illustrative example of the weekly schedule. Please note that specifics are subject to change as updates and enhancements to program are continually made to improve the resident learning experience.
| Time | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM | Patient Care | Mentoring with Patient Care | Experiential Learning | Class | Patient Care |
| PM | Patient Care | Patient Care | Experiential Learning | Patient Care | Patient Care |
| Topic | Weeks |
|---|---|
| Clinical Reasoning | 3 |
| Chronic Pain | 1 |
| Lumbopelvic | 5 |
| Referred Pain | 1 |
| Hip | 2 |
| Knee | 3 |
| Ankle/Foot | 3 |
| Gait | 1 |
| Mobility and Muscle Balance | 1 |
| Thoracic/Rib | 2 |
| Cervical | 3 |
| Craniomandibular | 2 |
| Shoulder | 3 |
| Elbow | 2 |
| Wrist/Hand | 3 |
| Review and Exams | 8 |
| Research | 7 |
Experiential Learning
Experiential learning consists of diverse observational and interactive learning experiences throughout the St. Luke’s University Health Network. You will be observing and interacting with many different types of physicians and residents from family practice, occupational medicine, pain management, geriatric medicine, radiology, and orthopedic surgery. You also get the opportunity to observe other orthopedic physical therapists and orthopedic pediatric physical therapists.
How to Apply
Submit your application to be considered for the St. Luke’s Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency Program.