APTA's PTA Advanced Proficiency Pathways is the premier program for increasing a PTA's knowledge and skill in a chosen area of physical therapy. PTAs gain advanced proficiency knowledge and skill in one of the following areas: Acute Care, Cardiovascular and Pulmonary, Geriatrics, Neurology, Oncology, Orthopedics, Pediatrics, Wound Management.

Neurodegenerative changes of aging, the brain/body's decreased ability to compensate and/or previous neurological insult can all influence diminished balance in the elderly. This presentation will cover the visual perceptual piece and how to identify and modify to improve therapeutic outcomes

Have you ever thought about incorporating nutrition into your practice but found yourself intimidated by scope of practice laws, reimbursement, or some other barrier? Please join us as we break it all down into bite sized, easily digestible action steps you can apply starting Monday to optimize your patient outcomes!

This session will kick off the pelvic health track by beginning with high level evidence supporting pelvic health physical therapy within common patient populations and quickly transition into bringing light to overlooked or underserved patient populations that will benefit from pelvic health screening, intervention, and education. This session will look at multiple case studies through the lenses of evidence-based research and clinical experience to illuminate that pelvic dysfunction is present in more than just moms.

Physical therapy continues to be a dynamic field. The COVID pandemic was just one catalyst to the expansion of therapy provision into new settings and therapist into new roles away from the bedside. Join us for this panel of therapists discussing exciting new opportunities.

The number of cancer survivors in Kentucky continues to grow along with functional impairments caused by cancer and its treatment, and physical therapy is a critical service to assist cancer patients with their mobility and quality of life. This session will introduce the statewide initiative “Cancer Rehabilitation Across Kentucky” focused on access to quality rehabilitation care for cancer patients across our Commonwealth, the specific needs of this patient population, as well as an overview of professional development pathways for physical therapy specialization in cancer rehabilitation. (We will utilize case scenarios and discussion to achieve our objectives.)

While commonly diagnosed in athletes, athletic pubalgia may be overlooked in the postpartum population. This session will discuss a case report on athletic pubalgia in the postpartum recreational athlete with an emphasis on the financial and emotional cost of misdiagnosis.

Physical Therapists are best qualified to treat upper extremity conditions. This session will discuss PTs as upper extremity specialists, including pathway to CHT.

This session is taking the Orthopaedic Manual Therapy Framework and most recent Clinical Practice Guidelines for the treatment of low back pain and integrating both using a patient case example. The goal of the session is to understand the on-going clinical decision making process while examining, evaluating, and treating a patient with low back pain.

Presenters will demonstrate innovative technology devices that 1) provide increasingly accurate and robust objective data to help therapists make informed clinical decisions and 2) expand patient intervention options to improve functional outcomes and patient engagement. Technology that will be featured include: VSTBalance (motion capture mobility assessment), TekScan (pressure mapping and force measurement) , Noraxon (portable biomechanics lab), Trexo (robotics gait training system), and UprightVR (virtual reality fall risk assessment).

RETAIN KY is a research initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Labor to help Kentuckians stay in the workforce after injury/illness. Our inter-disciplinary team has assisted in implementing RETAIN services within our major healthcare system & throughout the state in hopes to demonstrate the impact of early intervention for national/state-wide policy change.

Project ECHO is a training and capacity building program intended to support inter-professional connection and best practice implementation across settings and communities. The TAALC ECHO Collaborative on AAC is an interprofessional practice network where education and related service professionals learn and problem-solve augmentative and alternative communication issues in a school setting together. This session will describe the components of ECHO and participate in a mock ECHO session to gain hands-on experience with the model and how to implement in your setting.

A survey that assesses the current state of imaging curricula in DPT Programs.

This session will explain the role of the physical therapist in addressing bowel and bladder issues in the pediatric patient. Relevant anatomy and physiology as well as examination and intervention strategies will be discussed.

This session will provide the attendee with current evidence regarding spine care cost, outcomes, and show why change is necessary. Additionally, this session will provide the latest evidence-based training and pathways for serving as a primary spine practitioner.”

This course will explore the development and outcomes of a collaborative, consortium core network (CCN); whereby the Ohio Kentucky Consortium of Physical Therapy Clinical Educators collectively designed, implemented, and assessed a newly established centralized physical therapist clinical education placement process (PT-CEPP) using a web-based platform accessible to all stakeholders. A model of the PT-CEPP that operates in five distinct phases across a standardized timeline will be described. Regional data metrics, including demand (number of placements) and supply (number of offers) and satisfaction among academic and clinical stakeholders will be shared.