NEWSLETTER

HIGHLIGHTS

• ELC 2024 Submissions Close Friday
• ELC Reviewers Deadline Friday
• AoE 2024 Elections Close April 30
• T-Shirt Design Contest - You could win $500!
• Student Debt Webinar
• CE Glossary Oversight Revision Workgroup Survey

Pursuing Excellence and Innovation in

Physical Therapy Education

Exciting news! This year, we will have two types of Educational sessions available:

• Standard Educational Presentations (90 min): Standard educational presentations are scheduled for 1 ½ hours and will occur any of the three days of the conference.  
• MicroLearn Educational Session (25-30 min): We’re enhancing our educational conference experience by introducing MicroLearn sessions alongside our standard education sessions. These compact, focused sessions are designed to deliver quick insights, practical skills, and actionable takeaways. Whether you’re a seasoned attendee or a first-timer, prepare for a dynamic learning journey! Stay tuned for the MicroLearn lineup—it’s knowledge in a nutshell! Authors will be paired with two other MicroLearn submissions of similar topics to make up a complete 90-minute session.

Submissions for poster and platform abstracts are also now being accepted. Posters are displayed for an entire day during the conference, with presenters scheduled for 45-minute time slots either in the morning or afternoon. Platform presentations are 15-minute oral presentations scheduled throughout the 3 days of the conference.

SUBMISSION PORTAL FOR ELC 2024: OPENS MARCH 1, 2024, AND CLOSES APRIL 19, 2024, with the link below: 

Educational Submissions: Click here to submit and learn more

Abstract Submission: Click here to submit and learn more

T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST

YOU COULD WIN $500!

The American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) and the APTA Academy of Education are proud to support scholarship fundraising efforts for minority physical therapy students. This year, ELC is supporting these scholarship efforts through a t-shirt design contest. The contest theme is: Many faces. One purpose. The theme showcases the many backgrounds of physical therapy education professionals, all working toward the same purpose of providing quality care and advancing the community. 

The funds raised in this contest will be distributed to the American Academy of Physical Therapy, the National Association of Black Physical Therapy, and the APTA Physical Therapy Minority Scholarship Fund. These organizations provide scholarships to diverse populations.

The contest is open to all physical therapy and physical therapist assistant students. The winner of the contest will receive $500.00 USD. All designs must be submitted by April 30^th to be considered. Voting will take place May 1^st – May 15^th. Each vote will cost one dollar ($1.00 USD) which will also go toward the scholarships. Please see below for contest guidelines. In the event of a tie, ELC Leadership will cast the deciding vote. Designs should be submitted to info@pteducationleadershipconference.org by Tuesday, April 30^th, 11:59 pm.

The winning design may be subjected to any changes deemed necessary by the ELC marketing team to ensure the design can be properly utilized for a t-shirt. ELC Leadership will have the final say on the color of the t-shirt.

Attendees will learn important 2024 updates on student loans that directly affect educators who have Federal Student Debt. We will cover the two major types of loan forgiveness, the differences between federal and private loans, and the IDR Waiver/One Time Account Adjustment. Many are unaware this Federal government program exists and don’t know how to take advantage of it. This program can be especially beneficial for borrowers who have multiple Federal Student Loans on different timelines.

Date: May 2nd, 2024

Time: 7pm - 8pm

Dr. Connor Pierce is the Founder of After the DPT, where he helps DPTs understand their student debt. Connor is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and was a full-time practicing clinician for over 5 years. He passed the Certified Student Loan Professional® exam to become an industry leader in student loan advising. He has been teaching as an adjunct faculty at physical therapy programs for the past 4 years. He and his wife understand first-hand what DPT debt feels like as they are both DPTs who graduated with DPT debt in 2018. They believe that their shared experience with DPTs who are graduating today, allows them to better understand and know how to help fellow DPTs handle their student debt. Dr. Pierce has personally advised individuals on over $30 million dollars in student debt.

The American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) and the APTA Academy of Education worked collaboratively to develop the glossary of physical therapy clinical education (CE) terms for both physical therapists (PTs) and physical therapist assistants (PTAs). As part of the commitment to keeping the CE Glossary contemporary and useful in PT and PTA CE, the CE Glossary Oversight Workgroup will consider submissions for new terms and/or revisions.

The survey link will be open from April 15th to June 15th.

The initial glossary was developed after a review of the physical therapy literature, extensive discussion, and debate by the ACAPT Common Terminology Panel, and engagement of key stakeholders within the physical therapy clinical education community. The glossary is divided into major categories and as applicable, definitions are referenced. The same process will be used for consideration of new terms/revisions. Please see the rubric included with the survey for details.

If you are a DCE/ACCE, please consider sharing this information with your clinical partners.

You can read the published article: Recommendations from ACAPT's Common Terminology Panel (2018) if you would like to learn more.

For questions, please email:

amy.both@utoledo.edu and include in the subject line ‘CE Glossary Question’

Platform and Poster Abstracts

The deadline to submit is July 16. Please contact APTA Events if you do not receive the notification of the decision on your abstract submission by Oct. 1, or if you have other questions.

Sign up using the form below to receive informational updates about the 19th Annual Physical Therapist Education Leadership Conference.

Your DPT or PTA program's top leadership - including program directors, directors of clinical educators (DCEs) & associate/assistant program directors - can take your DPT or PTA program to the next level with unique team training focusing on continuous improvement in pursuit of excellence!

Working across didactic & clinical education with academic DPT and PTA experts, you'll benefit from this hybrid, high-impact, hands-on training that is centered on:

• Personal & shared leadership
• Collegial culture creation
• Effective curriculum stewardship
• Streamlined academic administration
• Program directors & others who are newer to their roles – or who want to revamp their approach

Learn more & register now for this 2024 training. Limited registrations are available, so be sure to secure your spot today.

This new, affordable ACAPT team training is a perfect complement to FHEL & other leadership development like ACAPT's Leadership Compass.

Participate in Your Colleagues' Research

ELC 2024: Submissions Now Open

Congratulations to the 2024 Award Winners

Now Accepting Nominations: PTA Honor Society

CSM 2025: Submission Portal Now Open!

Check out our Virtual Exhibit Booth!

Find your next career opportunity on our classified page