January 2024 Grand Rounds - Training Students to Implement Evidence-Based Programs

Kimberly Nowakowski, PT, DPT is a Professor of Physical Therapy and the Director of Clinical Education at Springfield College. She has been a physical therapist for over 30 years and continues to practice with clients with neurologic dysfunction on a per diem basis. Kim is an ABPTS-certified specialist in Geriatric Physical Therapy and Certified Exercise Expert for Aging Adults. Her involvement in community health includes fall prevention programs locally and in Trinidad, SAFE screening at the MA Senior Games, and she is a trained leader for Walk With Ease, Stay Active and Independent for Life, and Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance. She is part of the research team that received a grant from the Administration of Community Living to provide community-based falls risk reduction programming for older adults in Western Massachusetts.

Regina Kaufman, PT, EdD, MS, NCS is Professor of Physical Therapy at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts.  She received her Bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from Russell Sage College in 1984, an MS in PT from the MGH Institute of Health Professions, and an EdD from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  She is an academician and clinician with a strong commitment to community-engaged education.  For more than a decade she has partnered with community members living with chronic neurologic conditions to promote improvements in health and function while enhancing DPT student development through a variety of service learning initiatives.  Long term relationships with community partners have prompted and informed deep introspection about what it means to provide authentic person-centered care as well as an evolving critique of some of the values and assumptions that drive traditional rehabilitation efforts.