URI Fellowship in Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy

The mission of the URI Fellowship in Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy is to inspire and empower physical therapists to reach their full potential as advanced practitioners in the sub-specialty field of orthopaedic manual physical therapy.

Program Outline/ Plan of Study

The curriculum includes four primary components:

1. Mentorship and Clinical Practice
2. Didactic Coursework via Online, Blended, and On-Site Components
3. Teaching and leadership experience via TA roles and prepared presentations for orthopaedic residents and other learners
   • Online class facilitation
   • Live lab instruction
   • Lecturing and presentation skills
   • Live case discussion facilitation
4. Capstone Projects to include a comprehensive written exam, live patient examinations, live technique examinations, and a scholarly project

In addition, all fellows-in-training (FITs) will complete 190 hours of mentoring. Mentoring hours may be split between the FiT’s home clinic and the mentor’s home clinic. We encourage diversity in our programming, so while 150 hours of mentoring must be completed by a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy, there are opportunities to mentor with individuals who have completed other accredited fellowship programming as well (i.e.-Spine, Pain).

Goals & Program Outcomes

Program Goals

• Goal 1: To deliver a program consistent with the high educational standards for OMPT fellowship programs set forth by the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists (IFOMPT) and its member organization in the United States – the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists (AAOMPT).
• Goal 2: To maintain a high quality, evidence-informed, OMPT education program that exceeds participant expectations.
• Goal 3: To provide a consistent fellowship experience to a small cohort of fellows leveraging innovative technology to maximize learning
• Goal 4: To develop outstanding clinicians and leaders in the field of orthopaedic manual physical therapy

Program Outcomes

Program Outcomes

One of the ultimate goals of the program is to produce graduates that exhibit excellence in clinical care, education, and leadership. Below are the outcomes for our graduates to date:

Graduation Rate: 91 %

Clinical Outcomes

Compared with national averages using the Keet database, our most recent OMPT Fellowship graduates to date demonstrate 41.2% better clinical outcome scores across the board. When broken down by body region, our graduates’ outcome scores are:

• 86% better for patients with primarily cervicothoracic conditions
• 29.7% better for patients with primarily upper extremity conditions
• 55.9% better for patients with primarily lumbopelvic conditions
• 27.4% better for patients with primarily lower extremity conditions

 Education, Scholarship, and Leadership

 Of all of our graduates to date,

• 95% have gone on to regularly engage in PT-related educational roles at the entry-level and/or post-professional level
• 60% have gone on to participate in scholarly activity- such as conference presentation, participation in research projects, etc.
• 75% have gone on to hold leadership roles within the APTA, AAOMPT, or their respective companies.

Career Orientation:

Program graduates pursue various roles and career opportunities upon program completion. Many are still engaged as full-time clinicians, some have taken formal roles in post-professional educational leadership, some have taken on roles in operational/administrative leadership, and some have gone on to accept university faculty appointments. Most all remain engaged in a healthy mix of clinical practice, scholarship, teaching/mentoring, and/or leadership in various capacities. All URI OMPT Fellowship graduates to date have responded to post-graduate surveys, which indicate that the average workload for agiven week for a program graduate is spent as follows:

• 36.5% clinical practice
• 12% clinical mentoring
• 8% post-professional PT education
• 17.3% entry-level PT education
• 8% practice administration
• 3.8% community, university, or professional service