Representatives from the Marshall University School of Physical Therapy presented research last month at the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) held in Geneva, Switzerland, May 10-13, 2019.
The World Confederation for Physical Therapy Congress is an international conference held biennially, according to Dr. Yi-Po Chiu, associate professor and director of admissions for the school. Chiu presented research at the conference with Dr. Rebekah Green, a 24-year-old recent graduate in physical therapy from Argillite, Kentucky. He said the faculty encourages and supports students’ participation in state, national and international conferences, especially when presenting their accepted research product.
“For the first time, this poster presentation reported the psychometric properties of a clinical balance measure, the Functional Gait Assessment (FGA) in a pediatric population, and proved FGA is a reliable and valid assessment tool that can be used in children,” Chiu said.
“I am very proud of Rebekah’s presentation in Switzerland, and I truly believe this valuable experience will be beneficial to her professional development.”
Green chose to miss her own commencement ceremony to be in Switzerland. She said being able to present her research internationally was an amazing experience because it allowed her to take what she’s learned in the classroom and apply it to real outcomes.
“It was interesting to meet people from all over the world and to be able to talk to them about my research,” Green said. “The conference was also a wonderful opportunity to learn new information and to further validate the information taught during school. I decided, along with my capstone research group, to explore this topic due to our interest in the pediatric population and our interest in exploring effective ways to measure a child’s balance. During school we were exposed to the different outcome measures we utilized during our research. It taught me the basics of working with children and allowed me to understand the common strategies used by children in order to maintain their balance.”
With his teaching responsibility mainly focused on neurological physical therapy, Chiu said that under the guidance of faculty, students can fully experience and independently execute steps of conducting a research project from beginning to end.
To learn more about the 2019 WCPT, visit https://www.wcpt.org/congress. For more information about research opportunities for our physical therapy students, visit www.marshall.edu/physical-therapy.
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Photo: Dr. Rebekah Green, a recent physical therapy graduate from Marshall University, presented research at the World Confederation for Physical Therapy Congress in Switzerland last month.