Trine DPT students, faculty present at national PT conference

Trine University Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students and faculty presented research at the American Physical Therapy Association’s largest national conference, the Combined Sections Meeting, held in Anaheim, California, Feb. 12-14.

More than 15,000 attended the conference.

Student research

Charles Dunavan, a third-year DPT student from Clarkston, Michigan, presented a study examining how Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers perform after undergoing ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, more commonly known as “Tommy John” surgery.

Dunavan analyzed performance data from 59 MLB starting and relief pitchers before and after surgery. He found that starting pitchers tended to show slight declines in certain performance measures following surgery while relief pitchers often maintained or even improved their performance.

These findings may help coaches, medical professionals and organizations better understand how players recover and return to competition following major elbow surgery.

Lily Sheehy, a third-year DPT student originally from northwest Indiana, presented a study exploring how virtual reality technology can be used to assess balance and inner ear function.

Sheehy used a virtual reality headset system to test how accurately individuals could align a line to “true vertical” when their head was in neutral and tilted positions. She found that people made larger errors when their heads were tilted, which is expected because the inner ear plays a key role in sensing upright position.

Importantly, the team found only three trials were needed to obtain consistent results, making the test both efficient and reliable. These findings support the growing use of virtual reality tools in clinical settings to assess dizziness, balance disorders and inner ear function.

Faculty research

Trine DPT faculty Nicole Edmonds and Gus Almonroeder contributed to a collaborative research study examining how student physical therapists experience a sense of belonging, particularly within hybrid educational environments.

For their study, students from a hybrid DPT program completed a Sense of Belonging Survey and participated in one-on-one qualitative interviews. Survey results showed strong overall belonging scores.

However, interviews revealed important differences in how hybrid students experience connection compared to traditional residential students. Students described specific faculty behaviors, peer interactions and small “micro-affirmations” that strengthened their sense of belonging. They also identified barriers unique to hybrid learning environments, including life demands and the challenges of building relationships in partially remote formats.

Almonroeder and Trine DPT faculty member Tricia Widenhoefer examined discharge recommendations made by a national sample of acute care physical therapists when presented with clinical vignettes describing hospitalized patients.

Previous research showed physical therapists play a key role in discharge planning and that patient outcomes are better when physical therapists’ discharge recommendations are followed.

Their first study looked at the consistency of discharge recommendations made by acute care physical therapists. Results showed inconsistencies in the recommendations made, and that therapist training and years of experience did not influence consistency.

Their second study found that physical therapists consider multiple factors such as patient functioning, the therapist’s experience, and patient’s life context (home setup, help at home, etc.) when making discharge recommendations. Their work highlights the complexity of discharge decision making and the need to continuously look at ways to improve the process.