Collaborators on the new Erlanger Acute Care Physical Therapy Residency with UTC include Erlanger PT team lead Alexis Bennett, left, and Dr. Stephanie Eton, assistant professor of practice in the UTC Department of Physical Therapy and director of residency education.
photo by Angela Foster/UTC
For the first time, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Department of Physical Therapy includes a post-doctoral residency.
The newly created Erlanger Acute Care Physical Therapy Residency involves licensed physical therapist residents serving as clinical instructors for UTC physical therapy students during clinical rotations and assisting with teaching didactic coursework in the University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program—with an emphasis on acute care. The residency curriculum, developed collaboratively by Erlanger clinicians and UTC faculty, includes both live patient care and didactic instruction.
Developed in accordance with the American Physical Therapy Association’s Core Competencies for Physical Therapist Residents, the UTC/Erlanger partnership represents a comprehensive educational initiative designed to elevate expertise in treating acutely ill patients.
With candidacy status granted by the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education, the program is expected to enroll its first resident in January 2025.
“We’re really excited about where this partnership is headed,” said Dr. Nancy Fell, UC Foundation professor and head of the UTC Department of Physical Therapy. “It’s not only about educating the next generation of physical therapists but also about giving back to the community and raising the bar for health care in the Chattanooga area.”
The residency program came to life through a combination of strategic planning at UTC and Erlanger leadership.
“For me personally, this partnership is kind of cathartic—having the institution where I started my career work alongside the institution where I plan on ending my career. It’s a cool thing to do, having the two come together in such a great way,” said Gina Rahn, the physical therapy manager at Erlanger and a 1996 graduate of UTC. “With Erlanger being a Level 1 trauma center, this hospital has quite a bit more to offer than any other in the region as far as different areas of acute care practice, so we thought we would have a lot to offer to a postgraduate therapist who could come in here and see a huge variety of diagnoses—to give them the experience they need to have all those tricks in their toolbox.”
The acute care residency is designed to provide advanced training in treating critically ill patients in settings such as intensive care units. Throughout the 12-month program, residents will rotate through different areas of acute care—including neurology, cardiopulmonary, oncology and trauma—gaining experience in managing a variety of complex cases.
“Residency education in physical therapy was first credentialed in 2000, so it’s still a developing field. Most people don’t even realize that physical therapists can pursue post-professional training like this, much like physicians,” said Dr. Stephanie Eton, assistant professor of practice in the UTC Department of Physical Therapy and director of residency education. By integrating both clinical and academic responsibilities, the residency aims “to produce well-rounded physical therapists who are not only adept at patient care but also capable of contributing to the future of physical therapy education.”
Erlanger PT team lead Alexis Bennett, who earned a DPT from UTC in 2016, said the residency “is going to serve the members of our community very well.”
“It’s exciting that Erlanger and UTC have such a great relationship because—coming from both places—it’s a nice melting pot to have so many different faculty members and clinicians that I can use as my own mentors,” Ms. Bennett said. “I love that people enjoy their jobs at both places and that I get to learn alongside my old professors and teach alongside them as well.”
This collaboration marks a significant step forward for the UTC DPT program, enhancing training opportunities and advancing the quality of patient care in the Chattanooga area—with future additional residency opportunities on the horizon.
“This is the first step in building and strengthening our partnership with Erlanger. We hope this will be the first of a number of projects that we can collaborate on,” said Dr. Valerie Rutledge, dean of the UTC College of Health, Education and Professional Studies.