APTA Combined Sections Meeting Washington DC January 23, 2019

By Yaffa Liebermann and Katie Forman

Last week I had a pleasure to be a part of annual American Board of Physical Therapy (APTA) conference in Washington, DC and I would like to share my enthusiasm with all of you.

The vision of American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties is to create, promote, and sustain a culture in which the highest quality physical therapy is provided by therapists who attain and maintain certification in a specialty area. To me, such specialty area is Geriatric Physical Therapy.

Geriatric Physical Therapy concentrates on embracing ageing and empowering adults to move, engage and live well. Its objective is to build a community that advances the profession of physical therapy to optimize the experience of ageing.

During the conference I received my third time certification as Geriatric Clinical Specialist. This recertification is done every 10 years and I was among only 11 therapists in the USA who received recertification in the third time. 

I’m grateful for being healthy and able to continue to learn, which enables me to teach fellow therapists and provide care for patients.

It was a great event to be among fellow PTs who care to learn the new regulation, adjust to insurance changes and continue to provide skilled therapy! I would highly recommend that therapists would join their professional organizations for personal and professional growth, as well as support to their profession. Professional organizations provide a great value to each profession by their input in legislation and their continuous education regarding regulations and improving patient care. In summary, do make sure your profession is being noticeable and needed.