Feinberg
Northwestern Medicine | Northwestern University | Faculty Profiles

News Center

  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Home » Pair of Students Piloting First DPT Global Health Opportunity
Uncategorized

Pair of Students Piloting First DPT Global Health Opportunity

By medwebDec 4, 2012
Share
Facebook Twitter Email
Third-year Doctor of Physical Therapy students Jeffrey Martini and Erin Murray are the first to participate in a three-week international learning program in Belize.

When third-year Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students Erin Murray and Jeffrey Martini touched down in Belize this December, they opened a door to global opportunity. 

Taking part in the first Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences (PTHMS) international learning experience, the pair isn’t just participating in a three-week pilot program at Hillside Health Care International, they also represent the culmination of a project started two years earlier. 

In April 2010, Nora Francis, PT, DHS, assistant professor in PTHMS, had the opportunity to attend a faculty and staff retreat about international program development. At the retreat, she heard a presentation about Northwestern University Alliance for International Development (NU-AID), and decided to see if DPT students would be interested in a global health opportunity. 

“I was so impressed by NU-AID, a medical student-driven organization whose mission is to provide primary medical care to rural populations in Latin America and Jamaica, that in the fall trimester Antoinette Sander, DPT, and I proposed a project to the Class of 2013,” Francis said. “We asked if any students would be interested in exploring the feasibility of an international exchange program focused on physical therapy in developing nations. There was enthusiastic support and six students took on the project, which I believe was the key to its success.” 

Murray and Martini were two of those students. In Belize they will have the chance to work on verbal and non-verbal cross-cultural communication while demonstrating effective problem-solving and critical-thinking skills across cultures. During their time at Hillside Health Care International, which already has an affiliation with the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine’s Center for Global Health, the duo will be working with an American-trained physical therapist, providing rehabilitation services to rural residents. 

“I have always wanted to volunteer abroad, and I am very happy to have the opportunity to practice my physical therapy skills, promote disability awareness, and learn more about the international healthcare system,” Murray said. “I am also very excited to be able to pilot this program so that in the future more Feinberg physical therapy students have the opportunity to participate in an international health experience.”  

The six students leading the effort did so as part of their required synthesis project, a research-based assignment similar to a research project, under the mentorship of one or two professors. 

“We conducted a needs assessment to determine whether there was interest in developing international opportunities for DPT students, and during that time we reached out to several potential community partners, including Hillside Health,” Martini said. “They expressed interest in having some of our students participate in a rotation this year, so Erin and I will be there for three weeks.”

Both students remain excited to learn new practical skills in an environment with different resources, while getting a feel for what international health is like and learning about the Belizean people and their culture. 

“The idea of international learning is one that we have had for quite some time and so we started looking into a number of opportunities with the help of Dan Young at the Center for Global Health, who explored existing connections, like the one in Belize,” said Jules Dewald, PT, PhD, chair of the PTHMS. “These opportunities are a great way to give our students a more universal level of science beyond physical therapy.”

Education Medical Education Patient Care
Share. Facebook Twitter Email

Related Posts

Changes in Medical School Leadership

Jan 26, 2023

Northwestern Medicine Scholars Program Inspires a New Generation of Physicians and Scientists 

Jan 24, 2023

Second-year Medical Student Awarded National Scholarship 

Jan 17, 2023

Comments are closed.

Latest News

Changes in Medical School Leadership

Jan 26, 2023

Shortage of Mental Health Professionals Linked to Increase in Youth Suicides

Jan 25, 2023

Northwestern Medicine Scholars Program Inspires a New Generation of Physicians and Scientists 

Jan 24, 2023

Understanding How Childhood Brain Tumors Develop

Jan 23, 2023

Medical School Establishes New Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience

Jan 19, 2023
  • News Center Home
  • Categories
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
  • News Archives
  • About Us
Flickr Photos
Feinberg_In_Vivo_20221209_tcrawford-24
Feinberg_In_Vivo_20221209_tcrawford-16
Feinberg_In_Vivo_20221209_tcrawford-14
Feinberg_In_Vivo_20221209_tcrawford-5
Feinberg_In_Vivo_20221209_tcrawford-6
Feinberg_In_Vivo_20221209_tcrawford-10
Feinberg_In_Vivo_20221209_tcrawford-8
Feinberg_In_Vivo_20221209_tcrawford-18
Feinberg_In_Vivo_20221209_tcrawford
Feinberg_In_Vivo_20221209_tcrawford-23
Feinberg_In_Vivo_20221209_tcrawford-25
Feinberg_In_Vivo_20221209_tcrawford-26

Northwestern University logo

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

RSS Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flickr YouTube Instagram
Copyright © 2023 Northwestern University
  • Contact Northwestern University
  • Disclaimer
  • Campus Emergency Information
  • Policy Statements

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.