USask Medical & Physical Therapy Alumni

Meet our Faculty

Brenna Bath

Brenna Bath joined the University of Saskatchewan’s School of Physical Therapy faculty in September 2011. Brenna completed her BScPT at the U of S in 1998, her MSc in 2006 and planned to defend her PhD this past fall. She obtained her Diploma of Advanced Manipulative Physiotherapy in 2001 and is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Manipulative Physiotherapists. She has prior clinical experience in public and private outpatient orthopaedic settings. Brenna has been a clinical faculty member at the School since 2007 and has taught in musculoskeletal, research methods and professional practice courses. She is coordinating/ teaching Musculoskeletal IV and Professional Practice IV in the MPT program.

In her doctoral research, funded by a CIHR fellowship, Brenna is using a biopsychosocial framework to evaluate multidimensional participant and primary care provider outcomes as well as predictors of success associated with a spinal triage assessment program delivered by physiotherapists in collaboration with orthopaedic surgeons. In this project Brenna is also examining the concordance between physiotherapists and surgeons with respect to diagnosis and management recommendations. Outside of her PhD work Brenna is exploring patterns of primary health care utilization and equity of care access among people with chronic back conditions in Canada. Her planned program of research will focus on neuromusculoskeletal conditions and encompass the following inter-related themes: differential diagnosis, interprofessional collaborative models of care, access to health services (related to wait times and rural residence) and knowledge translation.

Her teaching areas at the school are beginning with Musculoskeletal 4 and Professional Practice 4.

Scotty Butcher

Scotty had an extremely busy spring of scholarly work. He attended three conferences, presented at one course, and had two textbook chapters accepted.

• Canadian Respiratory Conference in Niagara Falls
  • Podium presentation – “Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing: Pathophysiologic responses and exercise prescription”. MSc students, Madison Yurach and Brendan Pikaluk each presented a poster of their work

Elected to the Canadian Respiratory Healthcare Professionals Leadership Council for a 3 year term.

American Thoracic Society International Conference in Denver

Thematic Poster Discussion Session, “Development of a Supramaximal Interval Exercise Protocol in Patients with COPD: Effects on Work Performed and Ventilatory Limitations”.

Scientific Symposium oral presentation titled “Physiological Correlates of High-level Functional Performance in COPD”.

American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.

Saskatchewan Physiotherapy Association pre-AGM Course,Saskatoon- presentation titled Thoracolumbar Junction “Exercise/Conditioning considerations: evidence for thoracolumbar muscle conditioning”.

Two textbook chapters he had co-authored with Dr. Elizabeth Dean from UBC were accepted for publication in the new 5^th edition of Frownfelter and Dean, Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy, which is the most popular world-wide textbook used in PT programs for cardiopulmonary content.

“Mobilization and Exercise: Physiologic Bases for Assessment, Evaluation and Training”

“Mobilization and Exercise: Testing and Training”

Congratulations Scotty!

Stephanie Madil

Stéphanie J. Madill

Ph.D. (Queen’s University), M.Sc. (Queen’s University), B.Sc. (PT) (UniversityofAlberta)

Stéphanie Madill joined the faculty of the School in July 2011, coming from Montreal where she recently completed a post-doctoral fellowship under the direction of Dr. Chantale Dumoulin at the University of Montreal. She defended her Ph.D. in September 2009. The topic of research was to describe the biomechanical differences in pelvic floor closure between women with and without stress urinary incontinence, and the effects of pelvic floor rehabilitation on pelvic floor muscle function in older women with stress incontinence. In addition to pelvic floor biomechanics, her research interests include incontinence in special populations and wound care.

Stéphanie has worked in long-term care, inpatient rehab, home health, prisons and schools in Lloydminster, Alberta, Lawton, Oklahoma and Farmington, Missouri before moving toKingston,Ontario to pursue graduate studies. At Queen’s University she taught burn and wound care, electrotherapy, amputations, pelvic floor rehabilitation and HIV/AIDS in the School of Physical Therapy.

She began teaching Lifespan II in October and is taking on Electrophysical Agents in 2012.

Sandra Webber

Sandra Webber joined the School of Physical Therapy at the University of Saskatchewan in July 2010 after completing her PhD earlier that year at the University of Manitoba. Prior to undertaking her PhD, she taught for a number of years in the School of Medical Rehabilitation (Department of Physical Therapy) at the University of Manitoba. Sandra was fully funded by a CIHR fellowship during her doctoral degree which focused on mobility issues in older adults and the importance of strength/ power for function. Her current research interests include measuring physical activity levels in patients before and after knee-joint replacement and investigating how physical activity measures relate to functional mobility, self-reported symptoms/function, and objective biomechanical parameters. She taught Evidence-Based Practice II in the spring of 2011 and began Evidence-Based Practice I, Lifespan I, and Foundations II in September of 2011.

Hi,

As you all may know, I’ve been in Zimbabwe initiating a project to train local people to perform many of the basic but essential competencies performed in a rehabilitation department.  The goal was to train 10-20 unemployed individuals to take some of the workload off of the overburdened Rehabilitation Technicians at Howard Hospital, improving the efficiency and productivity of their rehabilitation department.  In the end, we trained 14 rehabilitation aides who are currently working in the hospital and in the provision of home based care in the community.  This program has already improved the inpatient productivity of the rehabilitation department nearly 1000%, as the rehabilitation aides now ensure that the in-patients get mobile daily, in an attempt to mediate the negative effects of bedrest.  This service alone will be invaluable.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this project.  Without the generosity of my friends and family, I wouldn’t have been able to coordinate this project with the people in Zimbabwe.  Some of you have donated time or money already.  Please know that Marjury and Passmore, the rehabilitation technicians at Howard Hospital, the rehabilitation aides, the doctors and nurses, and many individuals from the community extend deep gratitude for your contributions, during this difficult economic time in Zimbabwe.

For any of my friends that pledged their support and are still interested in helping me and the people of Zimbabwe with this project, please know that, you can now donate through the Salvation Army and receive an official tax receipt.

To donate…
www.SalvationArmy.ca website. There is a donor page and a space to indicate the specifics of the donation. Write Zimbabwe, Howard Hospital, Rehabilitation Aid Project.

Donations can be mailed to The Salvation Army, Territorial Headquarters, 2 Overlea Blvd, Toronto, ON, M4H 1P4. Attention: Major Gillian Brown, Director of World Missions.
The money we are collecting goes directly toward paying the wages of the Rehabilitation Aides and the Rehabilitation Technicians that direct the Aides.  Each rehabilitation Aide earns a monthly wage of $20.  That`s $240 per year.  It isn’t a lot of money.  But, living in a rural Zimbabwe where there is 99% unemployment, these individuals were without any income prior to the implementation of this program.  And, if you could have seen how hard they worked during the training process, you might understand just how important this small amount of money is for their families.

If you have the means to support one of our Rehabilitation Aides, I invite you to visit the Salvation Army website to make a donation.  Many of you offered to sponsor an aide for 1 year at $240, while we work towards solutions for the sustainability of this program, through local means.  However, any amount is helpful and means the world to the people in the Howard Hospital community.

Thank you for your continued generosity,

Sincerely,

Justin Vanderleest

Continuing Physical Therapy Education

CPTE was established in 1996 as a collaborative effort between the School of Physical Therapy and the Saskatchewan Physiotherapy Association.  We provide continuing learning opportunities for Saskatchewan Physical Therapists and other health care professionals.  CPTE’s staff includes a Program Director (0.5 FTE) and a Course Coordinator (0.75 FTE).  The Management Committee consists of a member of the SPA Board of Directors, a member of SPA, the Associate Dean or designate of the School of Physical Therapy, and the CPTE Program Director (ex officio).  CPTE is a not-for-profit organization.

CPTE evaluates programming needs based on needs assessments, course evaluations, independent requests, and detailed examinations of the provincial and national environment.  Courses are planned up to a year and a half in advance.  Recently we have been very involved in collaborative planning with other continuing education groups on campus to enable interprofessional learning opportunities for health care practitioners.  In addition, over the past 2 years we have been improving distance-learning opportunities for Saskatchewan Physical Therapists through electronic technology.  More information on CPTE and upcoming learning opportunities is available on our website:  www.usask.ca/cpte.  You can forward requests or questions about CPTE to the Program Director stacey.lovogrona@usask.ca or to the Course Coordinator pat.tremaine@usask.ca.

Falls Prevention in Seniors Across the Continuum of Care Conference 2011 proves to be a very successful educational event.

With one in 3 seniors falling annually, and Saskatchewan having the highest percentage of seniors and one of the highest injury hospitalization rates due to fall-related injury in Canada, preventing falls is forefront in health care research and strategic planning in our province. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health has identified fall prevention as a priority. Regional Health Authorities are collaborating to determine the best ways to include fall injury prevention into routine services across the continuum of care: community, acute and long-term care.

To address this issue, the Saskatoon Falls Prevention Consortium (Saskatoon Health Region) in association with Continuing Physical Therapy Education (University of Saskatchewan) hosted a conference on March 24 & 25, 2011 which provided an evidence-based update on the interdisciplinary approach to the prevention of falls in older adults in three primary practice areas: acute care, long-term care and community care. The conference attracted leading experts in research and practice from across the care continuum. Key note and invited speakers Dorothy Baker, Marcia Carr, Stephen Robinovitch, Vicky Scott and Fabio Feldman shared the latest recommendations for screening and assessment, and interventions. Podium presenters from Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario provided their insights from research and evaluated projects.

Dr. Stephen Robinovitch also spent sometime in March 2011 on campus, funded by the Bone Imaging Group, consulting and collaborating with researchers in the colleges of engineering, medicine, kinesiology, and physical therapy. Research investigating fracture prevention, the biomechanics of falls, and interventions to prevent falls, is being conducted by various researchers across the University of Saskatchewan Campus. The Bone and Joint Imaging Group, a research group funded by SHRF and the U of S has been a focal team to drive and develop research in this area. Dr. Cathy Arnold, School of Physical Therapy, is a member of this group and was instrumental in organizing Dr. Robinovitch’s visit and a key member of the Conference Planning Committee.

The Falls Prevention in Seniors Across the Continuum of Care conference provided the opportunity for over 200 researchers and health care providers to explore new evidence, policy and practice and develop a whole system approach to planning, implementation and delivery of services for the prevention and management of falls and fragility fractures. Participants from 12 health professions plus managers, educators and researchers came from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and the USA. Physical Therapists were the largest group in attendance, reflecting our key role in the area of falls prevention. Conference evaluations were very positive and numerous requests were received to offer this type of event again in future. A strategic planning session following the conference laid the groundwork for the development of a unified action plan for falls prevention in the province of Saskatchewan.

Educational grants for this conference were provided by the Saskatchewan Government Insurance Community Grants Program (on behalf of the Acquired Brain Injury Partnership Project – a partnership between SGI and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health); the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation’s Research Connections Program and the Bone & Joint Imaging Group, University of Saskatchewan.

Continuing Physical Therapy Education (CPTE) was excited to provide organizational and administrative services for this conference and is looking forward to future collaborations with the Saskatoon Falls Prevention Consortium.

Submitted by:
Stacey Lovo Grona & Pat Tremaine, CPTE
Cathy Arnold, School of Physical Therapy

We can help. In fact the party is already planned- all you have to do is tell us what you would like to do.

Every year the University of Saskatchewan plans reunion activities for alumni on our beautiful campus during the third weekend in balmy June, this year planned for June 21st to June 23rd . The fun officially starts Thursday evening at the Delta Bessborough and continues on to Saturday afternoon, with lots of interesting talks, tours of our Campus which is going through tremendous change right now and special events with our President, Chancelor and the Deans of various colleges. And all of this traditonally takes place in the midst of Saskatchewan’s extremely successful Jazz Festival out the back door of your hotel. And we haven’t even talked about class parties, the best part!

Check out the plans at http://alumni.usask.ca/events/reunions/index.php

You can also contact our office for more information at 306-966-8864 or at medicine.alumni@usask.ca

And remember your alma mater is on Facebook!

Our venue is Vue Cafe for our next alumni event

Watch for your Associate Dean Dr. Liz Harrison at our yearly visit to Calgary for our alumni event Thursday April 19th 2012 at Vue Cafe starting at 6pm. This is in lieu of the original event we had planned for Dec 8th 2011 at the same venue which we heard overwhelmingly from alumni was too far into the holiday season. We hope we caught everybody by email or phone who had said they were coming.

Please look for your invitation in the mail in the next few weeks.

Technology Advances in Classroom thanks to the Class of 1984 and Continuing Physical Therapy Education (CPTE)!

Technology in the classroom is moving forward once again thanks to a generous donation from the Class of 1984 and College of Medicine funding obtained by CPTE. Since moving to the MPT, the School has been hoping to obtain a camera which would allow demonstration of techniques through a data projector rather than forty students surrounding a treatment table.

This dream came to pass this last spring with the addition of the ECHO lecture capture system. This system has the ability to video record the instructor lecturing, including Power Point presentation and all demonstrations. This “capture” is then stored as a link within the online resources for the course for students to refer back to at any point. The camera can also be used as a stand alone closed circuit camera for demonstration purposes.

The Echo system was awarded to Continuing Physical Therapy Education (CPTE) from the College of Medicine as a result of a joint application with Continuing Professional Learning, College of Medicine.  The School and CPTE were able to combine the Echo system and the School’s advanced camera for a state of the art AV system that could be used by both groups. CPTE has already used this system for several Orthopaedic Syllabus courses (Level 4 and Level 5 in 2011) as well as the “Dysfunction at the Thoracolumbar Junction” mini-Orthopaedic Symposium.  CPTE also used the Echo lecture camera system on a number of courses this past fall.  Watch the CPTE Course Calendar for access to online education opportunities making use of this technology.

Typically with a lecture capture system, the video camera is stationary and meant to only capture the instructor. With technique demonstration integral to physical therapy education it was necessary to have a camera that was mobile and usable from all angles to capture the best views. This is the part of the system that the donation from the most recent reunion of the Class of 1984 provided  Thank you Class of 1984 for your generous donation!