Summer 2021 Director's Message
Student placements offer a significant and lasting value in a student’s education as they develop their skills and enter the workplace.
Written by Lynn Shaw
I am very excited to be heading into the fall season and the start of a new academic year! All of the members of the School are looking so forward to seeing students face-to-face and hearing the chatter in the hallways once again. As we return to campus, our focus is on providing students with an outstanding academic and educational experience while taking the upmost care in providing a safe and healthy environment.
Student Back to Campus
Incoming students can expect to attend most courses in person, with appropriate safety measures based on public health guidelines. Those arriving in the province from elsewhere, will be given guidance, support and timely updates of requirements based on Public Health notifications. Vaccinations are available to any student, faculty or staff member who is not fully vaccinated. The Health and Safety resources page is available to provide the latest information. We encourage students to check their Dal emails often to get the latest information as it applies to the Physiotherapy program.
The Student News feature of this newsletter will bring you up to date on the latest student activities including an introduction to this year’s Student Society.
Changes and Moving Forward
The School of Physiotherapy is used to the ebbs and flows of change. This summer marked life transitions for several of our faculty members. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Marilyn MacKay-Lyons, Sandra Curwin and Gail Creaser for their leadership, Innovative Research, their wisdom and their invaluable contributions throughout their years in the School of Physiotherapy. On behalf of the School we wish you all good things as you retire from the School to do the other things that you love. I encourage our readers to check out “Reflections of the Changing Landscape of Physiotherapy” to learn about the inspiring insights of these talented women.
As part of the change we are delighted to be welcoming new faculty and staff members to our talented cast. Please join me in welcoming Career Stream Instructors, Jennifer McPhee and Kate Grosweiner; Limited Term Instructor, Stephen Ritchie; and Clinical Education Program Assistant, Tammy Fancy.
Our faculty research continues to thrive and grow. We are very proud of research moving forward - from studies of bed rest and astronauts to the feasibility and benefits of yoga for people living with HIV, our faculty our tireless in their research efforts. The full listing of recent publications, presentations, grants, awards and knowledge translation can be found in our Research Updates section.
Physiotherapy Community
I believe the students would agree that we cannot talk about the progress toward graduation of the Class of 2021 without giving a shout out to all the Clinical Instructors and Educators who have gone above and beyond to provide placements and quality learning for our students during the pandemic years of 2020/21. Thank-you. Student placements offer a significant and lasting value in a student’s education as they develop their skills and enter the workplace. Case in point, can be found in our Alumni Feature with Kyle Crosby.
Also, in alumni news - the pandemic may have paused face-to-face friendship interaction for a time, but as you can see from recent 40th reunion pictures of the Class of ‘81, the pandemic cannot pause the deep camaraderie of friends and classmates who have graduated from the School of Physiotherapy programs.
Having a talented team to work with, feeling the potential of the incoming students, in addition to an overwhelmingly supportive Physiotherapy community, all seems to add up to another outstanding academic year ahead.