The SPTA gets physical therapy students involved to serve their class, community and profession.
Mission and Goals
In assimilating to and embracing our role as developing professionals, the SPTA will serve as an extension of the American Physical Therapy Association, Ohio Physical Therapy Association, and Southwest District of the Ohio Physical Therapy Association in advancing the profession and providing service to the community at local, state, national level. The goals of the MSJU SPTA are:
- To promote and present the topics of interest that contribute to our physical therapy education as requested by SPTA members.
- To promote and organize participation of SPTA members to local, state Ohio Physical Therapy Association (OPTA) and national American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) events.
- To allow students to participate in a variety of positions that help contribute to one’s professional development.
- To keep MSJ SPTA members abreast of legislative activities, and ways to become more involved in the legislative process at local, state, and national levels.
- To be involved with the public pertaining to community service at Mount St. Joseph University and the Greater Cincinnati area.
SPTA Officers 2018-2019
President: Toli Kametas
Vice President: Michael Hohman
Secretary: Alex Rickard
Treasurer: Abbie Luken
Event Coordinator: Leah Berger
OPTA Student Rep: Jessica Peplin
SPTA Officers: L to R Top Row: Toli Kametas, Jessical Peplin, Michael Hohman
Bottom Row: Leah Berger, Alex Rickard, Abbie Luken
Activities
Organ Donation Awareness and Drive
SPTA, in honor of former faculty member, Dr. Pete Mosher, hold an organ donation drive in the Fall of every year. Pete battled severe lung disease and passed away on December 7th, 2013 while awaiting transplantation (more information on Dr. Mosher here). For more information on organ donation visit the Donate Life sites in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.
OPTA Annual Conference
The Ohio Physical Therapy Association hosts an annual conference in Columbus allowing physical therapists, physical therapist assistants and students to participate in educational sessions of their choice in order to learn about the latest therapy techniques and ways to advocate for the profession. MSJ was represented well as almost 30 students chose to attend the conference. A handful of MSJ students even participated in ‘Therapy Madness’, which was a jeopardy style trivia game focused on a variety of physical therapy topics while competing against students from other PT programs in Ohio!The SPTA and the Student Nursing Association teamed up to raise money and donations for hurricane relief efforts for the victim of Hurricane Harvey. Each program competed in a friendly penny war/donation competition where donations were given a monetary value based on the type of item. All proceeds were given to Matthew 25 Ministries. Both programs filled up an entire car full of non-perishable food items to baby supplies!
Matthew 25: Ministries
MSJ DPT students, faculty, and loved ones spent a morning at Matthew 25: Ministries sorting clothing and household items for those in need and less fortunate.
2019 Celebration of Teaching and Learning
The 2019 Celebration of Teaching and Learning Excellence at MSJ recognizes the academic accomplishments of students and faculty. The 2021 cohort showcased their newly acquired white coats while presenting individual patient cases and the importance of interprofessional collaboration in the health field.
Santa Maria Spring Health Fair
DPT students from the 2021 and 2020 cohorts volunteered to help perform BMI screening for those at the Santa Maria Spring Health Fair.
MSJU Golf Outing
Mount St Joseph University’s Student Physical Therapy Association (SPTA) holds an annual golf outing every September. The golf outing proceeds help support SPTA funded opportunities for professional development (e.g. state and national conferences and seminars) and advocacy (e.g. community service projects, and mentorship). A portion of the funds goes to the Mercer-Marquette Challenge to support new investigators in the field of physical therapy. The outing is always a scramble (team-work!). We thank everyone who participated this year and years past.
