Physical Therapy student awarded Catherine Worthingham Fellows APTA scholarship

Alexandra Arnoldy, a second-year student in the West Virginia University Physical Therapy program, was recently awarded a scholarship to attend the American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Section Meeting that takes place Feb. 2 to 5 in San Antonio, Texas.

At the meeting attendees can explore more than 300 educational sessions from 18 different specialty sections with thousands of other physical therapy professionals and students from across the country.

“The single most important thing I’ve learned in school so far is that physical therapists are vital to communities and the scope of a physical therapy practice is beyond what I imagined. The opportunity to meet and learn from professionals from all the specialties is incredible,” Arnoldy explained.

“While applying for the scholarship, I had to recount a meaningful experience in my education, and I wrote about my time in the infusion center here at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown and seeing how physical therapists were part of a team that helped rehabilitate people who had a medical condition related to substance use,” she explained. “It’s all about community. The WVU physical therapy program has a commitment to serving the community, and I’m excited to learn from others’ experiences and expertise to continue my personal and professional growth.”

The scholarship was provided by the Catherine Worthingham Fellows and Cardon Rehab. Arnoldy was one of two students nationally to be awarded this year and is WVU’s first student to receive the honor.

The Catherine Worthingham Fellows are considered leaders within the physical therapy profession, and as the highest membership category of the APTA, have demonstrated unwavering efforts to advance the profession for more than 15 years.

“This scholarship was created to support students who are considered to be emerging leaders in the profession so they can attend the conference, network with peers and learn from the diverse educational offerings,” explained Anne Swisher, PT, Ph.D., CCS, FAPTA, a professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and Catherine Worthingham Fellow herself.

“WVU has not had a previous winner, so this places us in the company of the top physical therapy programs in the country,” she concluded.

"I am so proud of Alex and how she represents our students as emerging physical therapists. Her comments reflect our program’s commitment to assure our students are prepared not only to deliver high quality individual physical therapy services, but also to assess and find innovative ways to improve the health of a community,”  added Mary Beth Mandich, Ph.D., PT, chairperson of the Division of Physical Therapy.

For more information about the physical therapy program at WVU, visit: medicine.wvu.edu/pt/.