GWU Physical Therapy Program

One of the perks of going to school in D.C. is getting to volunteer at the White House! Yesterday , , and are proud to volunteer with the first White House Paralympics and Disability Pride Open House!

Happy FDOC from GWU DPT!!! We hope it was an awesome day and are very excited about what lies ahead this semester 🤓🍎📓

Fit Check! 🥼
Our third year students have been hard at work at their first and second clinical rotations, and looking good while doing it!

Congratulations to incoming student Zachary Chen on receiving the Rizing Tide Foundation's Crest Scholarship! Zachary will be starting classes in the DPT program this fall. He is a DMV native but will be joining us from Las Vegas. We can't wait for him to join the program this Fall!

Read more about Rizing Tide Foundation and the Crest Scholarship here.

To welcoming the class of 2026 to the GWU DPT family. In a few short days, we will welcome another group of aspiring DPTs with the class of 2027, and We Can Not Wait!!! We hope everyone is excited for the start of a new academic year.


*Original Post* - A big welcome to the class of 2026!! We are so excited to have you and can't wait to see what you will accomplish here! We hope you had the best first week of classes

1st-year students engaged with a number of community partner facilities this summer through their Interprofessional Community Practicum course. However, SPT students Mary, Laney, Wei Qian, and Kris went the extra mile with their community partner, Foggy Bottom West End Village , to implement a program that will leave a longstanding impact on its members and GWU.

Students fostered a partnership with the international organization Walk With A Doc, which recruits students and faculty from medical programs to conduct and lead health discussions and monthly walks. Students were awarded a scholarship from the Dr. Annemarie Sommer Scholarship Fund to establish a Walk With A Doc chapter within the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Once the student leadership board is recruited in the fall, this project will stand as a sustained connection between the Foggy Bottom West End Village and the GW community to promote physical activity and conversation.

We could not be more proud of our students and their passion for service learning!

Please take a moment to follow to support their continued efforts.

Good luck to the Class of 2024 on the NPTE!

We are excited to share that Dr. Marisa Birkmeier has been accepted into the prestigious Fellowship in Higher Education Leadership offered by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Academy of Education. This fellowship recognizes Dr. Birkmeier's exceptional contributions to physical therapy education and her dedication to leadership in higher education.

🎉Congratulations to Dr. Birkmeier on this remarkable achievement!🎉

You can find more information about the fellowship via: https://www.aptaeducation.org/fellowship

The lab can be an exciting and unpredictable place in PT school. You never know what creative and engaging activities the professors will develop to help students master new skills. Every day brings fresh challenges and opportunities for hands-on learning! 🤓!

Marisa Birkmeier, the program director for , will be the lead instructor for the APTA Level 1 CCIP course held in conjunction with the American Academy of Physical Therapy on Sept 17-18, 2024 in person in DC! All registrants must register on both AAPT and APTA sites (https://www.americanacademypt.com/ and https://ccip.apta.org).

Happy World Emoji Day! These are some of our faculty and staff's favorite emojis 🤔😏😐🙄🙄🤦👩‍🦽😂🤪😜🙌🤡🧐 How do they compare to your own?

Congratulations Dr. Marisa Birkmeier! She was recently elected to the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy - ACAPT Board!

ACAPT is pleased to announce its new board members and nominating committee member who will assume office on October 17. Thank you to all the candidates who submitted their consent to serve and those who participated in the election process

https://acapt.org/news/news-detail/2024/07/10/welcome-new-acapt-leaders!

Time flies when you're having fun! We are winding down our summer semester and gearing up for 2nd-year status. Incredibly proud of 1st-years on a wonderful hard-earned year. 🥳🤩We are very excited to welcome the incoming cohort, but are definitely not ready to say goodbye to Classroom A!!!!

1st-year PT students met up with their 1st-year OT friends for a field trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. One of the best features of going to school in D.C. is our ability to immerse our program in an abundance of history and culture, with museums such as this one right down the street!

Field trip to headquarters in Alexandria, VA. GW PT loved learning about how we can be advocates for our profession and our advocacy letters are already on the way!!!

This week, rising third year students started their first full-time clinical education experiences! In clinics all across the country in multiple different settings, the class of 2025 had successful first days and now begin a year full of fun learning experiences 🥼✏️🦴

We love our community partners!!! 1st-year students have the opportunity to create an interprofessional partnership at different community organizations in the DMV area. A big shoutout to Drs. Erin Wentzell and Valerie Rucker-Bussie for making these connections possible.

Congrats to class of 2024 graduates of the Georgetown Early Intervention Certificate Program!

Cheering on our 2nd years as they are about to embark on their first full-time clinical experience! Wishing them an abundance of luck as they prepare to take a comprehensive exam on everything they have learned throughout their time at GW. They have come so far since their first day and we could not be more proud of their achievements. We can't wait to see the wealth of knowledge you gain in the clinic. 💙💛Your GW fam is rooting for you!!!! # GWUDPT

Thank you to Dr. Viktoriya Karacheyeva and the Resiliency and Well-being Center for teaching us about mindful meditation. It's important to take care of ourselves when experiencing stress or burnout and this was a great way to relax. During our session with Dr. Karacheyeva, we learned how to quiet our minds and even got to play the singing bowls! 🧘‍♀🌿

Huge congratulations to Caitlin Miller (PT '26), a finalist in the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy and Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation (JHR) Essay Contest. Her essay, "Mirroring Each Other: Beyond AI's Capability," will be published in the JHR Fall 2024 issue.

https://acapt.org/news/news-detail/2024/04/05/congratulations-to-winners-of-2024-physical-therapy-student-essay-contest

It's summer semester here at GW DPT!!! 🌈☀️🌼When the sun shines, GW students come out to play. D.C. has tons of outdoor spaces and events for students to explore on their breaks and over the weekends. When we're not in class, we love to explore the monuments, go on hikes, hit the zoo, and stay active when taking study breaks

Add well-traveled to GW students' resumes✈️📸 They traveled far and wide during their break and we missed having them around. Glad to have them back on campus and ready for another semester!!!

Backstage at !

Congratulations Madi Higareda on earning your Master’s in English! We appreciate all you do for !

In a few short days, our amazing 2024 cohort will complete their DPT journey! We can't wait to see and celebrate you all!

to the 2024 White Coat Ceremony. This was at the beginning of the semester and time flies when you're having fun being an SPT. Our students wear these coats with pride, GWU pride that is!!!👩‍⚕️🧑‍⚕️

Congratulations to Emily White and Kate Atkins, who presented posters at the annual SMHS Research Showcase. If you are interested in reading more about their research, you can find their abstracts here: https://smhs.gwu.edu/research/research-workforce/medical-student-research/medical-student-research-day

Find out why our program is unique according to some of our faculty.