This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first graduating class from UNMC’s division of physical therapy education. The program, which started in 1969 under the direction of Mary Ellen Sacksteder, graduated its first class in 1972. Since that time, 669 students have graduated from the program. 
On Saturday (Aug. 17), faculty, staff and students from the past 30 years will celebrate with campus tours and a dinner in downtown Omaha. The faculty and staff also have compiled a 120-page book highlighting the program’s history.
“We are one of Nebraska’s best kept secrets,” said Patricia Hageman, Ph.D., director of UNMC’s physical therapy education program since 1989. “We need to stop and reflect on the successes of our graduates and the program. We are very competitive nationwide and offer a great product. If we weren’t here the ability to fill the workforce needs of the smaller towns and rural sites would be much more difficult.”
Emphasis on education
Students who graduated between 1972 and 1990 received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical therapy. Since 1992, students graduating from the program have received the Master of Physical Therapy degree. UNMC was one of the first five public institutions in the country to convert to a doctor of physical therapy degree (D.P.T). Today, nearly half of all institutions have converted or are in the process of converting to the DPT degree. UNMC’s first class of D.P.T. students will graduate in 2004.
“The program has always been devoted to preparing quality physical therapists,” said Kyle Meyer, director for clinical education and assistant professor. “In addition, over the past five to eight years, the program also has placed a significant emphasis on increasing its research capacity.”
Statewide impact
UNMC had the only physical therapy education program in Nebraska until 1995 when Creighton University added a program. Today, 189 institutions support physical therapy programs. Earlier this year, U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” guidebook ranked UNMC’s program 33rd in the country.
In Nebraska, more than 37 percent of all practicing physical therapists are UNMC graduates, Dr. Hageman said, and more than 50 percent of each graduating class stays in the state.
Growing in students, faculty, space
In 1972, there were 12 students in the first graduating class. Today, there are generally 38 to 40 students in a graduating class. The number of faculty members also has grown from three members in 1990 to 10 core faculty members.
Campus accommodations also have increased from one room in South Hall (now Bennett Hall), which served as both lecture and lab space. In 1983, the program moved to Conkling Hall, which was razed in 1996 to make way for The Lied Transplant Center. In 1995, the physical therapy education program moved to its current location in the Student Life Center, where it developed the Clinical Movement Science Laboratory.
Accreditation, awards
The program has held continuous accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. The Mary McMillan Scholarship Award — the highest scholastic honor presented annually by the American Physical Therapy Association — has been granted to a student in UNMC’s program 14 times in the program’s 30 years.
Nationally recognized
For the period 1984 to 1988, the Professional Examination Service posted pass rates on the national physical therapy licensure exam comparing educational institutions. UNMC’s program had the highest pass rate in the entire nation for two of those five years, and was never ranked lower than fifth. The Professional Examination Service no longer reports comparative pass rates. However, the pass rate for graduates from UNMC’s program in the past five years has averaged above 95 percent compared to the national average of 80 percent to 85 percent.
“It’s quite impressive,” Dr. Hageman said. “Part of our success is the caliber of the students who apply, our high quality faculty and the support of the clinical instructors across the state. We also benefit from being part of an academic health science center.”
Founding the program
Sacksteder, who founded UNMC’s Physical Therapy Program in 1969, died June 19, 2001. She served as program director for the first 10 years. Born in 1914 in Sandusky, Ohio, Sacksteder foresaw physical therapy education at the graduate level, initiating a forward-thinking curriculum that included courses in research and teaching, thus laying the foundation for the program’s future transition to the master of physical therapy degree.
Virginia Nieland, director of UNMC’s physical therapy education program from 1979 to 1982, will be on hand at this weekend’s anniversary event. Other directors have been Susan Martin Cigelman (interim director, 1982 to 1983) and James Martin (1983 to 1989).