PT professor reelected president of Texas Physical Therapy Association

 

Associate Professor Michael Geelhoed, DPT, OCS, MTC, was reelected to a second term as president of the Texas Physical Therapy Association at the group’s annual conference, held in Irving, Texas, in October.

Geelhoed, who also is director of clinical education for the Department of Physical Therapy, has a range of goals for his three-year term.

“My main goals are membership growth and engagement, legislative and payment advocacy at the state level, and public relations goals to direct consumer marketing,” Geelhoed said. “If the public knew more about PT and what it can do for you, they would be demanding our services at a much higher rate.”

Geelhoed and two other department faculty presented posters at the conference. Geelhoed’s poster, co-authored by Assistant Professor Sandeep Subramanian, PhD, MSc, BPTh, was on HIPAA violations observed in physical therapy settings.

Assistant Professor Gustavo Almeida, PT, PhD, presented a poster on “Effect of Blood-Flow Restriction on Muscle Power and Lactate Threshold as Compared to High-Intensity Interval Training and Traditional Resistance Training.” Co-authors of that poster include Doctor of Physical Therapy students Logan Voss, Daniel Martinez, Robert Fay, Alexander Rodriguez, Assistant Professor Julie Barnett, PT, DPT, MTC, and Professor Alexis Ortiz, PT, PhD, SCS, CSCS, FACSM (Augustana University, Sioux Falls, South Dakota).

Assistant Professor Bobby Belarmino, PT, DPT, PhD, CCS, and Doctor of Physical Therapy student Gavin Harrell presented a poster titled “Levels of health care students’ confidence and comfort after critical care simulation using interprofessional education collaborative core sub-competencies.” Co-authors of that poster include Autumn Clegg, EdD, OTR, Kevin Voelker, JD, MN, RN, CNE, and Isabell Stoltz, DNP, MN, RN, CCNS.

The conference was TPTA’s first in-person conference since 2019, Geelhoed said.