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Physical Therapy Neurologic Residency

Physical Therapy Neurologic Residency

The Jefferson Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Residency Is a 1 Year Experience Focused on Developing Advanced Practitioners Poised To Be Leaders in the Profession.

MossRehab developed the first neurologic physical therapy residency program in the country, credentialed by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) in 2003 and reaccredited in 2014. Now, as part of Jefferson Health, we are excited to offer our program with additional sites and integrate components of the former Jefferson Magee Rehabilitation Neurologic PT residency program.

Our residency program provides an intensive, one-year experience combining clinical and didactic learning opportunities. The foundation of the program is over 200 hours of one-on-one clinical mentoring with expert clinicians at Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, Jefferson Einstein, and JeffersonMoss-Magee Rehabilitation Hospital. This occurs concurrently with clinical practice as a treating therapist in acute care, inpatient rehab and outpatient clinics. The resident also receives >150 hours of instruction based on the APTA's Neurologic Description of Specialty Practice. Additional components include structured learning opportunities in areas related to clinical practice, teaching and scientific inquiry.

Program Mission

The Mission of the Jefferson Moss Magee Rehabilitation Neurologic Residency program is to develop advanced practitioners that will contribute leadership, clinical skills and knowledge sharing to advance the field of neurologic rehabilitation with the goal of improved quality of life for persons affected by neurologic conditions.

Residents completing the program will be prepared to sit for and pass the Physical Therapy Specialist Certification Examination in Neurology.

Why Choose the Jefferson Moss-Magee Neurologic Residency Program?

As the oldest neurologic physical therapy residency program in the country, our residency program draws upon a wealth of experience. Several of our previous residency graduates continue to work in the Jefferson Health Network and are involved with the program. Our network has a cadre of experienced physical therapists including more than 30 with neurologic specialty certification (NCS), many of whom are mentors or lecture within the residency program. In addition to the formal mentoring that is a central aspect of the residency program, we pride ourselves on a dynamic clinical environment fostering collaboration among physical therapists and those from other disciplines on the clinical team.

Outcomes

  • 100 percent of MossRehab Neurologic residency graduates pass the NCS exam on first attempt
  • Approximately 60percent of residency graduates elect to stay at Jefferson Health as full time staff members upon graduation from the program.
  • The majority of MossRehab Neurologic residency graduates contribute to national and regional endeavors including poster presentations, lecturing, and teaching responsibilities after completing the program.
  • To date, 95% of individuals who start the program complete the program (35/37).
  • Here’s what employers say about residency graduates:

“Jill is excellent at critical thinking, correlating the clinical presentation with lesion site and size, and incorporating various treatment techniques into the plan of care for her patients.”

“Kate was able to proficiently manage involved clients, demonstrating an advanced level of clinical expertise.”

“Alison demonstrates good application of current research during her treatment sessions and is a vital part of the multi-disciplinary team. She is well versed in multiple diagnoses and is able to independently, competently and confidently treat a wide variety of patients.”

  • Residency graduates say:

“Moss has done a fantastic job preparing me to work in any setting with any neurologic population.”

“The PT residency program was an invaluable professional development experience. The mentored sessions and opportunity to collaborate with other therapists helped me to problem solve effectively, to reflect on my treatment biases and to critically appraise treatment ideas.”

“Making the decision to participate in the residency program was the best decision I have made in my post-grad career. I feel much more confident in different areas- clinical decision making, presenting information to peers in in-services, patient handling skills… .”

What Is a Physical Therapy Clinical Residency?

A clinical residency program is defined by APTA as a post-professional clinical and didactic program for physical therapists designed to advance the resident's preparation as a provider in a defined practice area. It combines opportunities for ongoing clinical supervision and mentoring with a theoretical basis for advanced practice and scientific inquiry. A clinical residency program is not synonymous with a "clinical internship" or "clinical fellowship". For further information, visit the APTA Web site.

Program Details

The Jefferson Moss Magee Rehabilitation neurologic physical therapy residency program combines clinical mentoring, the opportunity for advanced clinical practice, didactic information, and specialty learning opportunities into a rich, comprehensive learning experience. We believe strongly that:
  • Advanced clinical decision-making requires solid foundational knowledge and skills
  • Advancement of clinical skills requires guidance and reflection
  • Advanced clinical practice requires the ability to critically appraise and contextualize current research
  • Patients are the best teachers

Therefore, the didactic portion, as well as the entire program, is developed around these ideas. Further, we use as a framework the APTA’s Neurologic Description of Specialty Practice (DSP). This is the same document on which the examination for specialty certification in neurologic P.T. practice is based. This ensures that the residency graduate will be well prepared to sit for the specialty certification examination and practice autonomously at an advanced level.​​

In each week, the resident can expect to participate in the following:

  • 28 hours of direct care with patients with neurologic diagnoses
  • 2 hours of work with a patient and a mentor (“mentored session”)
  • 3 hours of one-on-one mentoring with a mentor
  • Up to 6 hours of didactic lectures and structured learning experiences

Note that some lectures will be provided on weekday evenings, while others may occur during Saturday or the full weekend. Although the structure of each week will vary depending on the clinical service and other responsibilities, a typical week might look as follows:



Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
7:00AM






8:00AM

Meet w/
Program
Coordinator
Peer-Review
Per-Diem
Weekend
Coverage (Not
Required)
9:00AM Patient Care Mentored
Session
Patient Care Patient Care Mentored
Session

10:00AM Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care
11:00AM Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care
NOON Vendor
In-service
Journal
Club
Lunch
(maybe)
Program
Meeting
Academic/
Cognitive
Rounds

1:00PM Mentored
Session
Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care
2:00PM Patient Care Charts Rounds/
Team Meeting
Mentored
Session
Patient Care Charts Rounds/
Team Meeting

3:00PM Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care
4:00PM Specialty
Observation
Self-Study Self-Study Self-Study Self-Study
5:00PM
Lecture/Lab
Lecture/Lab

6:00PM
Lecture/Lab
Lecture/Lab

7:00PM
Lecture/Lab
(5:30 - 7:30)

Lecture/Lab
(5:30 - 7:30)


8:00PM





Residents in our program will spend 6 months in the acute inpatient rehab setting, 6 months in the outpatient setting and 2 weeks in the acute care setting. Residents will be placed at Jefferson Moss Magee Rehab- Center City (formally Magee Rehab) and Jefferson Moss Magee-Elkins Park (formally Moss Rehab), in addition to acute care experiences at Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience or Jefferson Einstein Hospital. MossRehab and Magee Rehabilitation Hospitals are both recognized as a rehabilitation leaders regionally, nationally and internationally. Both hospitals have CARF accreditations and for a number of programs, and MossRehab’s Drucker Brain Injury Center in conjunction with the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute is a TBI Model System.

Rehabilitation robotics has been a strong focus over the past 10+ years, and we feature multiple robotic options for our patients.

These exciting new training modalities are recognized as additional options for our most important treatment tool: the clinician who is able to apply advanced clinical reasoning and treatment techniques to achieve the best outcome for the patient.

Outpatient Neurologic & Vestibular Rehabilitation

  • Matt Vnenchak, PT, MS, NCS
  • Vincent Long, PT, DPT, NCS
  • Janet Hertz, PT, DPT, NCS

Inpatient and Outpatient Brain Injury

  • Colleen Dowd, PT, DPT
  • Kim Miczak, PT, NCS
  • Elizabeth Marcy, PT, DPT, NCS

Inpatient Stroke and Spinal Cord Injury

  • Naomi A. Greenberg, PT, DPT, GCS
  • Kelly Sprik, PT, DPT, NCS
  • Erika Harold, PT, DPT, NCS
  • Andy Packel, PT, NCS
  • Kelsey Loose, PT, DPT
  • Erin Kennedy, PT, DPT, NCS
  • Amanda Charles, PT, DPT
  • Sarah Lamberton, PT, DPT
  • Ben Ayzenberg, PT, DPT, NCS

Individuals both within MossRehab and from the local community provide didactic instruction. This includes professionals across a wide spectrum of clinical and academic perspectives. They include:

  • Andrew Packel, PT, NCS
  • Kate Boyd, MSPT, NCS
  • Shailesh Kantak, Ph.D, PT
  • Madeline DiPasquale, Ph.D.
  • Eileen Fitzpatrick, Ph.D.
  • Maria Flach, PT
  • Claire McGrath, Ph.D.
  • Marcia G. Moore, PT, APT
  • Thomas Watanabe, MD
  • Carolyn Tassini, PT, DPT, NCS
  • Phillip Malloy, PT, PhD

Our tuition is $8,000 for the year, paid incrementally.

Residents earn a salary at approximately 80% of an entry level clinician.

Financial Fact Sheet 2023-2024

Application and Contact Information

The Jefferson Moss-Magee Rehabilitation residency program is an intensive, dynamic experience intended to provide an advanced level of training. For this reason, we provide admission preference to individuals who demonstrate initiative in acquiring experiences related to neurologic populations. Current Pennsylvania licensure or eligibility for Pennsylvania licensure is required to apply.

In accordance with hospital policy, all employment-related decisions, including program recruitment, admission, retention, and dismissal, are made without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, national origin, marital status, age (18 or older), disability, veteran status, citizenship status, or any other protected characteristic as established by law.

What Are the Dates and Timelines of the Program?

The residency program begins in August each year and runs for 53 consecutive weeks.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until January 15th of each year. Following that, applications will continue to be accepted until all positions have been filled.

How Do I Apply?

We are a participating program in the RF-PTCAS online application system.



Accredited Program Logo

Program accredited by the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency & Fellowship Education.


Who Do I Contact for More Information?

The program leader is:


Kimberly Miczak, PT, NCS Headshot

Kimberly Miczak, PT, NCS

Director, Jefferson Moss Magee Physical Therapy Residency Program
60 E. Township Line Rd Elkins Park, PA 19027

Office Phone: 215-663-6388

Email: kimberly.miczak@jefferson.edu

Want to Refer a Patient to MossRehab?

Call us: 215-663-6677


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US News and World Report Best Hospitals Badge

Top-ranked rehabilitation hospital in Pennsylvania and top 10 in the U.S.

MossRehab (main hospital)

60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027
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