Sports Physical Therapy Residency Program

The mission of the University of Miami Sports Physical Therapy Residency Program is to immerse practicing clinicians into advanced sports didactic and clinical instruction to develop clinicians who provide exceptional patient care, promote the core values of the American Physical Therapy Association, and are equipped to be leaders, mentors, and educators for the public and within the health care community.

First Goal

Develop clinicians for advanced sports proficiency and that are prepared to pursue the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties certification through a comprehensive didactic curriculum and in instruction and testing of psychomotor skills.

Second Goal

Promote the use of critical thinking, metacognition, research, and clinical decision-making as it relates to the intra-/inter-professional delivery of care in sport.

Third Goal

Exemplify the professional core values of the APTA by providing a curriculum focused on patient-centered care that emphasizes compassion, integrity, professional duty, accountability, social responsibility, and the pursuit of excellence as integral components of physical therapy

Fourth Goal

Provide the surrounding community and beyond with residency-trained physical therapists who excel in the practice of sport.

The University of Miami, Department of Physical Therapy – Sports Physical Therapy Residency Program is a fully accredited, year-long program, offering physical therapists the ability to gain a variety of structured experiences in sports and outpatient settings. Residents will have live didactic education in the Department of Physical Therapy’s Coral Gables campus, blocks away from their clinical practice at the Lennar Medical Foundation and their sports affiliations with the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Our Residency also partners with UHealth Sports Medicine Institute, the Miami VA Adaptive Sports Program, and Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Pediatric Sports Medicine Program. Additionally, we share parts of our didactic curriculum with our other University-based residency programs, primarily with our partners in the Orthopaedic Residency.

The program is designed to provide residents with intensive study of sports physical therapy, preparing them to sit for (and pass) the Sports Physical Therapy Clinical Specialist Exam offered by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. Opportunities with other community providers are also available (Miami VA SCI Adaptive Sports, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Sports Medicine).

We are looking for honest, hard-working, committed, mature, resilient, inquisitive, team-oriented physical therapists, who fit the personality of our program. Additionally, a background in sports (athletic trainer, student-athlete, strength & conditioning coach, clinical experience) is preferred. The resident will be a part of an inter-professional, collaborative team with athletic trainers, strength & conditioning coaches, physicians, etc. daily. 

Resident Education

Residents will receive live didactic courses on topics related to sports physical therapy, including all of the expected knowledge areas published in the current Description of Specialty Practice for Sports Physical Therapy. The content will be taught by expert faculty and clinicians from the University of Miami Department of Physical Therapy and expert clinicians in the community.

The sports resident(s) will share didactic learning experiences with other residents from our physical therapy residency programs, especially with our Orthopaedic Residency colleagues. The Orthopaedic Residency faculty will play a major role in didactic instruction with modules related to pain science, primary care, the spine, and peripheral joints. Modules or units will be taught weekly throughout the year. The curriculum is structured so that content related to the fall sports seasons (football, soccer, volleyball, cross country) is covered first (i.e., acute sports injury and illness, concussion, environmental, spine). Residents will be expected to complete a capstone research project to be presented at the end of the program.

Residents have also been privileged to attend the MSK Ultrasound modules with the UHealth Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship team (https://umiamihealth.org/en/healthcare-professionals/sports-medicine-institute/primary-care-sports-medicine-fellowship). The MSK Ultrasound modules are held at the Lennar Medical Center and will typically be scheduled on Friday mornings. The residency class start times are adjusted to accommodate any potential time conflicts with the MSK Ultrasound modules. Residents will also work closely with the UHealth Orthopaedic Sports Medicine fellow https://umiamihealth.org/healthcare-professionals/sports-medicine-institute/orthopaedic-sports-medicine-fellowship.

• Residents are guided through the research process by Michele Raya, Ph.D., PT, SCS, ATC (Assistant Program Director, Academic and Research Coordinator). Original case reports or participation in ongoing studies are acceptable.
• Residents will present their work at the annual Resident Research Symposium along with all our University of Miami residency programs.

ACL injury prevention, adaptive sports, autoimmune disorders, biometrics, bone stress injuries, chronic disease, dance medicine, differential diagnosis, external and internal load monitoring, higher education, injury risk assessment, medically complex patients, performance-based outcome measures, physical literacy, runners/endurance athletes, return to play/sport testing, smartphone goniometry/inclinometer, sports science, systematic reviews, technology, throwing, upper extremity treatment paradigms

Case-Diagnosis Listing

• https://abptrfe.apta.org/globalassets/abptrfe/for-programs/clinical-programs/residency-practice/drp_sports.pdf (p. 11-12)

Association Links

• American Physical Therapy Association https://www.apta.org/
• American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy https://sportspt.org/

Journal Links

• International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy https://ijspt.org/
• Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy https://www.jospt.org/
• Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise https://www.acsm.org/education-resources/journals/medicine-science-in-sports-exercise
• Sports Medicine https://www.springer.com/journal/40279

Work Hours

A typical week includes 28 hours of out-patient care at the Lennar Foundation Medical Center, 4-6 hours of live class (usually on Thursday afternoons or Friday mornings and working with our D1 athletics programs. Our residents will on average have 1000+ hours working with our D1 athletes.

Sport Coverage

Our residents will all get the opportunity to work with our football program and provide home-game sideline coverage and potentially travel to away games. For our residents, we will likely schedule 2 of the 3 for morning coverage in the Athletics Department. The resident in Athletics in the afternoon will typically work primarily with our Track & Field program. Opportunities to work with student-athletes for all of our sports will also be provided.

Mentoring

Mentoring will either be scheduled or occur organically based on the circumstance. In Athletics, the resident’s primary mentor on a case will be the full-time team physical therapist for their sport. Mentoring in the outpatient center will be done based on needs or predetermined days/times.

ABPTRFE: https://abptrfe.apta.org/

RF-PTCAS: https://rfptcas.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/login

Interview Dates: TBD

Interview Details: As we receive completed applications on RF-PTCAS we will look to begin the process with our admissions committee. There will be opportunities to meet current and former residents, as well as program faculty through virtual information sessions (late summer and fall), phone calls (October-January), in-person meetings at Combined Sections Meeting (February), and eventually for a select group on the University of Miami campus (January - February)

Selection Process: Sports residency programs nationwide are collaborating with standardized offer dates for applicants. The proposed official offer date would be on the first Monday in March.

Social Life: https://med.miami.edu/miami

Domestic Considerations: https://med.miami.edu/miami

Instagram Account: @umptsports

Current Residents

• Pete Galasson, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, USA-W https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-jude-galasso-ba201a245/
• Lil Padro, PT, DPT, ATC/L https://www.linkedin.com/in/lil-isabel-padro-930b80205/
• Brenden Seki, PT, DPT, CSCS https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenden-seki-pt-dpt-cscs-461a46ba/

Residency Alumni

• Charles Badawy, PT, DPT, SCS, CSCS, USAW https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-badawy-pt-dpt-s-c-s-1805b14a/
• Ryan Brooks, PT, DPT, MA, CSCS, USAW https://twitter.com/ryanbrooks_dpt
• Kyle Burnett, PT, DPT, SCS https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-burnett-dpt-1a92671b2/
• Aijalon Cobb, PT, DPT, ATC/L https://www.linkedin.com/in/aijalon-c-296686155/
• Keairez Coleman, PT, DPT CSCS https://www.linkedin.com/in/keairez-coleman-pt-dpt-cscs-a22957164
• Fernando Espinosa, PT, DPT https://www.linkedin.com/in/fernandoespinosapt/
• Bryan Franciosi, PT, DPT, ATC/L https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-franciosi-pt-dpt-atc-cscs-89a969219/
• Sarah Glick, PT, DPT, SCS, OCS
• Matt Hobbs, PT, DPT, CSCS, USAW https://www.linkedin.com/in/logan-%E2%80%9Cmatt%E2%80%9D-hobbs-pt-dpt-cscs-usaw-558886119/
• Tiffany Maye, PT, DPT, SCS, MA, CSCS https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanytmaye/
• Abbey Misenheimer, PT, DPT, SCS, ATC/L https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigail-misenheimer-pt-dpt-l-atc-scs-048946139/
• Julia Rapicavoli, PT, DPT, SCS, ATC/L https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-rapicavoli-renda-22b746ba/
• Kurtis Rayfield, PT, DPT, CSCS https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurtis-rayfield-pt-dpt-6908a8b7/
• Julian Rivera, PT, DPT, SCS, ATC/L, USA-W https://miamihurricanes.com/coach/julian-rivera/
• Samantha Schipfer, PT, DPT, ATC/L https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-schipfer-990818243/
• Marcin Szczyglowski, PT, DPT, SCS, CSCS https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcin-szczyglowski-pt-dpt-ms-037b2467/

Core Faculty

• Luis A. Feigenbaum, PT, DPT, SCS, LAT, ATC, CSCS (Sports Physical Therapy Residency Program Director) 
• Joseph M. Mirando, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS (Associate Program Director, UHealth Coordinator) 
• Julia Rapicavoli, PT, DPT, SCS, LAT, ATC (Associate Program Director, Department of Intercollegiate Athletics Coordinator) 
• Michele Raya, Ph.D., PT, SCS, ATC (Assistant Program Director, Academic and Research Coordinator) 
• Kyle Burnett, PT, DPT, SCS
• Joe Girardi, PT, DPT, CSCCa
• Phillip Grattan, PT, DPT, OCS
• Tommy Otley, PT, DPT, SCS
• Marlon Pereira PT, DPT, OCS, SCS, MTC, CSCS (Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency Program Coordinator)
• Julian Rivera, PT, DPT, SCS, LAT, ATC, USA-W
• Jeffrey Ruiz, PT, DPT, SCS, OCS, CSCS, USA-W
• Marlon Wong PT, DPT, OCS (Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency Program Director) 
• Samanda Vasquez, PT, DPT, ATP, KTCC

Adjunct Faculty

• Jessica Bolanos PT, DPT
• Lawrence Cahalin Ph.D., PT, CCS
• Meryl Cohen, PT, DPT, CCS
• Jeffrey Fernandez, PT, DPT, OCS (Nicklaus Children’s Hospital)
• Teresa Glynn, PT, DPT, MBA (Vice Chair for Clinical Service)
• Neva Kirk – Sanchez, Ph.D., PT (Chair, DPT Program Director)
• Dave Mandel, Ph.D., PT
• James Moore, Ph.D., PT, PCS (Vice-chair for Residency Programs, Pediatric Physical Therapy Residency Program Director) 
• Kathy Roach, PT, Ph.D.