By Carla Carlton

 

In a bright, spacious room in the Norton Neuroscience Institute in east Louisville, Ray Trowell stands trembling between two handrails. Supported by a ceiling-mounted harness and two Bellarmine students, he takes a shuffling step forward.

 

Before Trowell, a patient with stroke, started coming to Bellarmine’s Service-Learning Clinic at Norton Healthcare’s Cressman Neurological Rehabilitation Center two years ago, he couldn’t get out of bed or sit in a chair. He had quickly burned through the 20 rehab visits his insurance plan allowed and couldn’t afford more.

 

At Cressman, one of Bellarmine’s seven service-learning clinics, the care is provided pro bono. First- and second-year Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students work with patients like Trowell who have a range of neurological disorders twice weekly for four-week rotations.

 

The fellowship is the latest facet of a long-standing partnership between Bellarmine’s Physical Therapy program and the Norton Neuroscience Institute.

Trowell views his visits as “a fair exchange.” He receives care that improves his quality of life, and the students get hands-on experience that will make them better physical therapists—and may help them decide on their area of specialty.

 

“I thought I was going to do sports medicine. But when I shadowed at a sports clinic, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would,” said Kross Locke, a second-year DPT student. “It was like, ‘Here is the fifth straight ACL patient.’ This is the most rewarding place to work. Stroke patients are so unpredictable; you have to come up with a new plan every day.”

 

The DPT Service-Learning Clinic is just one facet of a long-standing partnership between Bellarmine’s Physical Therapy program and the Norton Neuroscience Institute. 

 

Most recently, Bellarmine and Norton Healthcare launched the nation’s first accredited fellowship in neurologic physical therapy.  

 

The Neurologic Movement Disorders Physical Therapy Fellowship, which started in November 2023, is a collaboration between Norton Healthcare and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, with support from Bellarmine’s School of Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences and The Ohio State University School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.

 

“The neurologic PT fellowship supports Bellarmine’s continued strategic focus on entering mutually advantageous community partnerships,” said Bellarmine President Susan M. Donovan. “When we work with a partner, our students learn more, our partners gain expertise and our community gains highly trained professionals. As a result, our neighbors and our region enjoy a better quality of life. The ultimate outcome of these partnerships is a stronger and healthier community.”  

 

The 12-month fellowship entails coursework, mentorship and leadership development while working at Norton Healthcare or the Wexner Medical Center. Participants are employed full-time with benefits and pay no tuition.

 

The goal is to develop physical therapy specialists who can address the rehabilitation needs of patients with movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, ataxia and Huntington’s disease.

 

“We are so excited to offer this opportunity to allow clinicians to feel more confident in the evaluation and treatment of individuals with these complex neurological disorders,” said Dr. Elizabeth Ulanowski, an associate professor in the Bellarmine DPT program who is directing the new fellowship.

 

“The fellowship is something I have been working toward for our community for over five years. These patients need our support and innovation. Exercise and movement are a big part of their overall care, and through evidence-based interventions our goal is to support clinicians, patients and families so we can make this journey easier.” 

 

The fellowship builds upon the yearlong Bellarmine-Norton Healthcare Neurological Physical Therapy Residency, which is in its 12th year. Neurological residents work with patients across Norton Healthcare’s acute care and outpatient settings and at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital in Lexington, Ky. They also conduct entry-level neurological lectures and labs at Bellarmine. The residency has been a catalyst for increasing the number of board-certified neurologic clinical specialists in the region, according to Ulanowski, who also directs this program.

 

Dr. Amber Faraji, a neurologic certified specialist who graduated from Bellarmine’s DPT program in 2019 and completed the Bellarmine-Norton Healthcare Neurological Physical Therapy Residency, is the first neurologic movement disorders fellow at Norton Healthcare.

 

She serves as an adjunct faculty member at Bellarmine and mentors students at the service-learning clinic, where she discovered her career path as a student.

 

“That is when I really started wanting to work with individuals with neurological disorders—specifically movement disorders,” Faraji said. “I thought I was going to be an orthopedic physical therapist. Taking neurology courses and getting to work with an individual through the clinic just totally changed what I wanted to do after graduation.”

 

Faraji is one of a number of Norton Healthcare physical therapists who serve as adjunct faculty in Bellarmine’s DPT program. Norton Healthcare makes this possible by incorporating the teaching time into their clinic schedules.

 

“We feel that it’s a benefit not only to keep our therapists engaged, but also to bring the most current physical therapy education back to our clients,” said Melanie Hoehn, director of rehabilitation services at Norton Brownsboro Hospital.

 

Jeanette “J.” Lanoire ’17 DPT, a neurologic clinical specialist at Cressman Neurological Rehabilitation, is another adjunct faculty member at Bellarmine. She completed the Bellarmine-Norton Neurological Physical Therapy Residency in 2018 and now serves as a mentor in the Bellarmine Service-Learning Clinic.

 

The service-learning clinic experience “makes Bellarmine students shine,” she said. “Patient interactions and patient connections are honestly sometimes half the battle—being able to connect with who you’re working with and getting them to do things that they may not always want to do. The Service-Learning Clinic provides students that one-on-one, real-life patient experience.”