A physical therapy residency is a period of optional, specialized, post-graduate training that a physical therapist may choose to undergo following graduation from physical therapy school as well as the passage of the professional licensure examination.  

Once reserved primarily for physicians following medical school, a host of other healthcare professionals now complete residencies including physical therapists, pharmacists, veterinarians, dentists, and podiatrists. 

The field of physical therapy is very broad and newly graduated physical therapists are “Jacks of all trades.”  Residency helps to improve skills in a particular area of PT subspecialty.  Examples of physical therapy residencies include acute care, cardiovascular and pulmonary care, clinical electrophysiology, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, orthopaedics, pediatrics, sports, women’s health, and wound management.  At Foothills physical therapy, we offer an orthopaedic residency, The Orthopaedic Residency of Foothills Physical Therapy (ORFPT), which is the only locally established orthopaedic residency in Idaho.

Each year we accept one or two physical therapists into our 12-month intensive program which is taught by nine of our specialist physical therapists.  Our curriculum consists of twelve modules, instructed by an expert in each particular module area.  Throughout the year, the faculty provides lectures and labs, coupled with one-on-one mentoring.  Our orthopaedic residency helps the resident build clinical skills and professional experience in the outpatient orthpaedic setting.  Classroom learning and clinical education are augmented by clinic time spent with sports medicine, orthopaedic, and neurosurgical physicians, as well as hand therapists and TMJ specialists in order to provide a well-rounded education.

The ORFPT helps the PT improve their orthopaedic clinical expertise in an efficient and effective way and also prepares the resident for the national board examination to become a board-certified Orthopaedic Clinical Specialist (OCS).  Currently, 100% of our residents have passed the OCS. 

While physical therapy is our passion, our dream is to leave the field of physical therapy better than we found it by passing on our legacy to the next generation of physical therapists.  The ORFPT represents the culmination of this dream.  Our residency program is one more way we give back to the great profession of physical therapy and to the community we serve. 

-- Nick Woods, DPT, OCS, COMT, FAAOMPT