WINGATE – A first-of-its-kind program in North Carolina is designed to improve the quality of health care and enhance educational opportunities in the Charlotte area. A post-doctoral neurologic physical therapy residency program, to be run by Wingate University and Carolinas HealthCare System, has been awarded candidate status by the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education.

Applications for the new Charlotte-based residency program will be accepted nationwide from May 31 until June 30. Those selected will begin the 12-month program in January 2017. CHS will offer the clinical or on-the-job aspects of the physical therapy residency while Wingate University will provide the didactic or classroom portion. After being trained for a year in advanced neurologic physical therapy care, the residents take a board certification exam and can become a board certified specialist in neurologic physical therapy.

“We want to really make an impact on the entire region by having people who are well trained, in depth, in all areas of physical therapy,” Dr. Kevin Brueilly, director of Wingate’s Department of Physical Therapy, said.

Dr. Diane Wrisley oversees the Wingate Department of Physical Therapy’s post-professional programs, including the new neurologic residency.

“It’s designed for practicing physical therapists who are interested in neurologic physical therapy,” Wrisley said. “It could include fairly new graduates but also practicing clinicians who want to specialize.”

Physical therapists who specialize in neurology often work with people who have had a stroke, or are living with Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, ALS or other neurologic conditions. Only 36 accredited neurologic physical therapy residency programs are offered in the United States. This will be the first neurologic PT residency program in North Carolina.

The neurologic PT residents will work 32 hours per week at CHS facilities, including Charlotte-area hospitals, long-term inpatient rehabilitation facilities and outpatient rehabilitation clinics. The residents will take online classes taught by Wingate University’s physical therapy faculty, will meet in small-group sessions to discuss what they are learning and will also help teach students enrolled in Wingate’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program. The residents will be paid an adjusted salary for working at CHS facilities, receive a full-benefits package and CHS will pay for their tuition.

Physical therapists who choose to get advanced training in a specific area of medicine are similar to medical doctors who get additional training to become specialists.

“Although residencies in physical therapy are new, they allow PTs to become specialists and be the best at what they do,” Wrisley said. “The residencies will allow us to go that extra step to develop specialists who are the best in the profession.”

In the summer of 2017, Wingate plans to add a different PT residency program. The University has received preliminary approval for an academic faculty residency to train practicing physical therapists who want to teach physical therapy at the university level. In the future, Wingate hopes to partner with CHS to offer post-professional physical therapy residencies in pediatrics and geriatrics, as well as providing the classroom aspects of CHS’ existing PT residency program in orthopedics.

“This is our first partnership with Carolinas HealthCare System and we anticipate developing other residency programs with them,” Wrisley said. “This is just the beginning of what we hope is a wonderful partnership with them.”

“This neurologic residency fits into our vision of our department,” said Brueilly, Wingate’s physical therapy department director. “We will continue to train doctors of physical therapy to be entry-level providers. And Wingate will continue to grow and expand, becoming a full-service educational institution for physical therapy education.”

For the Record