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The crowd flowing through Innovation Hall at the scholarship symposium for the 51Ʒ��’s Department of Physical Therapy did not wane. There was too much going on.

The symposium held on Dec. 13 on the Portland Campus for Health Sciences has long been a milestone for the third-year doctoral students, but in recent years it’s evolved and grown. Filling up the massive banquet room, students presented their research while clinical faculty milled around and asked questions. Surrounding dozens of mini discussions, 18 physical therapy practices from across Maine participated in a career fair for the second year in a row. The event concluded with a new highlight — the Maine Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association’s (APTA) winter membership meeting.

The varied research the students presented included studies on the use of two-wheeled cycling for children with disabilities, exercise programs for residents in an affordable housing community, advocacy work conducted by the Maine Chapter of APTA, and the role of physical therapists on an interdisciplinary care team treating an amputee patient. 

With a look around at the many discussions taking place across the hall, Kaylee Dow (D.P.T., ’25) said it was inspiring.

“It’s a nice reminder that we can play a role in improving our profession. It reminds me that there’s so much more room to grow in this profession, and there’s more research to be done,” Dow said. “Here we are, this is PT, this is what we do. It shows there are more ways we can improve our skills and more research that we can take part in to give more evidenced-based care and cater to different populations better.”

Dow worked with three other classmates on research that explored how well three specific back exercises can help low back pain. The group looked at exercises that can help stabilize the spine and activate and strengthen the muscles around it for people experiencing low back pain, an ailment that, Dow noted, is a huge health issue worldwide –— and not an inexpensive one.

“There’s definitely a lot more research to be done, but it was cool because right now there are a lot of directions in terms of how you can treat that. We were hoping to add to that research with some answers of something that might be beneficial,” Dow said. 

William Heisey (D.P.T., ’25) worked on the research team with Dow, and was equally excited with what their research found: the loaded back extension can be a valuable tool for physical therapists treating lower back pain.

“It had a really high activation compared to the other exercises,” Heisey said. “That’s really good.”

Last year, local employers of physical therapy practices came to the event to talk with students, but that interest morphed into a full-blown career fair this year, said Amanda Benner, D.P.T., PT, NCS, the assistant director of Clinical Education in Physical Therapy in the Westbrook College of Health Professions.

Health care providers came from as far away as Caribou, Maine, and there was interest in the event from employers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, Benner said.

“The big goal for the students is to highlight all of their hard work with their culminating project. It’s a real milestone in the PT program,” Benner said. “But this year they really had the opportunity to network with the PT community at the career fair. There was a lot more interest this year. I am excited to see how this continues to grow and develop both students and the physical therapy workforce.”