President’s Message
(September 2019)
INAPTA Members,
It is all systems go at this time of the year. If you have school age children, you are already getting into a routine, and if you attend or work in higher education, the start of the academic year is rolling out this week. INAPTA is also in a state of all systems go with the work leading up to the recent updates to the Indiana Physical Therapy Practice Act, plus all we have planned for the upcoming months.
As many of you are aware, the updates to the Indiana Practice Act went into law July 1, 2019. This was a moment of celebration for our profession! Now Indiana Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants are closer to being able to practice within the scope of their education, and Hoosiers now have improved access to physical therapy services. I was able to attend the inaugural meeting of the Indiana Board of Physical Therapy on August 7th and appreciated that the Board was able to make decisions, for the first time, without the oversight of the Indiana Medical Board. The Board of Physical Therapy is already busy at work updating the Rules, which will accompany the updates to the Practice Act.
In response to the updates to the Indiana Physical Therapy Practice Act, INAPTA leadership completed considerable updates to the Ethics and Indiana Jurisprudence online courses. The Ethics Course was updated by the INAPTA Ethics Committee and narrated by Valerie Strunk, PT, DPT who serves on this INAPTA committee and also teaches ethics in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at IUPUI. The Jurisprudence Course was updated and narrated by Pauline Flesch, PT, MPS who has been the Chair of the INAPTA State Legislative Committee. Please consider taking these courses as you get ready to complete your CEU requirements for the 2020 license renewal cycle.
What are you doing on Friday, October 11th? Please consider joining us for a night with a double celebration. At the INAPTA Awards Ceremony, we will be recognizing members and friends of physical therapy who have been nominated by their peers and selected to receive awards by the INAPTA Awards Committee. In addition, we will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Physical Therapist Assistant. Get your dancing shoes ready and come party with us! This celebration on Friday night is the kick off of the INAPTA Fall Conference. On Saturday, October 12, we will have multiple educational sessions, including LAMP II and an Ethics and Jurisprudence Course for those who would like to take this mandatory course in person. Registration for the conference is easy to complete and you will be surprised at the great value in particular for our PTAs, $50 in honor of #PTA50. If you cannot attend the educational sessions on Saturday, you can register to just attend the festivities on Friday evening for $25.
Please see below for a schedule of events on Friday:
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019
UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS
SCHWITZER STUDENT CENTER
Indianapolis, IN
MEET THE CANDIDATES RECEPTION (5-5:30 pm)
BUSINESS MEETING (5:30-7 pm)
AWARDS DINNER AND CEREMONY (7-9 pm)
If you are a student, you cannot miss our first Indiana Student Conclave on November 15-16, 2019. The INAPTA Student SIG is hard at work with organizing educational programming, social events, and a work skills workshop.
Those of us who serve on the INAPTA Board of Directors are in perpetual motion considering how we can connect you with more of what is happening across the state relating to our profession. Look for the use of technology at several district meetings this fall where we will be making these meetings easier to ‘attend’ even if you cannot be there in person.
INAPTA leadership values your input and strives to make Indiana the best place it can be for PTs, PTAs and Students of Physical Therapy along with the patients whom we serve. Please keep your feedback coming to us. Working together, we can accomplish great things!
Emily
Emily Slaven, PT, PhD
President, INAPTA