NovaCare Rehabilitation Philadelphia Sports Physical Therapy Residency

Clinical residency program

This 12-month program is accredited by the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education (ABPTRFE). Designed for the advanced development of physical therapists, the program boasts a 100% completion and board exam pass rate. 

This sports residency program encompasses a balanced mix of mentored and independent clinical hours at Temple University's Olympic Sports and Football training rooms and a NovaCare Rehabilitation outpatient center in Philadelphia. Residents gain hands-on experience through diverse professional settings, including engagements with the Philadelphia Phillies in Florida, Philadelphia Flyers and Philadelphia 76ers. 

Mission:

To facilitate the development of physical therapists into sports clinical specialists through a combination of clinical experiences with an athletic population, mentorship and didactic coursework. The expectation is to maintain consistency with the NovaCare Rehabilitation mission where in clinicians provide an exceptional patient care experience that promotes healing and recovery in a compassionate environment.

Comprehensive curriculum

Total program hours: 2,298

• Over 430 educational hours
• 160 hours of one-on-one mentored patient care
• 40 hours dedicated to research
• 200 hours of event coverage
• 1,508 regular patient care hours
• 30 hours of surgical observation
• 40 hours each for MD shadowing and other interdisciplinary shadowing

Program schedule

Typical weekly schedule:

Monday/Wednesday: 7 a.m. - 12 p.m. at Temple Football. Outpatient clinic hours are 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Tuesday/Thursday: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at Temple Olympic Sports

Friday: 12 p.m. - 4 p.m. outpatient clinic hours

This program is 12 months in total. It runs from July-July.

Program outcomes

Number of graduates: Four

Pass rate = 100%

Residency-and-Fellowship-Financial-Fact-Sheet-NovaCare-Sports

Program highlights

Residents will benefit from NovaCare Rehabilitation’s strong connections with local sports teams and treating physicians, engaging in over 200 on-field hours and comprehensive interdisciplinary shadowing with sports physician's, orthopedic surgeon's, strength and conditioning staff, athletic training staff and sports dieticians. Residents will also benefit from monthly, collaborative grand rounds presentations.

Participants will be recognized as full-time NovaCare employees throughout the program, provided they maintain good standing. This status includes eligibility for full-time employee benefits.

We invite aspiring residents to apply by December 1 for a program commencement in July. Each year, one resident is selected for this prestigious opportunity.

Application process

• Applications open on September 1st on the RF-PTCAS website and close on November 1st
• In person interviews are offered in January and scheduled for early February
• Our official offer goes out the first Monday in March in accordance with the ABPTRFE guidelines

Faculty

Program Director – Joel Roth: [email protected]

Program Coordinator – Patrick Smith: [email protected]

Primary Mentors – Patrick Smith and Terrence McHugh

Faculty – Justin Lavo, Suzanne Smith, Ryan Kuehn, Anthony Sechuk, Greg Nealis

Click here to meet our faculty and learn more about their expertise.