Dr. Odom and Mary Grace Dupuy
“The APTA Arkansas SSIG hosted its first Student Expo this past Saturday at UCA. Students across 5 DPT programs in Arkansas gathered to network, engage with local businesses, and hear from practicing clinicians on various topics. Discussion topics included managing finances and student debt, manual therapy techniques, travel physical therapy, and opening a private practice. This was an incredible opportunity to collaborate with various students across the state and learn more about our profession. We hope to continue this event annually to serve PT and PTA students across Arkansas.” -Mary Grace Dupuy, Executive Chair.
ARPTA SSIG Student Expo
The APTA Arkansas SSIG Student Expo, held at UCA, Saturday, April 6th, was a student led, one day Expo attended by over 90 students from the five DPT Programs in Arkansas including UCA, Arkansas State University (Jonesboro), Harding University (Searcy), UAMS (Fayetteville) and AR Colleges of Health Education (Ft. Smith). Guest speakers included UCA alumni Dr. Chris Carroll (DPT2019) presenting on manual therapy, Dr. Jenny Freyman (DPT2006) presenting on private practice, Dr. Travis McGill (DPT2018) presenting on travel PT and Dr. Eric Seaman (DPT2013) presenting on finances. Students also got to meet and visit with vendors during the Expo.
ARPTA SSIG Leadership
The 2023-2024 Student Special Interest Group for Arkansas APTA is led by Executive Chair Mary Grace Dupuy (UCA), Executive Vice Chair Bryson Woods (Arkansas State), Secretary Anna Beth Raley (UCA) and Social Media Coordinator Emily Blanchard (UCA). UCA Student Representatives are Madelyn Tankersley and Kaylie Lane. Dr. Brian Odom, Vice President of ARPTA, serves as UCA’s faculty advisor.
The 2024 AR SSIG Student Expo was sponsored by: Harris and Renshaw PT, River Valley Therapy and Sports Medicine, McMaster PT Clinic, Gross Therapy Services, Proactive PT, Kidsource Therapy, South Arkansas Rehab, Rehab Net of Arkansas, APTA Arkansas, and hosted by UCA Physical Therapy. It was a great success!