Over the summer, faculty and students at NYU Physical Therapy, led by Dr. Smita Rao, hosted BK-SWAG (Brooklyn Student Athlete with Goals) and CCL-IGNITE (NYU College and Career Lab - Increasing Representation In Rehabilitation and Creative Health Professions Research).
Students in the BK-SWAG program gain first-hand exposure to a variety of health professional fields that align with sports. Huge thanks to Brittani Morris and Dannyelle Long for their action-packed and engaging presentations!
Dr. Smita Rao leads CCL IGNITE with Vice Dean Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng in a partnership with NYU College & Career Lab. This program is funded by an R25 Science Education Partnership Award from the NIH. We introduced middle and high school students to rehabilitation careers and research. We had amazing advisors thanks to the NYU College & Career Lab. We featured 24 speakers across physical therapy, occupational therapy, communicative sciences and disorders, prosthetics research, vision loss and vision rehabilitation research, nutrition, dance medicine, integrative health, art therapy, music therapy, and drama therapy! Speakers shared their career stories and gave us the inside scoop on their research. CCL Scholars visited the NYU Urban Farm, the Arthur J. Nelson Human Performance Lab, the BRAVO Lab at the Manhattan, the VA, the Swallowing Lab, and the Stuttering Lab. It was a great introduction to rehabilitation health professions and research.
CCL Scholars learned about physical therapy in many different contexts - in sports rehabilitation, balance, and performing arts. In addition to Dr. Rao, faculty members Dr. Anat Lubetzky and Dr. Greg Gao participated as speakers. Adjunct faculty member Dr. Emily Sandow and alumni Dr. Grayson Chao and Dr. Callie Kostopulous, provided invaluable insights. PhD and DPT students Brittani Morris, Dannyelle Long and Emmalyn Reguero shared their stories and advice, offering a rich mix of perspectives and mentorship.
Dr. Rao also served as a guest speaker in partnership with the Health Career Collaborative program to introduce high school students at New York City’s High School for Health Professions and Health Services to the physical therapy profession. Dr. Anat Lubetzsky served as a guest speaker at Stuyvesant High School, one of New York City’s top-ranked public specialized high schools. Dr. Lubetzky continued her outreach event for Dancing Dreams High School volunteers for the third consecutive year! Funded by a Steinhardt Dean’s Innovation Grant, this event included faculty from Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Communicative Sciences and Disorders. This event provided Dancing Dreams teen volunteers and their families with great access and insights into the health professions.
