Name:

Jane Sullivan

Position:

Director of Education

Degrees Earned:

Certifications:

None

Clinical/Research/
Teaching Experience:

The bulk of my full-time clinical practice experience is in inpatient rehabilitation. I have also worked in acute care and home health. I have been employed in non-for-profit settings, a county health system, and in the Veterans Administration system.

My primary teaching responsibilities in the Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences at Northwestern University are in teaching neurologic exam and intervention and electrotherapy to our DPT students. I teach continuing education courses focused on stroke, electrotherapy, and outcome measurement. My research interests include two diverse areas of stroke rehabilitation: the application of electrical stimulation to enhance arm function and the use of pedometers to improve fitness and quality of life.

Employment

My first, third and fourth jobs were at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC). After 2 years as a staff therapist at RIC, I moved back to my home in Ohio and worked in two settings in Cleveland - the Veterans Administration Hospital, where I was part of a team staffing an 80-bed spinal cord injury unit; and at MetroHealth, where I had the opportunity to work in an acute care setting with individuals who had experienced stroke and spinal cord injury. I returned to Chicago and took a job at RIC as a clinical supervisor and eventually became the assistant director of the physical therapy department. During this time and for a number of years following, I also worked for the Visiting Nurse Association doing home health. At this point, I see several pro bono patients on a regular basis. For nearly 25 years, my primary employment setting has been at Northwestern University – I began as a teaching assistant while studying for my MS degree and now teach full time. In addition to teaching and research, I also chair the DPT admissions committee.

Professional Contributions

I have presented 30 poster/platform presentations and more than 40 continuing education courses. I’ve authored 10 peer-reviewed publications, 2 book chapters, and 20 published abstracts. The focus of my publications and presentations has been in rehabilitation following stroke, electrotherapy, and PT education.

Professional Awards

APTA Service

I am the course coordinator of the Neurology Section Regional Course: Neurologic Practice Essentials: A Measurement Toolbox. In this role, I coordinated a team of 10 section members who developed the course content and have personally been involved in the teaching of 8 of these courses. 2008-present.

I represent the Neurology Section on the Section on Research - Evidence Database to Guide Effectiveness (EDGE) taskforce. 2009-present

I represented the Neurology Section at the Guidelines Development meeting held at APTA in 2010.

With Genevieve Pinto Zipp, I co-chaired the StrokeEDGE taskforce that developed recommendations about the use of outcome measures for individuals with stroke. 2009-2011

With Kirsten Potter and Karen McCulloch, I have been involved in the development of an interactive online learning module on outcome measurement that is targeted to launch on the APTA Learning Center in early 2012.

I participated in the Neurology Section Research Strategic Planning Meeting in 2011.

I’ve been involved in 2 neurology section-sponsored CSM Pre-conference courses (2008 and 2010) and 2 section-sponsored Concentrated Education Sessions at APTA annual conference (2004 and 2008).

Personal Statement

I’ve been a member of the Neurology Section for as long as I can remember. It’s an important part of my professional identify. In recent years, I have been actively involved in several exciting section endeavors related to education. I believe our section has an enormous amount of talent and energy that has been and will continue to be harnessed to move neurologic practice ahead. My decision to to run for the position of Director of Education is rooted in a desire to continue to contribute to and nurture these efforts as the section moves into the future.

I believe that those with whom I’ve worked would describe me as organized, enthusiastic, and collaborative. I enjoy teamwork and think our best efforts are achieved by drawing on individual strengths to build cohesive, multi-faceted working partnerships. My background in a variety of settings as a clinician, clinical manager, educator, and researcher has enabled me to experience the diverse perspectives critical to advancing neurological physical therapy practice. I believe that I can work successfully to collaborate with section members and APTA partners as well as with stakeholders across the healthcare and education communities. Exciting opportunities using communication and educational technology will enable the section to continue to expand our excellent educational efforts to meet the needs of our membership in the future.