Acute Care Physical Therapy Residency Program | Tampa General Hospital
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Acute Care Physical Therapy Residency Program

Program Mission

The mission of the Tampa General Hospital Acute Care Physical Therapy Residency Program is to provide residents with advanced evidence-based education to become leading acute care physical therapists of innovative, patient-centered, and evidence-based physical therapy to hospitalized patients within our community across a broad spectrum of diagnoses, age, and medical co-morbidities.

ABPTRFE has granted The Tampa General Hospital Acute Care Physical Therapy Residency Program candidacy status. Candidacy status signifies satisfactory progress toward accreditation. Achieving candidacy status is not an indication that ABPTRFE will grant initial accreditation. Participants who graduate from a program in candidacy status are not deemed to have completed an accredited program.

Program Overview

The Residency Program is a 13-month program and involves the following rotations:

  • Medical/Surgical Team: consisting of medical/telemetry units, GI/GU surgical unit, COVID unit, COVID ICU, medical ICU, medical surgical ICU, step-down ICU, adult/pediatric burn unit, adult/pediatric burn ICU, and wound care management
  • Orthopedic/Trauma Team: consisting of medical unit, oncology unit, elective joint unit, traumatic joint unit, and medical ICU
  • Neurologic/Trauma Team: consisting of ED/Observation units, neurologic unit, neurologic ICU, trauma unit, and trauma ICU
  • Cardiac/Transplant Team: consisting of head/neck and GU oncology unit, medical cardiac unit, surgical cardiac unit, transplant units, vascular unit, vascular ICU, cardiac ICU, and cardio-thoracic surgical ICU
  • 4-week elective: choose your own adventure and return to the unit of your choice

Click here to apply through the RF-PTCAS. 

Employment

The resident will be employed by Tampa General Hospital and will qualify for the benefits package provided by TGH. As a TGH team member, all TGH policies and procedures will apply to the resident. The resident will be involved in patient care activities approximately 28 hours a week. The resident will be expected to work weekends in alignment with department requirements. The additional hours will be dedicated to educational opportunities and scholarly activity.

Program Goals

  1. Provide evidence-based education and clinical training to prepare the acute care resident for successful completion of specialty training for acute care.  

  2. Uphold the shared purpose of Tampa General Hospital by providing the necessary teaching and mentoring opportunities to facilitate the development of leading practitioners in acute care physical therapy.  

  3. Encourage residents to be expert consumers of literature to promote the advancement of acute care physical therapy and drive evidence-based evaluation and treatment approaches.  

  4. Support residents in becoming advanced practitioners of acute care physical therapy to enhance patient safety, patient experience, and the availability of highly qualified job candidates to a growing workforce.  

  5. The program will be sustainable and financially stable. 

  6. The residency program supports the Shared Purpose of Tampa General Hospital. 

Curriculum
  • 28 hours a week of managing a caseload of patients with mixed diagnoses
  • 8-hours of weekly didactic education that is a mix of MedBridge courses, TGH faculty and organization sponsored education, and interdisciplinary opportunities.
  • Mentors with extensive experience and certifications including:
    • Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Neurologic Cardiovascular and Pulmonary, and Geriatric Physical Therapy
    • Certified Brain Injury Specialist
    • APTA Credentialed CI
    • Certified Lymphedema Therapist
    • Wound Care Certification
    • Certified Stroke Rehabilitation Specialist
Residency Admission Requirements
  • Graduate of a CAPTE accredited PT Program
  • Active State of FL PT license on program start date
  • 3 letters of recommendation- at least 1 academic and 1 clinical (clinical instructor or supervising therapist)
  • Resume or Curriculum Vitas-including education and employment history
  • Most up-to-date university transcripts from all universities attended
  • Meet eligibility requirements to be a practicing Physical Therapist at Tampa General Hospital
  • Active APTA membership, including Acute Care Section Member
  • Statement of interest regarding Tampa General Acute Care Residency
  • Professional Goals
  • Strongly recommended: previous acute care experience
  • Notification of special accommodations upon application submission

For Additional Information, Please Contact:

Kelly Tucker, PT, DPT, WCC
Program Co-Coordinator
Kellyltucker@tgh.org
(813) 844-7226

Jessica Zachar, PT, DPT, CLT
Program Co-Coordinator
Jwebster@tgh.org
(813) 844-7226