Brooks Institute of Higher Learning Celebrates Residency and Fellowship Graduation

The Brooks Rehabilitation Institute of Higher Learning (IHL) celebrated its 16^th annual residency and fellowship graduation ceremony on July 15. These physical, occupational and speech therapists, from across the country, participated in one of eleven programs offered at Brooks Rehabilitation through the IHL, gaining advanced knowledge and skill in a specialty area of practice.

The 27 graduates include therapists from our unique speech therapy clinical fellowship, AOTA-approved neurologic occupational therapy fellowship and our accredited physical therapy residencies (neurology, orthopaedics, pediatrics, sports and women’s health). Each therapist participated in a rigorous training experience inclusive of mentoring, didactic classwork, psychomotor training and other unique experiences to advance their practice in the areas of clinical competence, scholarship, education, professionalism and practice management.

“Because we have 11 residency and fellowship programs, it allows us to provide this advanced educational clinical training to a variety of clinicians within differing disciplines, specialty practice areas and geographic locations throughout Brooks. This promotes a consultative practice network within and throughout our system of care, which promotes each patient receiving the best care possible for their specific condition,” says Bob Rowe, Executive Director of the Brooks IHL.

Since its inception in 2007, the Brooks IHL has graduated over 300 residents and fellows; 120 of those therapists still practicing within Brooks. Approximately 3% of physical therapists in the United States have graduated from a residency program; over 25% of Brooks physical therapists are residency trained. Both statistics highlight the commitment to continuous learning from Brooks leadership and clinicians to ensure our patients achieve their highest level of recovery and participation in life.

“The Brooks IHL advanced post-professional clinical residency and fellowship programs are a differentiator for Brooks Rehabilitation, since these educational training programs provide the Brooks clinicians with the opportunity to provide the best care available for the patients they manage,” said Rowe.

At the beginning of the month, the Brooks IHL welcomed the incoming 2023-2024 residency and fellowship cohort. These 41 speech, physical and occupational therapists will embark on a challenging year and advance their ability to serve as clinical leaders in multiple care settings across our system.

Applications for the 2024-2025 residency and fellowship cohort open in October. To learn more about our specialized programs, visit BrooksIHL.org.

To view photos from the graduation, click here.