Foot & Ankle Athlete Fellowship Program
We offer professional growth opportunities through clinical mentoring and residency education.
Our company was set up to allow and encourage individuals to thrive. We look forward to seeing your growth going forward. We encourage you to reach out and grasp the next opportunity. There are no limits.
The Jackson Clinics Foot & Ankle Fellowship Program is proud to be the only program of its kind in the country. It is currently undergoing initial accreditation by the American Physical Therapy Association as the FIRST post-professional fellowship program for physical therapists in the USA specializing in the treatment of the foot and ankle.
MISSION
The mission of the Foot & Ankle Fellowship Program is to elevate the standard of foot and ankle physical therapy care for our entire profession through research and intensive clinical education.
We seek to graduate advanced practitioners who can lead our profession in the advancement of clinical care, research, and education related to the foot and ankle.
Facts
Since starting our practice in 2005, The Jackson Clinics (TJC) has placed Clinical Care and Education for our staff as our highest priority. As a result, we developed a clinical career path that covers every aspect of clinical education – from clinical internships to our APTA Accredited Residencies and Fellowships.
As many of our practitioners completed their Residencies with us, we recognized the need to create a “next step” in the clinical progression – an APTA accredited Foot and Ankle Fellowship Program.
We chose the Foot & Ankle Fellowship based on feedback we received from our patients and communities we serve. Patient and physician surveys had indicated a need to provide access to practitioners who could take on extremely complex lower extremity cases and high level athletes and runners who require additional expertise due to the high demands on their bodies.
We saw Foot & Ankle Fellowship as an opportunity to meet their need while creating a new path for physical therapists seeking to advance our clinical training.
The program curriculum we have designed is in collaboration with the Foot and Ankle Special Interest group in the Orthopedic Academy of the APTA. We are literally writing the Description of Sub-Specialty Practice for Foot and Ankle Fellowship for our entire profession!
As part of our clinical focus, we have significantly bolstered the physician mentorship and collaboration component in this program. We feel that this is critical to understand the decision-making, progression criteria, and risk management that our referral sources expect when trusting us with their most complex/high stakes patients.
Our fellows will be exposed to advanced learning models and resources to reflect the most current research and practice approach to expert level Foot and Ankle Care. As such, we will provide opportunities for participants to attend both medical and physical therapy specialty conferences on the Foot & Ankle at no cost to them.
We believe that the best learning happens while teaching. Our fellows are teachers and mentors both during and after the program. Our residency and fellowship programs offer multiple avenues for high level mentorship, lecture, and practical skill-building teaching opportunities.
We have a goal to retain our fellowship graduates for at least 5 years after completing the program and have structured their salary progression to incentivize that. That’s why we have created a “tuition forgiveness” structure, with tapering balances throughout the 5 years, and $0 owed to TJC if the fellow remains with the company for 5 years. The end is a win-win.
Curriculum Outline Summary
- 1000 hours minimum time in program
- Physician Shadowing
- 100 hours of mentorship (75 one on one with PT expert)
- Athletic venue coverage
- Mentoring
- Classroom Instruction
- Exams
- Lab Instruction
- Teaching
- Clinical Practice
Faculty as Stewards
The program faculty recognize that they are the stewards of the residents. As such, it is the responsibility of the faculty to facilitate the professional development of the resident to become specialists in orthopedic physical therapy.
The faculty is committed to teaching residents to manage patient care while incorporating current concepts in orthopedic research and clinical practice, balancing patient needs and maintaining multi-disciplinary collaboration.The faculty must instill in the residents creative inquiry, passion, open-mindedness, and commitment to continual interest in advancement of personal and professional growth. They are responsible to inspire residents to become actively involved in their communities and their professional organization, thereby becoming stewards of their profession.
Residents as Stewards
The Physical Therapy Residency seeks to graduate practitioners with advanced clinical skills who will become stewards of their profession through commitment to excellence in patient care, clinical knowledge, continued education, scholarly activity/research, clinical/didactic teaching, and active involvement in their professional organization and their community.
Richard Jackson, PT, OCS
Executive Director of the Residency Program
Kris Porter, PT, DPT, OCS
Director of the Residency Program
Ben Keeton, PT, DPT, OCS
Director of Clinical Operations
Orthopedic Residency Program Faculty:
Join our residency team to accelerate your professional growth by developing advanced knowledge, skills and attitudes on your path to becoming an expert Orthopedic Physical Therapist.
If you wish to apply to the residency program, click HERE and follow the steps on the ABPTRFE webpage. Feel free to contact the residency director prior to initiating or completing your application if you have any questions.
Once you have completed your application, it is important that you notify the residency director that you have completed your application and it is ready for review because the ABPTRFE application website does not notify the director or new applications.
If you are an employee of TJC and wish to apply to the program, please contact the residency director directly.
Residency Director Contact:
Kris Porter, PT, DPT, OCS (kporter@thejacksonclinics.com)
Application Requirements include:
- Cover Letter
- Curriculum Vitae
- Three letters of recommendation from a minimum of 2 different institutions
- Complete General Employment application process
- Live interview (in person preferred)
Minimal eligibility requirements for acceptance into the program include:
- Licensure as a Physical Therapist by the Physical Therapy Board Virginia
- Comply with all Jackson Clinics employment requirements
A desirable applicant has:
- Experience in leadership positions and a strong desire to be a leader within the company and the profession
- Completed an extended internship under the direct clinical supervision of a Clinical Specialist in Orthopedic Physical Therapy
- Superior verbal and written communication skills
- Experience in scholarly activity of any kind, medical or non-medical
- Experience in community service of any kind, medical or non-medical
- Exposure and interest in the principles of clinical reasoning and critical thinking, manual examination and treatment procedures, and the concepts of movement system analysis.
Deadline:
There is no official application deadline for the residency program as enrollment occurs on a rolling basis. Many applicants work as staff therapists at TJC prior to the residency start date, but this is not required.
Starting with TJC prior to the start of the residency program allows the applicant to fully participate in the 1-on-1 staff orientation and mentoring process that we provide for all employees.
Equal Opportunity:
The Jackson Clinics is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, gender, age, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, and disability or health status.
“The residency with TJC greatly changed my practice as a physical therapist. If nothing else, my confidence as a clinician has improved significantly. While I realize I still don’t have all of the answers, I feel more equipped to treat each of my patients with the best evidence based practice. My choice to participate in the residency was definitely a good one, and I’m excited to see where my future as a physical therapist takes me.”
“I feel like I have more questions now than when I began, but in the best way. I have learned to ask questions and find answers and learned that I can now use that knowledge to help my patients and my fellow clinicians.”
“I feel that I am much more capable of providing a complete treatment program and addressing foreseeable problems and issues that will keep my patients happier, healthier and higher functioning for longer periods of time. I am a more complete manager of cases and I feel exponentially more confident making decisions on referrals based on my shadowing experience. This was an experience that took me far away from my comfort zone and forced me to become a stronger, harder working therapist. I would recommend this program to any therapist who is looking to become more complete practitioner, expand their knowledge base and challenge their approach to patient care.”
“The major highlight of this year was attending a [Jackson Clinics] continuing education course and actually being one of the main clinicians that was able to help demonstrate and answer questions for newer clinicians. It helped me see how much I’ve learned and grown as a clinician over the last couple of years!”
“Worth moving across the country for.”
*Approved by the Virginia Physical Therapy Association – CEUL015783
