The Frontiers in Rehabilitation, Science, and Technology (FiRST) Council was established in February 2016. FiRST grew out of identification of high priority areas to advance science and innovation that our profession needs to understand and incorporate into our practice, education, and research.
FiRST is intended to serve as a community for interested stakeholders. Ideas generated by the council may be implemented by participants' stakeholder groups (sections, academies, external groups, APTA, etc) at the discretion of each entity's governing body.
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Content Areas
FiRST represents the following areas of interest:
Purpose
FiRST has goals to:
- Establish collaborative partnership and participation among stakeholder groups (sections, academies, external groups, APTA, etc);
- Participate in the promotion of scientific and technological innovation in rehabilitation and movement sciences;
- Leverage scientific and technological discoveries to advance physical therapist practice, education, and research;
- Provide a formal means for the members and partners of the council to meet, communicate, and interface with each other, the APTA Board of Directors, and the profession;
- Promote networking, information sharing, education, and leadership development in the areas of innovation, science, and technology across the association and its components;
- Establish a structure and composition for sustainability within the resource constraints as identified by the APTA Board of Directors and consistent with the Bylaws of the American Physical Therapy Association and APTA positions, standards, guidelines, policies, and procedures.