Eligibility Requirements

• Nominees must be physical therapists who have been actively engaged in clinical teaching of physical therapist students (entry or advanced level) or physical therapist assistant students for at least five years.
• Nominees must be either a site coordinator of clinical education or a clinical instructor, and must be employed or self-employed in a clinical setting. Individuals holding full-time faculty appointments within an academic setting are not eligible for the award.
• Nominees must possess distinct expertise in at least one area of practice to which the clinical teaching has been directed.
• Nominees must be in a clinical setting, under an arrangement or contract with one or more accredited physical therapist or physical therapist assistant education programs, or advanced level programs for physical therapists, and must occur with students earning academic qualifications.

Criteria for Selection

• Exceptional teaching effectiveness in the clinical setting.
• Excellence as a role model in clinical teaching.
• Distinct expertise in at least one area of practice to which the clinical teaching has been directed.

A strong application should demonstrate the following:

Exceptional teaching effectiveness in the clinical setting in their role during full-time clinical appointments and in their student interactions.

• Examples of exceptional teaching effectiveness could be CI/CCCE activities (e.g., SIG, credentialed CI, trainer, consortium); organized clinical education activities; clinical education workshops; quality of student supervision; quality of student feedback; ability to handle student problems/issues.

Excellence as a role model in clinical teaching.

A distinct expertise in at least one area of practice to which the clinical teaching has been directed.

Letters of support that are positive, cite specific examples of professional accomplishments, and provide additional information on depth, scope, and quality in a convincing manner.

What Recipients Receive

An award will be presented to the recipient by APTA's Board of Directors at an APTA national event, and an official announcement will appear in an association publication.

Submission Requirements

During the online process, the following documents will be required for upload:

• Current curriculum vitae or resume of the nominee.
• A letter of nomination that specifically focuses on the strengths of the nominee in relation to the award criteria, not to exceed three pages. Letters of nomination cannot serve as one of the required letters of support. 
• Two letters of support, not to exceed two pages each, obtained from the following: a physical therapist colleague from the nominee's clinical center or from an affiliating physical therapy education program, and a current or former student who is representative of an academic level of clinical teaching in which the nominee has been engaged and whose clinical education experience with the nominee has been full time for a period of at least three weeks. (Note: If more than two letters of support are received, only the first two will be considered. The nominator will be asked to remove additional letters.)

Submit a Nomination

The nominations call for the Honors & Awards Program is open from Sept. 1- Dec. 1. Nominations must be submitted through our online portal by Dec. 1. Late submissions will not be considered. Selected recipients and their nominators will be notified in May.

Additional Resources

For questions regarding the nomination process or the award, please contact honorsandawards@apta.org.