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Simply the best!
SHP student earns top PT honors
As far as physical therapy students go, SHP’s Nicole McMillan is in a class by herself – literally. The third year PT student, who graduates with her master’s degree in May, has won the most prestigious award a Missouri PT student can earn: Outstanding Missouri Physical Therapy Student. The modest Jackson, Mo. native says she’s the state’s best PT student for one reason: the SHP faculty is the best!
Physical Therapy pediatric clinical instructor Connie Blow is one of those SHP faculty members. She nominated Nicole for the award, noting she has maintained a 4.0 GPA while carrying extra credits required under the 2006-07 Maternal and Child Health LEND grant, serving as an officer in the PT students’ organization and working an outside job.
“She demonstrates a level of professionalism and leadership far beyond her years,” Blow says. “Much is demanded of our new PT graduates today. They practice in a world whereby they must make many evidenced based clinical decisions for their patients and advocate effectively for their needs. This must be done while meeting the institution’s demand for high productivity despite decreasing re-imbursement dollars. Students such as Nicole will meet the challenges and keep the patient’s best interests at the top of the priority list.”
Each school can nominate three students for the award. The PT faculty also nominated master’s students Casey Knight and Rebecca Shallert. To be eligible for the honor presented by the Missouri Physical Therapy Association, PT students must be in the final year of their program, have outstanding academic performance, demonstrate leadership ability, initiative and dependability. It’s not just the education that counts, either. Students also are judged on the quality of their extracurricular activities and service, interpersonal skills and their potential future contributions to the field of physical therapy.
Nicole, who hopes for a career in pediatric physical therapy, was surprised when she won. “The faculty has made the past three years a time of immense learning and growth for me. I cannot thank each of them enough for all they have done for my education. MU's PT faculty is wonderful and I have a fantastic group of classmates,” she says.