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Curriculum

Grow and develop skills as an advanced foot and ankle physical therapist.

The Foot and Ankle Physical Therapy Fellowship is one year in length, beginning in January. Within that year, fellows receive an average of 40 hours per week of structured time. The breakdown of those hours includes 36 hours of patient care, including 5 hours of one-on-one hands-on mentoring, plus 4 hours of lecture/lab, experiential learning, research, and interprofessional collaboration.

What makes this program unique?

  • Designated mentor hours weekly with 1:1 instruction and real-time feedback.
  • Weekly in-person classes on specific foot and ankle topics to review up-to-date concepts and practice hands-on skills in lab.
  • Strong emphasis on leadership development for clinical leaders, mentors, and other physical therapy professionals.
  • Mentorship training provided for the fellow with subsequent mentoring of other physical therapists to aid in leadership development.
  • Multifaceted approach with diverse faculty contributing to the coursework and mentoring sessions.
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Sample fellow weekly schedule

he information below provides an illustrative example of the weekly schedule. Please note that specifics are subject to change as updates and enhancements to program are continually made to improve the fellow learning experience.

Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
AM Patient Care Mentoring with
Patient Care		 Patient Care Class or Experiential
Learning		 Patient Care
PM Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care Patient Care

Overview Length
Program length 12 months
Access to study materials 18 months
Patient care 1,728 hours

Topic Hours
Foundations/Orientation 20
Gait Analysis 16
Integrated Surgical Concepts 16
Differential Diagnosis of Lower Leg  16
Differential Diagnosis of Rearfoot  18
Differential Diagnosis of Midfoot 14
Differential Diagnosis of Forefoot 14
Orthotics 12
Footwear 6
Mentoring Skills 16
Advanced Manual Therapy Techniques of the Foot and Ankle 44
Referral, Radiology & Pharmacology 10
Leadership 10
Dry Needling 2
Neurodynamics 6
Soft Tissue Mobilization 8
Research Project 8
Ortho Surgery 4
Podiatry 20
Primary Care Sports Medicine 8
Physical Therapy Foot and Ankle Experiential Learning 24
Case Defense 40
Written & Practical Exams 16
1:1 mentorship - during patient care 200
1:1 mentorship - planning/discussion/review of diagnostic tests, evaluation, observation, plan of care etc. 30
Clinical Practice with mentor accessible virtually 1620
Total Hours 2174
Average hours/week 48 hours

Experiential Learning

Experiential learning consists of diverse observational and interactive learning experiences throughout the St. Luke’s University Health Network. You will be observing and interacting with many different types of physicians and residents from podiatry, primary care sports medicine, orthotist, and orthopedic surgery. You also get the opportunity to observe other foot and ankle physical therapists.

Physical Therapist talking with a patient

How to Apply

Submit your application to be considered for the St. Luke’s Foot and Ankle Physical Therapy Fellowship Program.

Apply now