New trends are already emerging from the American Physical Therapy Association's (APTA) Annual Conference and Exposition (PT 2007), held in Denver, June 27-30. The most pronounced of these trends, according to Philip Anloague, PT, DHSc, OCS, MTC, director of the doctor of physical therapy (DPT) program at the University of Dayton, is an overwhelming focus on Vision 2020 programming.

As the director of a DPT program, Anloague came to the conference looking for quality Vision 2020 programming, and he was pleasantly surprised. “This year, I’m finding more coursework, especially for advocacy and autonomous practice.”

He was also happy to see a program on the Education Strategic Plan 2006-2020.  Anloague says they’re making the application process easier and streamlining prerequisites.


Bonnie Polvinale, CMP, senior vice president of governance, components and meetings for APTA, says the additional programming is one way the association is meeting the new DPT demand. “We’ve had a huge number of schools move toward the DPT,” she says. “It’s phenomenal. In fact, it’s far surpassed our expectations at this point.”

Recruitment is also increasing at an unprecedented rate. According to Polvinale, there are more recruitment exhibitors at PT 2007 than in years past. “This year, we have an increase in recruiters; a trend that’s revisiting us from the '90s,” she explains. “We have close to 400 exhibitors in different areas. Twenty percent of those exhibitors are recruiters.”


Anloague noticed the overwhelming number of recruiters this year, as he meandered through the exhibit hall. “I got the feeling that, compared to previous years, there are more people looking for PTs,” he says. “It’s a good sign, because that means the jobs out there for us are plentiful.”

According to Polvinale, PT 2007 has attracted approximately 2,500 attendees. And the conference is being well received by those attendees, says Anloague, especially because of the networking opportunities. “It’s a great place to build new, and perpetuate existing relationships in the field.” And that’s not an accident. Polvinale says facilitating networking opportunities is a major goal for the association, and it has been for years.

“There’s been a strong tradition of networking at our conferences,” she says. “It comes naturally because PTs are used to working with people and caring about what they have to say. They do a job that makes a difference in peoples’ lives.”

Amy Storer is the senior managing editor of Therapy Times. Questions and comments can be directed to editorial@therapytimes.com.