2004 Pauline Cerasoli Lecture: The Influence of Leaders

Journal of Physical Therapy Education, Fall 2004 by Feitelberg, Samuel B

My first experience with accreditation was in 1959, at Columbia University. The team was completely made up of physicians. Dressed in black suits and dark ties, they seemed larger than life. I wax questioned on my knowledge of the Code of Ethics in regard to physician supervision and what evaluation skills I taught my students, if any. One physician asked me if I engaged in private practice, which was frowned upon at that time. I answered, "Only when Dr Snow, our medical director, refers a patient to me." I had an immediate four-dimensional ethical dilemma: with the team; with Dr Snow; with Mary Callahan; with the nearest escape exit. I was excused after a very, very elongated pause. The situation was never mentioned again.

As a side note, I had just been promoted to assistant chief physical therapist at Columbia-Presbyterian and appointed to the faculty as a clinical instructor.

Our Association and Section went forward to strengthen the Department of Education and create CAPTE. We also saw the need to address the Issues of licensing examination, scope of practice, and direct access. The federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy was not yet in existence. The position of an academic director/chair changed substantially and dramatically in its length and breadth of responsibilities. We left our medical directors behind. Unfortunately, we could not simultaneously free our clinical setting from physician control because of economic power plays. Can you imagine where we would be if that had happened?

As much as we may raise Cain over Medicare, when the act was passed in 1965 it eventually called for physical therapy departments to be directed by physical therapists and be designated as separate cost centers for physical therapy.13 Those two factors gave great impetus to the development of leaders and leadership in the clinical setting. It also created significant growth in private practices. The span, depth, and variety of clinical practice in our profession demonstrate vision, fortitude, and creativity. We now have the obligation to draw all these practice settings into a clinical education system that will provide Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) for our students in keeping with the expectation of the 2020 Vision.

It is very important to acknowledge a group of leaders who created the Council for Physical Therapy School Directors from 1957-1972. This organization existed outside of APTA but within our professional community. It consisted of 35-40 school directors. Many of these directors had served in World War II and again in the Korean War. Geneva Johnson is a fine example. In 1960, when she was vice president in charge of programs, she succeeded in obtaining support from the National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis through Catherine Worthingham and the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation to educate our academic leaders in the skills of managing the program and faculty. I had the privilege of being a member from 1965 to 1972. The council was dissolved when the Section on Education was created.