SECTION BUSINESS: President's Report

Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy, Jun 2005 by Riolo, Lisa

After 2 terms as Section President and 5 years as Journal Editor, writing quarterly reports to the membership has been a part of my life for 10 years. Now I am writing my final President's Report. I do so contented and fulfilled and ready to move on to other service and professional projects.

I truly appreciate the membership's confidence in me, and I thank you for the opportunity to serve the Section. I have tried my hardest to plan and make decisions that were in the best interest of individual members and neurological physical therapy.

Some of the highlights of my years as Section President follow. Since becoming President of the Neurology Section in June 2000, we have transferred the administration of our Adopt-A-Doc scholarships to the Foundation for Physical Therapy. In setting up an endowment fund through the Foundation we began to finance PODS awards using the endowment rather than our operating budget. This has enabled us to appropriate more of our funds toward projects to serve our members and advance our practice. We also initiated a Partners of the Section program, one after which the new APTA program was modeled. During my term as President, the Executive Committee enhanced Section organization by expanding the policy and procedure manual, creating a vision and a mission statement, and clarifying the strategic plan. During my tenure, we have also paired with the Pediatric Section to plan for III STEP, an international, intensive and multidisciplinary summer institute designed to catalyze the advancement of physical therapy for people with movement dysfunction through the translation of movement science into effective clinical interventions. This monumental event will be held I month after my term expires.

As much as I have been thrilled to create the above activities and vision for the Neurology Section, the real joy of having served the members has been in working with so many brilliant and dedicated people within both the Section and the APTA. The volunteers with whom I have served, representing each of our committees and task forces have been wonderful to work with. I have learned so much from each of them and I am honored that so many are now lifelong friends. I also have had the benefit to meet, learn from, and become friends with many of our members who are less active but are dedicated to neurological physical therapy and are so knowledgeable and passionate about their work.Thanks to all of you for helping me to grow professionally and personally and for making our Section look so good.

Lisa Riolo, PhD, PT, NCS