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Scholtes named Chair of UIndy’s Krannert School of Physical Therapy

May 25, 2017 in On the move

The University of Indianapolis Krannert School of Physical Therapy is pleased to announce that Sara A. Scholtes, PT, DPTSara Scholtes - KSPT, PhD has been hired as the new Chair of the Krannert School of Physical Therapy (KSPT). Scholtes will begin her new role August 1, 2017.

“We conducted an extensive search to find the right leader for KSPT,” said Stephanie P. Kelly, PT, PhD, Dean of the College of Health Sciences. “Like many of the faculty within KSPT, Sara has successfully balanced teaching, scholarship, and clinical practice. We are confident that she will apply the wealth of her experience toward leadership in the physical therapy programs at UIndy.”

Previously, Scholtes held assistant professor of physical therapy positions at Saint Louis University and the University of Montana. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Movement Science at Washington University in St. Louis and a Doctor of Physical Therapy from the same institution.

Guided by her PhD work and the most recent vision statement of the American Physical Therapy Association – “Transforming society by optimizing movement to improve the human experience” — Scholtes is excited by the identification of the physical therapy profession as “movement experts.”

“I think identifying ourselves as movement experts who transform society by optimizing movement to improve the human experience is powerful and should change the way we approach physical therapy education and patient care,” Scholtes said. “Developing curricula that assists students in the clinical reasoning necessary to focus first on optimizing movement to address activity limitation and participation restriction will help our profession achieve the APTA vision statement and have a unified identity as movement experts.”

She recently presented “PTs as Human Movement System Experts: Transforming DPT Curriculum” at the Combined Sections Meeting of American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) in February 2017. She is scheduled to present “Moving the Movement System to the Forefront of Physical Therapy Education” at the APTA NEXT 2017 conference in June 2017.

Scholtes said she will lead by being reflective of the voices around her and will be passionate about topics of particular interest and concern, exemplifying a Quiet Leader, as described in the book Quiet by Susan Cain.

“I believe a team approach is essential,” Scholtes said. “I look forward to working alongside a team of talented individuals, faculty, staff, and students to achieve a common goal.”