Jamie Dolley and Valerie Dickinson, 2nd year DPT students at SPTRS, have been selected as scholars in the USF MS STEP UP (Multiple Sclerosis Standardized Training and Education) Program. They will each receive a scholarship provided by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) Mid Florida Chapter and will participate in the MS STEP UP program over the coming year. The scholarships will support additional coursework, faculty mentoring, community service with the NMSS, observation in MS clinics, and physical therapy clinical experiences with people with MS.

The MS STEP UP program was developed to address a paucity of physical therapists well trained in the unique assessment and treatment of MS. Its goal is to prepare Doctors of Physical Therapy with advanced knowledge, training and experience related to multiple sclerosis. SPTRS was selected as the first pilot university to undertake this scholarship and educational program, modeled after the original program developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

SPTRS faculty member Jeannie Stephenson, PT, MS, NCS and Stephanie Walgamott, a National MS Society representative, coordinate this program along with a team of USF faculty, MS specialists and interested community members. These individuals have collaborated to develop the program over the past four years.