Jordan Luther and Beth Tillman, 2nd year DPT students at SPTRS, have been selected as the school’s first 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 course work, 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, will coordinate this program along with Dr. Seok Hun Kim and a team of MS specialists and interested community members. These individuals have collaborated to develop the program over the past two years.