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Department of Physical Therapy College of Health & Human Services

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Clinical Education

The clinical education component of the curriculum has two components: integrated clinical experiences and 36 weeks of full-time off-campus clinical experiences. Integrated clinical experiences are part of a given course and occur in either pro-bono clinics, as an assignment in a course, or in the simulation lab. Currently, the curriculum contains four types of pro-bono clinics: for the adult and pediatric populations with neurologic conditions, persons with orthopedic conditions, and for persons with amputations.

The program’s mission is to prepare generalist practitioners and to give students an exposure to a broad range of physical therapy settings. As such, the program requires completion of three, 12-week full-time clinical experiences. Each experience will be in one of the major setting types – inpatient acute, rehabilitation (inpatient or outpatient), and outpatient. All students must complete a clinical course in each of the three major settings.

For qualifying students, pediatric rotations can replace the rehabilitation requirement on an as-available basis. Clinical education assignments are not structured to create an opportunity to visit faraway places, to allow a student to live at home, to be near a significant other, to lead to employment at a specific site, or to develop specialty skills. They are structured to give the student a well rounded clinical experience. Placements in Northern California are preferred but some outlying rotations will be necessary to fulfill the Program educational goals. Thus, students need to be prepared to attend a clinical outside the metropolitan Sacramento area on one or more clinical rotations and to arrange transportation and housing as needed for all clinical affiliations.


Timeline of Full-time Clinical Experience

1st Experience
PT695A - Clinical Experience I
12 weeks during the 6th semester
2nd Experience
PT695B - Clinical Experience II
12 weeks during the 8th semester
3rd Experience
PT695C - Clinical Experience III
12 weeks during the 9th semester

Clinical instructor reviews casework with a student

Clinical Faculty

Clinical faculty refers to all Clinical Instructors (CI), as well as Site Coordinators of Clinical Education (SCCE).

The CI is a physical therapist with at least one year of clinical experience who has volunteered to mentor and assess a physical therapy student. The SCCE is responsible for coordinating assignments and activities of students at the clinical site.

Resources for Clinical Faculty

An excellent Clinical Instructor is one who:

  • Models in their practice integration of the ICF concepts and terminology and the patient management model as described in the Guide to PT Practice.

  • Supportively mentors the student by reinforcing student strengths and offering constructive and timely feedback to the student in integrating academic and clinical experiences.

  • Skillfully uses the clinical environment to set up appropriate learning experiences and clearly communicates all aspects of clinical education to the student, the SCCE and the DCE/ACCE.

  • Accurately rates the student on the assessment tool (Web CPI) with supporting documentation, integrating a fair assessment of supervision needs, patient caseload capacity and quality of student performance.

  • Models ethical and legal practice, and excellent relations with patients, family caregivers and healthcare providers.

Clinical Instructors of Excellence 2022 Nominees:

  • Abigail Galbraith, Asante Rogue Regional Med Cntr – Medford, OR
  • Albert Vaiao Tuala, UC Davis Medical Center
  • Alexandra Jones, Kaiser Sacramento
  • Alicia Janiczek, TheraGen: City View SNF- San Francisco
  • Alicia McLelland, Kaiser Permanente - Manteca
  • Alisa James, Providence Redwood Memorial Hospital - Fortuna
  • Allison Pieracci Yurasek, Sutter Rehabilitation Institute - Roseville
  • Anandi Nadkarni, White Blossom Care Center – San Jose
  • Andrea Anderson, Easter Seals Superior California - Sacramento
  • Andrew Milton, KIME Performance Physical Therapy – El Dorado Hills
  • Ankita Shukla, White Blossom Care Center – San Jose
  • Briana Johnson, Easter Seals Superior California - Sacramento
  • Brittaney Bailey, Rideout Health – Yuba City
  • Brittany Wong, Sutter Medical Center Sacramento
  • Candiss Muramoto, Sutter Roseville Medical Center
  • Chad Sherlock, UC Davis Medical Center
  • Cindy Florance, Mercy Hospital Folsom
  • Cyrus Dolor, San Joaquin General Hospital - Stockton
  • Danielle Fisher, Kaiser Permanente - South Sacramento
  • Dominic Violi, KIME Performance Physical Therapy - Sacramento
  • Dorothy Durazo-Harris, Marshall Medical Center - Placerville
  • Ezekiel “Zeke” Heydenreich, Providence St. Joseph Hospital - Eureka CA
  • Faith Stevens, CCS - Sacramento County - Starr King MTU
  • Gianna Colla, Sport and Spine Therapy of Marin
  • Iris Wang, Vibra Rehabilitation Hospital of Rancho Mirage
  • Jacob Fredrickson, Saint Joseph's Medical Center Port City - Stockton
  • Jessica Heary, Golden Bear - El Dorado Hills
  • Jessie Maguire, California Children's Services - Napa County MTU
  • Jillian Coddington Clarkson, Concentra – Sacramento North
  • Jon Andersen, Andersen Physical Therapy - Modesto
  • Joshua Slater, Sierra Orthopedic & Athletic Rehab - Placerville
  • Katie Gentili, Honor Health - Thompson Peak - Scottsdale, AZ
  • Kevin Stemple, Veterans Administration - Redding
  • Kyle Belski, San Francisco Giants - Scottsdale, AZ
  • Laura Lentz, Renown Regional Medical Center – Reno, NV
  • Laura Sifuentes, UC Davis Medical Center
  • Lisa Lazaraton, Dignity: Mercy Medical Center - Redding
  • Margaret Cheng, AHC Healthcare of Sacramento
  • Maria Aquino, Eskaton Greenhaven - Ssacramento
  • Mark Eddy, Campus Commons Physical Therapy -Sacramento
  • Masato Kobayashi, Kaiser Foundation Rehabilitation Center - Vallejo
  • Mathew Moore, Physical Edge, Inc - Davis
  • Matt Bonner, Sutter Roseville Medical Center
  • Michael Piekarski, Results Physical Therapy - Carmichael
  • Michael Sterken, UC Davis Medical Center
  • Michael Surman, Sutter Lakeside Hospital
  • Miles Du Mosch, Advantage Physical Therapy - Ventura
  • Monica Easterday, California Rehab – Doctors Medical Center - Modesto
  • Nancy Arslanian, Pinnacle Physical Therapy – Angels Camp
  • Natalie Cooley, Sutter PT - Fairfield
  • Noel Diolazo, English Oaks Nursing & Rehab Center - Modesto
  • Pam Nieradka, Renown Rehabilitation Hospital – Reno, NV
  • Patrick Hart, Shasta Regional Medical Center - Redding
  • Ryan Carpenter, Spine & Sport Physical Therapy - Eastlake
  • Sabra McDonald, Burger Physical Therapy - Citrus Heights
  • Shawn Christensen, Healing Arts Physical Therapy – Yuba City
  • Sheri Rasmussen, Mercy Hospital Folsom
  • Stephanie Bundschuh, Providence St Joseph Hospital - Eureka
  • Stephanie Perry, Sutter Roseville PT & Hand Therapy
  • Steven Carmack, Integrated Physical Therapy – Yuba City
  • Steven Sylvester, UC Davis Medical Center
  • Tanner Kuyper, Mercy General Hospital - Sacramento
  • Todd Soares, North Santa Rosa Physical Therapy
  • Tonya Tocchini, UC Davis Medical Center
  • Torben Ulrich, Integrated Physical Therapy – Yuba City
  • Tyler Schau, Van Dusen Physical Therapy – Yuba City
Bold means nominated twice; italic means nominated also in the previous year.