STRATEGIC VISION

OBJECTIVES

• Transform Education to Meet Societal Needs
• Develop Leaders for a Rapidly Changing Health Care System
• Integrate Research and Practice to Advance Science and Human Health
• Influence Local and Global Communities of Practice

KEY THEMES

MOVEMENT
Human health and quality of life across the lifespan depend on the ability to move skillfully and efficiently. We strive to advance the scientific understanding of the extraordinarily complex phenomenon of human movement and to develop innovative movement-related interventions that enhance functional capacity and improve performance.

TECHNOLOGY
Advances in technology have transformed life in the 21st century, profoundly impacting how we access information, interact with our communities, make discoveries and meet the fundamental needs of society. We embrace the use of technology in education, research and practice. By developing and integrating new technologies we leverage the power of these innovations to better meet the needs of students, patients, the profession and society.

VALUE
In health care practice and research, emphasis on value has shifted the paradigm from payment for services to payment for outcomes while providing an excellent patient experience. This requires innovative delivery models that redefine the role of physical therapists. Further, innovative educational models provide value by preparing graduates to be expert practitioners in a dynamic health care environment.

TRANSLATION
Professional practice requires the translation of theory into action. The ultimate purpose of our activities in research and education is to improve practice. We seek new knowledge and understanding of complex biological and psychosocial mechanisms. We translate knowledge into advances in practice. We disseminate these advances to local and global communities of practice.

THE INDIVIDUAL
We are a learning community; we use data to improve the quality of what we do. As we embrace technologies that allow us to analyze vast data sets and to connect with social communities, we recognize that health care and education are most effective, and most humane, when centered on the individual patient or student. To excel as a learning community, we must connect individuals to one another and to the world.

EQUITY, DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND ANTI-RACISM
We recognize that we cannot excel in the practice of physical therapy while ignoring the racism that permeates the system in which we practice. We continually work to enhance our curriculum, transform our practice and broaden our research agenda in order to be a positive force for change throughout our diverse communities. We foster diversity in the recruitment and retention of our students, staff and faculty and strive to provide an inclusive, anti-racist environment where all members of the community are valued and feel welcomed. We aim to use our clinical knowledge, our scholarly work and our influence within the national physical therapy profession to promote population health equity.

PRIORITIES

TRANSFORMING EDUCATION TO MEET SOCIETAL NEEDS

• Initiate the process of transforming DPT education by developing a hybrid (online/on-campus) DPT program using innovative curricular approaches and enhancing access to professional education.
• Broaden the scope of our educational offerings and research enterprise by developing a new concentration in Sports Science for the MS in Biokinesiology.
• Build a research focus on educational methodology in order to improve our programs and contribute to professional education.
• Enhance BKN and DPT curricula to strengthen and prioritize a health justice perspective.

DEVELOPING LEADERS FOR A RAPIDLY CHANGING HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

• Increase the value of our educational programs by raising funds to offset student costs through scholarships, fellowships and grants.
• Institute a faculty development program that provides mentorship, training and support to advance teaching and social justice across all faculty.
• Initiate pipeline programs to educate and expose students of racial and ethnic minority groups about physical therapy and movement science research professions.
• Enhance recruiting and retention strategies to increase enrollment and successful program completion of students of minoritized racial and ethnic groups.
• Promote clinical excellence through progressive, evidence-based post-professional education offerings, including residency and fellowship programs.
• Positively impact population health by redefining the role of the physical therapist as an essential primary care provider across the lifespan.
• Enhance the sustainability of physical therapy science by recruiting more physical therapists into the PhD in Biokinesiology program.

INTEGRATING RESEARCH AND PRACTICE TO ADVANCE SCIENCE AND HUMAN HEALTH

• Develop collaborations inside and outside of USC to create interdisciplinary centers of excellence that will address major societal health problems, including:
  • Chronic noncommunicable diseases (especially cancer, obesity, diabetes, developmental disability and neurodegenerative disease)
  • Long-term disability resulting from both adult and perinatal stroke
  • Chronic pain leading to disability and opioid abuse
• Create a division-wide research center with a focus on the study of movement and exercise to promote health and treat disease.

INFLUENCING LOCAL AND GLOBAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

• Build a more racially and ethnically diverse community of faculty, students and staff with varied perspectives and lived experiences to help inform our understanding of the collective human experience.
• Create an educational and work environment that is supportive, protective and inclusive.
• Improve access to high-quality physical therapy at USC and in the community by developing sustainable, accessible, inclusive, interprofessional and patient-centered clinical services.
• Expand global reach by developing post-professional education offerings for international markets.
• Develop collaborations with community-centered health care organizations.