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Kelli was our third resident.

Kelli (Goodman) Nielsen PT, DPT, NCS

Since graduating from the University of Washington Medical Center neurologic residency program in 2013, Kelli has earned her neurologic clinical specialist certification, passing the ABPTS board exam in 2014. She moved back to her hometown of Saint Paul, MN and married Joe Nielsen. They now have three lovely daughters: Elena, Haley and Lorelei. Kelli worked full time for the University of Minnesota Health hospital primarily on the neurologic and intensive care units, often acting as a clinical instructor from 2013-2017. She transitioned to a full time faculty position in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at Saint Catherine University in 2017 and is now an assistant professor teaching neurologic physical therapy as well as cardiopulmonary and ICU care. She has presented several continuing education classes to local health care organizations, as well as a platform presentation at the Minnesota Physical Therapy Association annual conference. Kelli is currently authoring a chapter for an upcoming neurologic textbook. In addition, she is conducting research on the effects of peripheral neuropathy on postural control in pediatric cancer survivors.
 
Kelli continues to be grateful for the caliber of programming, mentorship and development she received as a neuro resident at UWMC. She attributes her strong critical reasoning skills, understanding of evidence based practice concepts and her drive to provide excellence in patient care to the dynamic curriculum and mentorship experienced in residency. She hopes to instill the same values and critical reasoning in her DPT students, helping to create a stronger and more evidence based physical therapy profession into the future. 

Annie was our sixth resident

Annie Fangman, PT, DPT, NCS

Since graduating from the University of Washington Medical Center Neurologic Residency program in 2016, Annie has earned her neurologic clinical specialist certification, passing the ABPTS board exam in 2017. She is living in Salt Lake City, Utah where she received her doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Utah. She is currently practicing at the Salt Lake City VA Health Care System working primarily in the outpatient neurology clinic and balance and falls clinic with one day spent on the inpatient rehabilitation floor.

During her clinical career, she has had three posters accepted to the APTA Combined Sections Meeting related to neurological disorders. She also holds a clinical researcher position at the University of Utah Physical Therapy Department in Dr. Lee Dibble’s lab. She has had one publication, Rehabilitation to Improve Gaze and Postural Stability in People with Multiple Sclerosis: Study protocol for a Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial, in the journal BMC Neurology. She also is actively trying to create quality improvement projects within the SLC VA by implementing a grant funded project to improve fall screening within the primary care clinic leading to better referral processes to physical therapy. She has also had teaching assistant opportunities within the University of Utah Physical Therapy Department.

Annie has been extremely appreciative of having the opportunity to attend the UWMC neurologic residency. It instilled strong clinical reasoning and decision-making skills to be able to practice in an expert manner. She continues to value the mentorship she received from her mentors within the program reaching out to them to collaborate on complex cases. Annie believes her experience was invaluable and set her on the path of excellence she continues to strive to achieve helping better the field of neurologic physical therapy.

 

Laura was our 10th resident

Laura Wessbecher, PT, DPT

I completed the neurologic residency program in July 2019. I now work at UW in inpatient rehab and sometimes float to acute care. Going through the residency was challenging and incredibly worth it to me. Within the first 1-2 months of being in the program I could tell that it had already helped me significantly. Throughout the full year I saw noticeable improvement in my clinical reasoning, organization, purposefulness, and comfort working with different people who had a wide variety of neurological diagnoses. The mentorship, didactics, and teaching experiences were all helpful in pushing me to learn more, think on my own, be deliberate in my decisions, and increase my knowledge and exposure to the available literature. I am very thankful for my experiences in the residency because I feel like the program significantly improved the quality of care I am able to provide.

 

 

 

Beth was our 12th resident

Beth McAndrews graduated from the residency in December 2022.  She has taken a job with the Seattle VA and is excited to be a mentor for their newly started Neuro residency program.