School of Physical Therapy Celebrates Accomplishments Together During Annual Holiday Party
All three cohorts from Touro University Nevada’s School of Physical Therapy came together for a holiday celebration filled with research presentations, camaraderie, and fun inside the university’s new on-campus Events Center.
“Our third-year students spend the last half of their year in the field, so it’s nearly impossible to get the entire program together before graduation. We still felt a strong commitment to getting everyone together so our faculty could honor these students’ incredible accomplishments,” said Dr. Jacqueline Randa, Assistant Professor in the School of Physical Therapy, who helped organize the event. “The Events Center was big enough that we could bring the entire department together for this celebration. It served as encouragement for our first and second-year students to let them know that the program may be tough, but they will complete their education.”
During the holiday party, which the school aptly named the ‘DPartT,’ third-year students presented their research projects, cohorts presented superlative recognitions among their classmates, and the entire department enjoyed a fun photo reel with music created by Dr. Randa to show the student experiences within the program.
The celebration, which Dr. Randa hopes will become an annual event within the program, culminated with the presentation of the Candace Ortiz Scholarship Award, presented to a Physical Therapy student as voted on by their classmates.
Ortiz was a graduate of the 2015 cohort and died from cancer in 2016. Her husband, Ari, and her family created a scholarship in her name presented to one Touro Physical Therapy student each year.
“She was such a bright spot on her cohort,” Dr. Randa recalled. “She had this steady, positive presence that helped keep her cohort engaged and thinking positively. She was a precious and lovely person.”
Each year, one student from the School of Physical Therapy is presented with the scholarship, but students Dan Hoban and Chad Colby each received the same number of votes among their cohort, each one voting for the other. This year, both students were awarded with the Candace Ortiz Scholarship award.
“They are both so wonderful. Their classmates talked about how both of them go above and beyond for everyone,” Dr. Randa said about the two scholarship award winners. “Both have gone through hardships but have been so supportive of each other. Years from now, when members of their cohort are trying to remember who they went to school with, Dan and Chad will be the first two people they think of.”
TUN Physical Therapy Program