2025 Fall Summit Reflections

• By: admin
• On: 10/31/2025 10:35:04
• In: News

This year's Fall Summit wasn't just a celebration of APTA Virginia's 85th anniversary—it was a powerful reminder of what's possible when our community comes together.

From thought-provoking educational sessions to late-night trivia laughs, the weekend truly buzzed with connection, learning, and inspiration. But for some attendees, it also marked a significant milestone—The Fall Summit Grant. 

Two of our recipients shared their reflections with us. Here's a glimpse of what they experienced.

First, from Luke Andrew Williams, who shared his reflections via video:


We also heard from Corinne Babcock: 

I had a great time attending the APTA VA Fall Summit this past weekend. I feel like I gained a lot from the educational sessions that I was able to attend and that I had a great time sharing my research project with others during the poster presentations. I really enjoyed being able to reconnect with some of the fellow clinicians and students that I had met during Capitol Hill Day in July and getting to meet new people who will be my colleagues in the near future.

The first session that I attended was “Think Quick, Refer Quick: Early Screening for Neuromuscular Disorders” in the Pediatrics section. I learned a lot more about Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in this talk, how prevalent it can be and how often there is a significant time gap between development of signs and symptoms and diagnosis. I think that some of the biggest key takeaways that I will have from this discussion is how important it is to listen to the parents of our pediatric patients and to help them be their child's advocate with other healthcare professionals when they feel like their concerns are not being addressed appropriately. I know that one thing I have always been a little wary of as a student is having those interprofessional conversations with other healthcare providers regarding our patients and what I feel they may need as far as other diagnostic testing and I appreciated how Dr. Butler and Dr. Jones gave some examples of ways to approach these conversations that I could use in the future. I have not yet decided if I will go into pediatrics as my clinical focus but this lecture continued to spark my interest in this area of clinical practice.

The next session I attended was “Animal Rehab – A Growing Demand” in the Innovations in Physical Therapy section. This was a very enjoyable presentation and has given me another certification or continuing education that I want to pursue in the future as a professional. I have ridden horses for more than half my life and want to work with human equestrian athletes throughout my career as a physical therapist so knowing that I can become a certified PT for the horse as well definitely interests me, as this would allow me to treat the whole team of horse and rider together. I loved learning about the process of gaining this certification and even though the talk was primarily focused on canine rehabilitation it was still very interesting and if able I will likely pursue both certifications in the future. I think one of the biggest things that I took away from this session, other than having a new path to pursue, was that this is another way I can serve as an advocate as we discussed the need for specific language and phrases within the state practice act that will allow certified animal therapists to practice at the top of our scope in these regards.

The final educational session that I attended was “Neurological Components and Practical Application in Sport-Specific Physical Therapy Rehabilitation” in the orthopedics section. I really enjoyed this talk, especially as a student who is pursuing dual credentials in athletic training and physical therapy. I personally do not feel like therapeutic exercise prescription is not one of my strongest areas as a physical therapist and I really enjoyed some of the practical examples that were presented in this class by Dr. Jones. I felt like this lecture was the one that I could take away the most from right now in my current position. I am heading off to a terminal clinical experience with a D1 athletics program and I hope to take a lot of these concepts and use them when working the athletes that I will be treating during my clinical experience that will enhance their overall recovery.

Finally, I was fortunate enough to be able to do a poster presentation of my capstone research project on head and cervical spine injuries that occur in unmounted horseback riders. I had a great time talking with a variety of people and being able to share what my research found and how I felt that we as physical therapists could help to fill the gap between sports healthcare professionals and the equestrian community. I hope that the people I talked to were challenged to consider something that they may have not considered before or were made aware of a patient population that they may not have realized is underserved. I am excited to do more research and work with this population in the future and was glad to have such a positive reception and interest from my future colleagues in the profession.

Overall, I had a great time at Fall Summit this year and I felt like I had a lot to take away from the educational sessions that I was able to attend. I am very glad that I was able to make the trip down to Richmond this year and look forward to attending more events in the future as I am able during my professional career. I have attached some photos below from the day, I had planned to take more but actually ended up being terrible at this as the day went on. 

A major thank you to Corinne and Luke for sharing their stories, and to all the members who make opportunities like this possible!