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Leading national authority Scifers will develop graduate health science programs in AT, PT and OT

Bethlehem, Pa., October 26, 2015—ɫ��ɫ College has named James (Jay) Scifers, DScPT, PT, SCS, LAT, ATC its new program director of athletic training and interim program director of physical therapy. Scifers will develop and chair a new department of rehabilitation sciences and lead the development of the College’s master's degree program in athletic training launching in summer 2016. His official start date is January 4, 2016.

A leading national authority on health sciences and athletic training, Scifers comes to ɫ��ɫ College after serving as professor in the athletic training education program at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. He is the current past-president of the North Carolina Athletic Trainers’ Association (NCATA) after serving as the organization’s president for four years. During Scifers’ tenure, the NCATA launched a successful campaign to pass concussion legislation and became the first state organization in the country to introduce a bill to mandate and fund a full-time athletic trainer in every public high school.

“ɫ��ɫ College and the Lehigh Valley are very fortunate to have Jay Scifers leading the development of our athletic training program,” said Bryon L. Grigsby ’90, president of ɫ��ɫ College. “A nationally recognized expert, Jay has a proven track record of success in building AT, OT and PT programs. He brings instant credibility to our program; we are confident that with our partner, St. Luke’s University Health Network, we will develop the preeminent athletic training program in the region.”

ɫ��ɫ College is developing an athletic training graduate program that will launch in June 2016 and plans to launch doctorate programs in occupational therapy and physical therapy in the future. ɫ��ɫ will also offer an accelerated 3-plus-2 cohort program in health sciences, in which students can finish their undergraduate health sciences program and then choose athletic training, occupational therapy or physical therapy for their graduate degree.

“ɫ��ɫ College’s outstanding relationship with St. Luke’s University Health Network is unique and important for creating top quality programs,” said Scifers. “It will help us recruit outstanding faculty both outside and inside the network. The programs we are developing are implemented in such an inter-disciplinary way at only a handful of schools in the nation. Students will benefit by working together in AT, OT and PT, both in the classroom and in practice. They will be immersed in an inter-disciplinary model from day one, which will provide the opportunity for inter-professional growth while working together under one roof. By working side-by side in an inter-disciplinary environment, students gain knowledge and respect for each other’s disciplines and the skills they bring to the table. This model has proven beneficial for students and also for faculty who can teach across all three areas.”

“By introducing these new programs, ɫ��ɫ College is providing students with the opportunity to pursue three of the fastest growing occupations in healthcare,” said Scifers. “At the same time, the community in the Lehigh Valley and beyond benefit from the increased availability of patient care.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, athletic training, occupation therapy and physical therapy are three of the fastest growing healthcare occupations. As awareness and regulation around sports-related injuries grows at all levels of athletics, so does the demand for certified athletic trainers (Median Pay: $42,690 in 2012), a job field which is expected to grow by 21% by 2022. Projected job growth for occupational therapists ($75,400 median pay) for the next 7+ years is 29%. For physical therapists, there are an estimated 73,500 new jobs in the U.S. being created through 2022.

“St. Luke’s University Health Network, the region’s largest provider of sports medicine services is proud to be partnered with ɫ��ɫ College and the development of what promises to be the premier location for students looking to pursue careers in the rehabilitation sciences,” said John Hauth, EdD, LAT, ATC, senior director of Sports Medicine at St. Luke’s. “ɫ��ɫ College and St. Luke’s have invested significant resources and are committed to providing students interested in athletic training, occupational and physical therapy with unparalleled access to the best facilities and clinician-scholars. The integration of our graduate medical education programs in orthopedics, sports medicine, physical and occupational therapy provide a unique opportunity for training the next generation of practitioners in the health sciences.”

The health sciences program at ɫ��ɫ College starts with a common core of courses, which includes anatomy and physiology, introduction to psychology, statistics, bench sciences and research methods for health sciences. Students will then choose one of three professional tracks: athletic training / exercise science, occupational therapy or physical therapy in order to complete the necessary prerequisite courses for admission to their desired graduate program.

“Our graduates will benefit from the fact that mentoring and inter-professional collaboration with practicing clinicians is taking place under one roof at ɫ��ɫ College,” Scifers emphasized. “It is a model that you don’t find very often, one that offers benefits to our students and provides significant recruitment advantage in the marketplace.”

From a practice perspective, Scifers has provided athletic training and physical therapy services in the professional, collegiate, secondary school and clinical settings. As a collegiate athletic trainer, he has worked at NCAA Division I, II and III institutions. Scifers has also provided healthcare services in a variety of rehabilitation settings and to secondary school athletes in a variety of clinic-outreach roles dating back to 1991. Scifers continues to practice as a clinician in North Carolina through his volunteer service to a number of local, state and regional associations.

In a continued effort to advance the professional practice of athletic trainers and promote best practices among clinicians, Scifers has been extremely active in presenting at professional conferences. Since 1999, he has delivered more than 200 professional platform and poster presentations at state, regional and national athletic training and physical therapy conferences. Scifers has additionally written a textbook, titled Special Tests for Neurologic Exam, and authored seven chapters and more than twenty-five articles in the fields of athletic training and physical therapy.

Scifers holds a Bachelor of Science in athletic training from East Stroudsburg University, a Master of Physical Therapy from Emory University and a Doctor of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of Maryland-Baltimore.

For more information on the health sciences program at ɫ��ɫ College, click here.