Orthopedic Physical Therapy Residency Program

Interested in Orthopedic Physical Therapy Residency Training? Avera Health and Evidence in Motion (EIM) have partnered to provide you high-quality education during your residency training.

Avera currently accepts one resident per calendar year for this 12-month program starting in July. During this residency:

  • EIM provides residents with a hybrid learning model that includes virtual online learning and hands-on training.
  • Avera hires you as an orthopedic resident and provides clinical experience to help you grow as a physical therapist.
  • Avera pays for your residency tuition and application fee.

Through training at the Avera Human Performance Center in Sioux Falls, our program helps you grow as a practitioner who is skilled in orthopedic physical therapy. You will become a highly skilled practitioner, substantially increasing your ability to provide care to patients with musculoskeletal conditions.

Learn more about EIM Orthopedic Residency

Residency Program Details

Residency Graduation Requirements

  • 1,530 supervised hours
  • 150 clinical mentorship hours, which include co-treatment and mentorship sessions
  • Virtual Rounds Care Presentations: Online mentorship with fellowship-trained clinicians
  • 100 completed episodes of Outcomes Tracking using Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes (FOTO)
  • Successful completion of EIM coursework and weekend lab intensives

Program and Resident Goals

  • Grow as practitioners skilled in orthopedic physical therapy.
  • Become highly skilled, autonomous practitioners who have substantially increased their ability to provide care to patients with musculoskeletal conditions.
  • Gain a strong base of knowledge of evidence-based practice, orthopedic manual therapy techniques, exercise prescription, and advanced medical screening and radiology.
  • Challenge and improve upon your clinical reasoning.
  • Be positioned to both achieve the Orthopedic Certified Specialist (OCS) certification from ABPTS to be leaders in the orthopedic physical therapy field.
  • Be well prepared for advanced training, such as a fellowship.

Experiences

Avera provides:

  • Clinical experience evaluating/treating patients: 36 hours per week
  • Dedicated time to work on curriculum: 4 hours per week
  • One-on-one clinical mentorship 4 hours per week

Avera Technique Labs:

  • These technique labs are in addition to your on-site weekend intensives that are provided as part of the EIM residency program.
  • The intent of these labs is to provide advanced learning, clinical reasoning and hands-on technique learning/feedback from your mentors.

Residency Application Process

Requirements to apply:

  • Board exam must be passed prior to start.
  • Must be a licensed physical therapist in South Dakota.
  • If accepted by Avera to fill the Orthopedic Physical Therapy Resident position, a secondary application is completed by the resident with EIM. Applicant will be auto accepted by EIM into the residency curriculum.
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Request Information

For additional information about the Orthopedic Physical Residency Program, email us.