The American Board of Physical Therapy Residency & Fellowship Education (ABPTRFE), the American Physical Therapy Association's accreditation body, has approved the KACH Division I Sports Fellowship, as an ABPTRFE-accredited Sports Division I physical therapy fellowship program.

The current program, which was formerly known as the U.S. Military-Baylor University Sports Physical Therapy 'Residency' Program, is one of two accredited Sports PT Fellowships in the country and the only military sports fellowship. Its mission is to train and educate specialized military physical therapists to be leaders in evidence-based sports therapy, clinical excellence and military-relevant sports medicine research.

During the 18-month program, fellows -- from the Army, Navy and Air Force -- complete 60 credit hours of full time graduate school education through Baylor University, taught by local faculty, across four semesters. All of this occurs while completing 30 hours per week in clinic patient care and 400 hours of sideline sports coverage with a variety of Division I Army West Point sports teams. This hard work culminates in a Doctorate of Science degree from Baylor University.

"This year marks 20 years of training physical therapists in sports injury management here at West Point," said Lt. Col. Donald Goss, Director of the Fellowship program. "The recent recognition as an accredited 'fellowship' takes the program to the next level. This accomplishment was truly a team effort for faculty and fellows.

"I would like to thank former program directors Lt. Col. Mike Johnson and Maj. Mike Crowell, and all of the athletic trainers and orthopedic surgeons, at West Point, for all of the hours of work they have poured into our program," added Goss.

The commencement of the accreditation will begin August 31, 2015, and will continue for a period of five years. In order to maintain the accreditation, the program director and staff must uphold certain ongoing requirements, including but not limited to current APPTRFE Evaluative Criteria and the ABPTRFE Rules of Practice and Procedure. In addition, programs must provide an annual report to ABPTRFE for each year of accreditation.

The current fellows (Maj. Aspen Terry, Maj. Jeff Dolbeer, Maj. John Mason, and Capt. Jamie Morris) will defend their doctoral dissertations October 30, 2015, at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and hold graduation exercises, here at West Point, in December. The next Fellowship students will begin classes in Jan 2016 with a July 2017 expected graduation date.