Debra Stern, PT, DPT, MSM, DBA, CLT, CEEAA
Education
DBA in Business Administration with Healthcare Administration Specialty in 2003
Doctor of Physical Therapy at A.T. Still University – Mesa, Arizona in 2011
Master of Science in Management at Rollins College – Winter Park, FL
Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy at State University of NY at Buffalo – Buffalo, NY
Certifications
Certified Fall Prevention Specialist
APTA Certified Exercise Expert in Aging
Certified Lymphedema Therapist
Manual certification from both the Ola Grimsby Institute and James Cyriax
APTA’s Clinical Instructional Education and Credentialing Program in 2008; credentialed Clinical Instructor
Tai Chi for Arthritis
Teaching
Dr. Stern is the former program DCE and is currently a member of the Clinical Education team supervising Service Learning and Community Service activities. She teaches in The Gerontology course, Intro to Physical Therapy and Clinical Skills for skills assessment.
Additionally, Dr. Stern co-teaches in Health Policy in the PhDPT program and has taught healthcare management in public health
Scholarly Activities and Research
Dr. Stern has co-authored 2 textbooks:
Effective Documentation for Physical Therapy Professionals, Ed 1 and 2, and a 3rd edition on 2021.
Clinical Education in Physical Therapy. She has also contributed to several textbooks. Her third edition textbook on documentation in 2021
Dr. Stern’s research interests are clinical education, diabetes and geriatrics. She has multiple publications in peer reviewed journals and has presented at state, national and international conferences.
As the physical therapy member on the NSU Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program HRSA grant, she is responsible for training medical professionals in fall prevention for which outcomes are being tracked.
Service
Dr. Stern:
- serves on the Interprofessional Balance and Falls Clinic as a faculty supervisor and as a faculty mentor
- In the Interprofessional Diabetes Education and Awareness initiative for the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Healthcare Sciences, Dr. Stern has served as an IP team faculty leader since the start of the program.
- as a Special Olympics Clinical Director for the FunFitness program.
- through the PT Service Learning and Community Service programming, she serves as a coordinator and onsite faculty supervisor based on activity need.
Areas of Practice
- Supervises students in clinical education experiences and in an interprofessional diabetes clinic with optometry, working with the homeless and geriatrics. She specialized in geriatric rehabilitation in multiple facilities including SNF and inpatient rehab facilities (IRF). In her early years of practice she worked in acute care, orthopedics and pediatrics in a variety of setting.
Professional Activity
Dr. Stern is an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association, Florida Physical Therapy Association (FPTA) and the SE District of the Florida Physical Therapy Association. In September 2019, she completed her 10 year tenure as Chair on the FPTA Continuing Education Committee. In 2020 she became a committee member on Continuing Education and helped design a revised instructor application form for Dry Needling. She belongs to multiple special interest groups of the APTA and FPTA including geriatrics, education, health policy and administration and the Florida Consortium of Clinical Educators.
Active member of the World Confederation of Physical Therapy
Dr. Stern also served as a committee member for the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) to investigate Integrated Clinical Education with a resulting Publication in 2019.