Category: Alumni

Thinking back on 2015, it is hard to believe it was 10 years ago, and that rings especially true for our Physical Therapy (PT) class of 2015. One minute, they were graduate students worried about their exams and clinicals, while balancing extracurricular activities and personal obligations; the next, they were working in the careers they...

Professor Vicki Stemmons Mercer, PT, PhD, a long-time faculty member in the Division of Physical Therapy, is retiring after more than 30 years of distinguished service in the field. Becoming a Tar Heel Mercer first came to UNC in 1985 to pursue a master’s degree in physical therapy. At the...

The study, titled “Postural Control Measurements to Predict Future Motor Impairment in Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review”, included contributions from two UNC alumni, one UNC Neonatal Physical Therapy Fellowship alumnus, and two faculty members – Dr. Dana McCarty and Dr. Jessica Cassidy – from the Division of Physical Therapy in...

Each spring, a panel of alumni from the Division of Physical Therapy’s DPT program spend an evening sharing their professional experiences and answering questions from current students about what to expect during the process of finding employment. This year, the conversation offered students the opportunity to learn about what to...

Ryan Brooks, PT, DPT, MA, CSCS, USAW-L2, is a 2021 graduate of the division of Physical Therapy’s DPT program, housed within the Department of Allied Health Sciences. Following graduation from UNC, he began a PT residency program at the University of Miami where he works at a sports-based outpatient orthopedic...

Tanner Holden, PT, DPT, CSCS recently attended the American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Sections Meeting (APTA CSM) for his first time as a UNC DPT graduate. The DPT program is housed within the Division of Physical Therapy in the Department of Allied Health Sciences. At the CSM, Holden presented his...

Dylan Sheedy, a recent Division of Physical Therapy graduate, has been successfully navigating his first year of clinical practice in Asheville. This fall he was nominated for and won the Best of the Blue Ridge: Physical Therapist award from the greater community in Hendersonville, NC, and was featured on a...

Jon Hacke, PT, DPT has retired from his position as assistant professor in the Division of Physical Therapy in the Department of Allied Health Sciences as of October 1, 2021. Hacke spent more than 25 years in the Division, bringing his unique background and experience to clinical, research and educational...

Deborah Thorpe, PT, PhD retired from her position as professor in the Division of Physical Therapy in the Department of Allied Health Sciences in August 2021. Thorpe steps down after nearly 22 years with UNC School of Medicine. She joined the faculty in 1999 as an assistant professor with a...

Mae Thomas (’15 DPT) practices pediatric physical therapy at the UNC Center for Rehabilitation Care, an area of specialization she knew she wanted to pursue since her second year as a PT student. Her interest in physical therapy began in high school, when she shadowed careers in health science. By...