Barb Tschoepe

PT, DPT, PhD

Dr. Tschoepe currently is a Visiting Professor and the Director of Physical Therapy at the University of Vermont where she is sharing her leadership and curriculum design/assessment talents to transform their educational enterprise as they prepare DPT students for their future roles within our health care delivery system.

She is well recognized nationally for her academic leadership role as the Founding Dean for the School of Physical Therapy at Regis University, Denver Co which she began in 1994. During her tenure at Regis, she led efforts to design multiple educational programs for physical therapists across their professional lifecycle from pre-professional, DPT, post professional tDPT to post-doctoral fellowship programs within their traditional ground based, hybrid and distance based educational models. Included in her portfolio, was the introduction of DPT education in Ethiopia where she and her colleagues developed a collaborative DPT program with Adidas Abbaba Health Sciences University. Addis, Ethiopia. Throughout her 30-year academic career, she remained active as a physical therapist private practice owner and educational consultant as she firmly believes that our best academicians are also our clinicians who are broadly based in the needs and Vision of our profession. Her consulting experience is in curriculum design and program assessment, CAPTE accreditation preparation and requests for substantial change, institutional program review, faculty and student leadership development and clinical practice development in academic and free standing environments.

Dr. Tschoepe received her BS in Physical Therapy from Texas Women’s University in 1977 and her PhD in Higher Ed Administration/Curriculum Design with a cognate in Motor Control/Motor Learning from the University of Colorado, Boulder. in 1989. As a long standing advocate for the importance of moving physical therapist education to the doctoral level, she herself received her tDPT degree from Regis in 2014 as well. She recently completed her term as a Board of Director/Secretary for the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) where she spearheaded a number of initiatives to promote excellence in DPT education across the country. These include the Benchmarks for Excellence Project and the development of the Annual Forum on Innovation in PT education in honor on Dr. Geneva R. Johnson. In addition, she is a CAPTE site visitor and serves on a local non-profit multi-level Senior Center that serves the low to moderate income seniors where she was instrumental in developing a wellness program that promotes aging with grace and healthy lifestyles. Lastly, her research interests involve promoting health and wellness in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal and neuromuscular disorders, applying concepts of movement science in PT interventions and exploring options to promote Leadership Development in Health Professionals across their professional careers.

She is excited to join the prestigious faculty of Rehab Essentials by offering her course on personal leadership development entitled: Leadership Strategies to Develop Innovative Physical Therapy Practice for Valued Based Care. She looks forward to supporting her students as they begin their personal journeys to become/expand their potentials to become a transformational leader in Health Care Practice and Education!!!!