Barr honored for contributions to acute care physical therapy

Rhonda Barr, DPT, MA, CSS, adjunct associate of physical therapy and rehabilitation science, has been awarded the Mary Sinnott Award for Clinical Excellence in Acute Care Physical Therapy.

The Mary Sinnott Award is awarded annually by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) to one physical therapist who has contributed to the overall development of acute care physical therapy through clinical research, presentations, program development and mentoring activities. The APTA presented Barr with the award on February 19 at the Combined Sections Meeting in Anaheim, CA.

Barr has practiced at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for 39 years. Her practice in that time has ranged from coordinating a multidisciplinary diabetes management clinic to managing cardiopulmonary patients. Today, she offers specialized care to critically ill patients in the medical ICU.

As adjunct faculty in the department of physical therapy and rehabilitation science, Barr has mentored countless physical therapists currently in practice. She also contributes to the cardiopulmonary therapeutics course.

The Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) honored Barr in 2014 for a study she co-authored, “Early physical and occupational therapy in mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients: a randomized control trial,” with Gregory Schmidt, MD, Director of Critical Care Programs. PEDro selected the study as 1 of the 15 most significant randomized controlled trials that influence the practice of physical therapy to ever be published.

Story Source: Benji McElroy, UI Carver College of Medicine, 200 College of Medicine Administration Building, Iowa City, Iowa 52242

Media Contact: Jennifer Brown, UI Health Care Marketing and Communications, jennifer-l-brown@uiowa.edu