Richard Shields, PT, PhD, FAPTA, delivered a powerful and provocative message as part of the 48th Mary McMillan Lecture “Turning Over the Hourglass” at the June 2017 American Physical Therapy Association’s NEXT Conference in Boston.  Receiving the Mary McMillan Lecture is the most distinguished honor a physical therapist can receive and recognizes demonstrated exemplary skills in the areas of administration, education, patient care, management and research.  Faculty, staff, students, physical therapists and leaders from across the country attended the NEXT conference to hear the talk.  He challenged all physical therapists to “turn over the hourglass” and extend life to those who need our services.  Specifically, he addressed two frontiers that will impact the future of physical therapy:  understanding the principles of “precision physical therapy” and appreciating “the human experience of our patients and students”.  Through high quality illustrations, videos, and classic clinical examples, Dr. Shields carefully communicated concepts about optimized movement that captivated the audience and challenged them to think about their future as physical therapists. 

Please click to view the video of  his lecture.