Geriatric Physical Therapy Residency

The Geriatric Physical Therapy Residency at Prisma Health is a clinical residency program administered by Physical Therapy Specialists, an outpatient clinic where the majority of clinicians have advanced training in physical, occupational, or speech therapy.

Our residency program is a 12-month program with 30 hours of clinical practice and 10 hours of didactic learning experiences each week including lectures, labs, mentoring, self-paced learning modules and instruction at the University of South Carolina’s Physical Therapy Program. The program also includes three part-time rotations in acute care, home health and inpatient rehabilitation settings. Residents are paid as full-time Prisma Health team members and are eligible for benefits.

About our program

Our residency program offers a comprehensive curriculum, which meets the minimum required hours of 1,800 total program hours, including 300 educational/instructional hours, 1,500 patient care/clinic hours, including150 hours of one-on-one mentoring throughout the course of the program.

The mission of the Prisma Health Geriatric Residency Program is to prepare residents to provide excellent care and management of the geriatric population through didactic learning, practical experience, and modeling of clinical expertise and advanced clinical decision making. Our program will elevate resident’s understanding of the unique complexities and needs of the geriatric patient, encourage evidence-based practice to provide superior outcomes, and identify opportunities to promote wellness and longevity across settings and lifespan.

What is a clinical residency?

According to The American Physical Therapy Association (ABPTRFE) a clinical residency is defined as the following:

​“Residency programs are post-professional programs that occur after the graduate physical therapist has obtained their license to practice. Residency programs in physical therapy may be clinical programs that advance a physical therapist’s knowledge and skills in patient/client management or nonclinical focusing on advancing a physical therapist's career outside of their clinical duties.”

What are the benefits of a residency program?

The benefits of a residency program include:

• Completion of an ABPTRFE accredited residency program is one of the ways an individual can qualify to sit for the specialist certification exam.
• Those who participate in a clinical residency program have a 20–40% higher chance of passing the specialty exam the first time versus those who did not complete a residency.
• Participants receive one-on-one mentoring from board certified physical therapy clinical specialists in the areas of geriatrics, orthopedics and neurology.
• Participants improve their marketability as a clinician.
• Participants learn advanced and innovative clinical skills, improve clinical reasoning and analysis, and become effective advocates for health promotion and continuity of care for the geriatric population.

Physical Therapy Specialists

Our residency is administered through Prisma Health Physical Therapy Specialists, a hospital-based outpatient clinic with multiple sites that are part of Prisma Health. The clinic offers:

• Physical, occupational and speech therapy services.
• Nine specialty programs including neuroscience, post-concussion, women’s health, fall prevention, and cancer rehabilitation.
• Five orthopedic, three geriatric and one neurological clinical specialist, in addition to five AAOMPT fellows.
• Two full-time professors and four associated instructional/adjunct faculty members with the University of South Carolina Physical Therapy Program.

Program application process

• Application process opens: March 1 
• Application process closes: June 30
• Residency start date: Oct. 1
• Residency end date: Sept. 30 of the following year

Contact us

For additional information about our program or the application process, please contact Program Director Sarah Wilcox, PT, at Sarah.Wilcox@PrismaHealth.org.

Program Outcomes

• 100% program graduation rate
• 100% first-time GCS pass rate

Residency-and-Fellowship-Financial-Fact-Sheet-Completed-11-2023.docx