Outstanding Student

The outstanding student award recognizes an entry level student who demonstrates a commitment to leadership and the profession of Physical Therapy.

Nominate Here

The nominee must be a member of the American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy and APTA in good standing.
The nominee must be a student in an entry-level physical therapy program or have graduated from such a program within the last 6 months (from date of nomination).
Nominee must demonstrate an interest in the area of sports physical therapy in studies, research, or writing.
A person can receive this award only once.

Demonstrated commitment to leadership in physical therapy.
Demonstrated talents in writing, research, and community activities that promote sports physical therapy.
Academic excellence as evidenced by grade point average as reported by the student.
Section volunteerism and participation.

Any member of the American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy may nominate candidates for the award.
A maximum of one (1) award will be given in any year.
Nominations must be submitted electronically and include only the following materials:
- Completed online nomination form;
- Student's GPA at time of nomination;
- Current and complete curriculum vitae of the nominee;
- Letter of support from person nominating the member not to exceed two pages including the reasons for the nomination; and,
- Letters from two (2) individuals, one of which must be from a faculty member at the institution where the student attends/attended and another from a fellow student, who can specifically address one or more of the criteria for selection, not to exceed two (2) pages.
Please have all materials completed and collected when completing the award application. There is no way to save applications in-process so please ensure you have all materials compiled before starting the application.

The Awards Team Coordinator will notify the recipient of the award and obtain written confirmation of acceptance.
The name of the recipient will be kept confidential until announced.

Past Recipients

1995 Andrew Bloch

1998 Troy Meiners

1999 Derek Horn

2000 Louise Hester

2003 Mike Edwards

2004 Lana Smith

2005 Abigail Gohl

2006 Justin Smith

2007 Kari Brown

2009 Jeremy Baker

2011 Erica Stanley

2012 Ashley Campbell

2012 William Drew

2013 Brittney Herder

2014 Cody Mansfield

2014 Michelle Luchini

2014 Nadyne Dolan

2015 Christa Wille

2016 Kaitlyn Schleuter

2017 Karen Thatcher

2018 Keith Knurr

2019 Amit Gohil

2020 Lindsey Wade

2021 Rachel Meyers

2022 Mohammad Ihab Saad

2023 Michael Ross Ainbinder