Great city, great food and great company-that pretty much sums up the 2010 Alberta Rehabilitation Coordinating Council (ARCC) Awards Dinner in Camrose, Alberta this past weekend. More than 200 rehabilitation professionals, friends and family gathered to celebrate exemplary service in occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology.
University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine Dean Martin Ferguson-Pell welcomed everyone to Camrose and played a short clip to demonstrate the new synchronized distance learning technology being used this year to bring the MSc Physical Therapy to Augustana Campus in Camrose. Master Cpl. Paul Franklin, a medical technician who lost both his legs in a suicide bombing in Kandahar shared his inspirational story.
The ARCC's Annual Awards Dinner is an opportunity to honour professionals and support personnel who have provided exemplary service within their respective fields. This year, the Excellence in Media Award went to the Edmonton Journal, recognizing them for their extensive and accurate coverage of rehabilitation in health care.
Margie McNeely from the Department of Physical Therapy at the Faculty of Rehabiliation Medicine won the Innovation in Rehabilitation Award in the practitioner category. Nathan Doerksen, Jessie Gibson, Christine Jackson, Avaleigh Wagner, Tracy Perrault and Andrea Metcalfe, students who recently graduated from the PT department, received the same award in the student category. Thanks to this group, physical therapy services are now offered at the Shine Clinic, a student-run health clinic providing a variety of free services to Edmonton's underserved youth.
2010 ARCC Award Winners
Clinical Excellence - Therapist - Urban
Lyndsey Bristow
Clinical Excellence - Therapist - Rural
Anne Gallagher
Clinical Excellence - Assistant - Urban
Michele Bennett
Clinical Excellence - Assistant - Rural
Lindsay Perkins
Rehabilitation Student Supervisor - Urban
Mara Shular
Rehabilitation Student Supervisor - Rural
Nicole Klassen
Jim Vargo Leadership & Mentoring
Heather Robertston
Innovation in Rehabilitation - Practitioner
Margie McNeely
Innovation in Rehabilitation - Student
Nathan Doerksen, Jessie Gibson, Christine Jackson, Avaleigh Wagner, Tracy Perrault, Andrea Metcalfe
Excellence in Media
Edmonton Journal
Friends of Rehab
Christine Beliveau
Sunrise - Therapist
Melissa Polonenko
Sunrise - Assistant
Janelle Evanson
About the University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine
As the only free standing faculty of rehabilitation in Canada, the University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine balances its activities among learning, discovery and citizenship (including clinical practice). A research leader in musculoskeletal health, spinal cord injuries and common spinal disorders (back pain), the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine aims to improve the quality of life of citizens in our community. The three departments, Occupational Therapy (OT), Physical Therapy (PT) and Speech Pathology and Audiology (SPA) offer professional entry programs. The Faculty offers thesis-based MSc and PhD programs in Rehabilitation Science, attracting students from a variety of disciplines including OT, PT, SLP, psychology, physical education, medicine and engineering.