Carroll of Hopatcong Receives Student Leadership Award from the Pennsylvania Physical Therapy Association

Related Media

Christopher Carroll

CHESTER, PA (10/31/2013)(readMedia)-- Christopher Carroll of Hopatcong, N.J., a third-year physical therapy doctoral student at Widener University, has received a 2013 Student Leadership Award from the Pennsylvania Physical Therapy Association.

According to the PPTA, the award recognizes students who are exceeding the expected and will most likely become involved in the professional association in some level of leadership in the first five years post-graduation.

Carroll earned the award based on the leadership he has exhibited as a Widener physical therapy student. In his first year of the three-year program, he was elected president of the Widener PT Class of 2014. He also was elected to serve all three years on the board for Widener's student-led Chester Community Physical Therapy Clinic, which provides physical therapy services to uninsured and underinsured residents of Chester, Pa., and surrounding communities.

Carroll regularly volunteers his time to treat patients in the clinic. In addition, he has represented the Chester Community Physical Therapy Clinic at conferences throughout the United States, where he has helped inspire students at other academic institutions to begin their own clinics based on Widener's model.

In their nomination of Carroll for the PPTA Student Leadership Award, Widener faculty highlighted Carroll's exceptional leadership in organizing 5K fundraising races to benefit the clinic. Carroll applied his experience as a triathlete and marathoner to revamp an existing spring run and launch a second fall run over Widener's homecoming weekend. He redesigned the course to make it an official distance. He also recruited sponsors and oversaw advertising efforts. His efforts helped boost participation in the races and total funds raised.

Carroll currently is in the clinical rotation phase of his education. He is working at ActiveCare Physical Therapy in Succasunna, N.J. He has completed rotations at Hackettstown Regional Medical Center in Hackettstown, N.J. and Integrated Health Professionals in Sparta, N.J. He will finish up his fourth and final rotation at Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital in Malvern, Pa., beginning in March.

Carroll is currently interested in pursuing a career in in-patient rehabilitation post-graduation.

Carroll is a 2008 graduate of Hopatcong High School. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Lock Haven University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in health science. While at Lock Haven, he conducted research in the area of exercise physiology and published his findings in the "Keystone Journal of Undergraduate Research" in a 2011 article titled The Effect of Feedback on Exercise Performance in Recreationally-Active Young Adults.

Widener University is a metropolitan university that connects curricula to social issues through civic engagement. Dynamic teaching, active scholarship, personal attention, leadership development and experiential learning are key components of the Widener experience. A comprehensive doctorate-granting university, Widener is comprised of eight schools and colleges that offer liberal arts and sciences, professional and pre-professional curricula leading to associate, baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees. The university's campuses in Chester, Exton and Harrisburg, Pa., and Wilmington, Del., serve more than 6,300 students. Widener is proud to be a tobacco-free campus. Visit the university's website, www.widener.edu. 

###