Professor Cheryl Petersen

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Professor Cheryl Petersen

Faculty & Staff - Professor Cheryl Petersen

Cheryl Petersen, PT, DPT, DHS

Assistant Professor Physical Therapy

Office: HS135

Phone: 262.243.4347

Education: B.S. 1971, University of Minnesota; M.S. 1984, University of Minnesota; DPT 2007, Concordia University Wisconsin

Professional Interests: Orthopedic Rehabilitation, Extremities and Spine

Cheryl Petersen received her BS and MS in Physical therapy from the University of Minnesota. She has 30 + years of clinical experience including acute care, rehabilitation, pediatric consultation (public school setting), geriatrics, home health and orthopedics. She began teaching in 1986 at Northwestern University's Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Science and joined Concordia University Wisconsin's Physical Therapy faculty in 2002. Her research interests include Orthopedic measurement principles, upper limb tension testing, spine reposition sense and working with the OSI Spine Motion Analyzer. She was the second author of a publication which received the Rose Excellence in Research Award in Orthopedic Physical Therapy Research from the APTA (1995) and the Annual Chattanooga Research award for the best article on Clinical Research (1995). Her teaching responsibilities include musculoskeletal evaluation and treatment, differential diagnosis and evidenced-based practice. She began the DHS program at the Krannert School for Physical Therapy in 2003.

Why did you choose the Physical Therapy profession?

I had always wanted to be in medicine growing up but fell into the profession of Physical Therapy by chance. I have had over 30 years of wonderful experiences in areas of clinical care, teaching and research. The profession provides many avenues to work within and I have enjoyed working with individuals in acute care, rehabilitation, the public school setting, orthopedics and geriatrics. Being a physical therapist allows one to work closely with patients/clients from a physical, psychological and emotional basis. We hope to improve the individual we deal with from the perspective of an improved quality of life, prevention of progression of disease/illness or improve wellness. It is a wonderful profession to challenge one's intellect and problem solving skills. Medicine is ever changing and the field of Physical Therapy is similarly changing with many challenges to provide evidence-based practice thus improving care.

What do you like about CUW's PT Program?

The opportunity to get to know students' strengths and weaknesses in a small program can allow each student to attain their highest potential. We provide appropriate challenges and educational opportunities in either situation to afford higher goal acquisition. Frequent faculty discussions alert one another to provide these greater challenges or additional assistance to students within the program. Caring for each student once within the program is a major goal of all faculty.

A probono model can work well in the smaller setting as well. We believe the more positive patient contact experiences that can be provided to the physical therapy student, the more autonomous practice the student will be able to assume upon graduation. Hands on learning can be very effective and enjoyable in the school setting as well as in clinical setting.

Grant Agency:

1993-1994 Chicagoland Orthopedic Physical Therapy Study Group for Determining Validity of the OSI CA 6000 Spine Motion Analyzer in Measuring Lumbar Spine and Cervical Spine Motion, Co-Investigator, $1,400.

1994-1996 Foundation in Physical Therapy for Reliability and Construct Validity of Selective Tension Testing with Patients Having Painful Problems of the Shoulders and Knees, Co-Investigator, $57,627.

1995 Chicagoland Orthopedic Physical Therapy Study Group for The Effect of Different Knee Positions on the Diagnostic Accuracy of the Instrumented Lachman Test (KT 1000), Co-Investigator, $500.

1999 Orthopaedic Section, APTA, Inc. for An Upper Limb Tension Test: Sensory Responses of Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Subjects, $5,000.

2004 Concordia University Wisconsin Intramural Research Grant for Examine the Measurement Error and Test-retest Reliability of Trunk Reposition Sense Over Trials Utilizing a New Measurement Method in Asymptomatic Subjects, $3,410.