Meet Allie Cartier, SPT

I am a third-year physical therapy student at Utica College. I just recently took pelvic health physical therapy coursework and it just confirmed my excitement for my future as a pelvic health Physical Therapist. My last full time clinical is at Specialty Physical Therapy that focuses on assessment and treatment of women’s and men’s health issues, pelvic pain, incontinence, musculoskeletal pain, and pregnancy-related pain and dysfunction. The clinic is owned by Dr. Wendy Featherstone, and she will be my clinical instructor.

The APTA National Student Conclave (NSC) is designed for students by students. This year I had the privilege to be a National Student Conclave Project Committee Member. I was one of the ten other students that helped plan this awesome, incredible event, and I am so excited to attend.

The APTA put out three words to explain the value of National Student Conclave: discover, grow, and transform. I am finished with my didactic portion of my education, and all that is left between me and graduation is two twelve-week clinicals. Nevertheless, I am not done discovering, growing, or transforming. The great thing about being a Physical Therapist is you are never done learning, networking, and giving back to the community. I want to attend National Student Conclave to help continue to develop my life skills as a future Physical Therapist, learn and make connections with others to continue to build our profession. NSC gives me the opportunity to learn about maximizing my clinical tool box, building your own specialty practice from the ground up, leadership skills, education on residencies, making connections with lifelong peers, and giving back to the community.

The value of National Student Conclave goes far beyond what meets the eye. My mentor, Dr. Jim Smith, once said to me that the greatest thing that you can do in life is invest in yourself, and National Student Conclave is a great way to do just that.

Allie is an SoWH student member and was recently selected by the Section on Women’s Health as the NSC 2018 scholarship recipient. Stephanie will be traveling to Providence, Rhode Island October 11-13, 2018. As part of the Section’s scholarship offer, she will be receiving 1 Free Full-Conference NSC Registration and up to $600 to spend toward her travel and hotel expenses. For more information about scholarship opportunities, please visit the SoWH website.