The ARHP Honors Health Professionals for their Contributions to Rheumatology

A: I’m humbled by the honor of receiving the award, and I like to feel that I can continue to learn and contribute to the science of healthcare. We all are striving in the healthcare field to assist people to their highest level of health. I try to identify with patients that it’s not easy to be adherent to treatment and things that you have to do every day, but it’s worth the effort, and that you may fall off the wagon, but it doesn’t mean you can’t get back on track the next week. They’re human beings, just like we are. We’re on this journey together.

Q: You talk about the differences between the clinical and academic worlds. What’s kept you focused for so long on the teaching?

A: Ever since I started school, I liked learning, and in a university setting, things do not remain static. You are constantly learning. It’s not something you learn and then you do the same thing every day. Teaching methods change, and new discoveries are made. What I teach has a lot of variety about a lot of different diseases, so it’s like constantly being a student. To be a teacher, you’re a student the rest of your life.

Q: With all your commitments, you manage to stay involved with the ARHP. Why do you set aside that time?

A: I do because it’s the only organization that I belong to that is multidisciplinary. I belong to some nursing organizations, but the ACR and the ARHP members are nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, psychologists, social workers, dieticians, and I’m leaving out some. I enjoy hearing and learning about their contributions to the care of patients with rheumatic disease, and I’ve learned a lot from them. When I go to a national meeting, I’m not just hearing what nurses are doing, but I’m hearing about new findings from the physicians and all of these other disciplines that contribute to the overall healthcare plan for persons with a rheumatic disease.

ARHP Master Educator Award

Carol Oatis, PT, PhD
Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, Arcadia University, Glenside, Pa.

Background: Dr. Oatis has practiced physical therapy (PT) literally all over the United States. She graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee in 1973 with a BS in physical therapy and her first job was as a staff therapist at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital in Downey, Calif. After a year, she moved to Philadelphia to earn her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania. She held several positions around Philadelphia before taking a teaching position in 1982 at Beaver College (now Arcadia University). In all those stops, she concentrated on arthritis, with a focus in biomechanics and kinesiology. A former president of ARHP, she is an active member who has presented at multiple national meetings. She has also encouraged nearly 40 of her students to present at both ARHP and American Physical Therapy Association meetings.