In September 1956, with just four students and a handful of faculty members, the University of Maryland School of Medicine founded the department of physical therapy on its campus in downtown Baltimore.

Now, more than 50 years and two thousand graduates later, the department has grown to include19 full-time faculty members and 30 plus adjunct faculty and has expanded to three degree programs—the entry-level doctor of physical therapy, the doctor of science in physical therapy and a PhD in physical rehabilitation science.

In 2003, under the leadership of Mary Rodgers, PT, PhD, George R. Hepburn Dynasplint Professor and Chair, the department incorporated “rehabilitation science” into its name to reflect the emphasis on providing evidence for physical therapy practice through research. Professors in the department are conducting a number of rehabilitation research projects on an ongoing basis. One of these projects has led to a patented device for use in stroke rehabilitation entitled BATRAC, designed and created by Drs. Sandy McCombe-Waller and Jill Whitall.

Stroke is the nation’s third leading cause of death behind diseases of the heart and cancer. About 700,000 Americans each year suffer a new or recurrent stroke. More than half a million of them are left with paralysis. Inactivity can worsen conditions and potentially lead to other strokes.

“We began exploring other methods for stroke rehabilitation more than 10 years ago when we weren’t satisfied with results from typical training,” says Sandy McCombe-Waller, PT, PhD, NCS, assistant professor and an expert in the area of neuromotor control. “In rehabilitation after stroke, there was very little focus on training the upper extremity with enough repetition to make any impact on function. We decided to apply the use of auditory cueing as well as repetitive practice of the arms bilaterally (based on principles of motor learning and motor control) to see if we could make a difference in function.”

In collaboration with her colleague Jill Whitall, PhD, they designed a training device to study the innovative combination of bilateral and unilateral training to improve arm and hand function in patients with moderate severity paresis after brain injury. Their research quickly led to published articles in journals and NIH funding. Whitall is a professor and co-director of research for the department, and co-director of the neuromotor core within the Baltimore Claude Pepper Independence for Older Americans Center funded by the National Institute on Aging.

“We created a rehabilitation training device out of scientific principles. Our goal has been and is to seek the underlying mechanisms in neural recovery, not just functional outcomes,” she says in explaining that this is not just another piece of exercise equipment. In fact, the university has licensed their invention in hopes that it will be developed for utilization in the home and community.

As the two move forward in their research, they continue to work collaboratively with the VA Medical Center, other departments within the medical school and always involve the students. They hope that their work with BATRAC (Bilateral Arm Training with Rhythmic Auditory Cueing) and other innovative methods of rehabilitation will provide treatment options for patients with more severe debilitation as a result of stroke.

Whitall concludes by saying, “Physical therapists are more than clinicians, and physical therapy is more than exercise—it is rehabilitation with a rationale. There is an emphasis on science.”

The department of physical therapy and rehabilitation science mission is to advance and advocate societal health by optimizing human performance and wellness through education, research and service. Graduates have gone on to become higher educators, researchers, licensed physical therapists and entrepreneurs. The department is ranked 16th out of 203 physical therapy programs in the nation by US News and World Report.