Dolan named state ambassador to national physical therapy association
Angela Dolan, a first-year student in Hanover’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, has been selected Indiana’s core ambassador for the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). The APTA is a U.S-based, individual membership professional organization that represents more than 100,000 physical therapists, assistants and students.
“This position will allow Angela to drive advocacy and awareness of the physical therapy profession in the state of Indiana,” said David Boyce, Hanover’s director of student affairs and clinical professor of physical therapy. “She puts our new DPT program front and center at a state and national level.”
APTA’s core ambassadors are responsible for implementing strategies and initiatives to promote student engagement, enhance student experience, create awareness of advocacy efforts at the state and national levels, and provide opportunities to increase student involvement within the organization. Ambassadors are appointed following a competitive selection process.
“Being selected for this position is an honor and I am so excited to be able to represent Indiana and Hanover at a national level,” said Dolan, a Nashville, Tenn., native. “As students, it seems like we don’t have much of a voice in policy for the profession, but that is just not true. Now, more than ever, it is important for us to have our voice as physical therapy students and as hybrid students out there, too.”
Dolan previously earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and a master’s degree in kinesiology at Western Kentucky University. Following her Hanover DPT graduation, she plans to integrate her physical therapy practice with a Taekwondo school for individuals with neurological conditions, such as Down syndrome and autism.
“Angela is a symbol of how the Hanover DPT program recognizes service as a pillar of our program,” added Boyce. “She will be ‘tip of the arrow’ regarding important issues shaping our profession today and in the future.”
