Miami PT Boasts Four Board-Certified Sports Clinical Specialists
The University of Miami athletics department is committed to providing a culture of well-being for student-athletes. Health and wellness are part of that culture and UM’s student-athletes are under the care of one of the top athletics physical therapy teams in the Power 5 conferences.
Miami is one of four Power 5 schools with four physical therapists working in athletics, joined by Cal-Berkeley, Stanford and Duke. Senior Associate AD for Performance, Health and Wellness Luis Feigenbaum leads the team that also includes Julia Rapicavoli, Julian Rivera, and Jeff Ruiz.
Rapicavoli, Rivera and Ruiz recently became Board-Certified Sports Clinical Specialists. The specialist certification program was established to provide formal recognition for physical therapists with advanced clinical knowledge, experience, and skills in a special area of practice and to assist consumers and the health care community in identifying these physical therapists. As of June 2019, there are only 2,411 Board-Certified Sports Clinical Specialists nationally.
“Our student-athletes, coaches, and staff can have the confidence in the delivery of highly trained and specialized care in our athletics department,” Feigenbaum said. “With the backing of our Athletic Training and UHealth Sports Medicine colleagues, we have been able to grow a first-class rehabilitative practice, which is second-to-none.”
Specialization is the process by which a physical therapist builds on a broad base of professional education and practice to develop a greater depth of knowledge and skills related to a particular area of practice. Clinical specialization in physical therapy responds to a specific area of patient need and requires knowledge, skill, and experience exceeding that of the physical therapist at entry to the profession and unique to the specialized area of practice.
Ruiz is one of four, dual Board-Certified Clinical Specialists practicing in a Power 5 school. Feigenbaum, Rapicavoli and Rivera are three of the fewer than 20 dual-credentialed (PT, ATC) Board-Certified Clinical Specialists in the Power 5 conferences.
Rapicavoli, PT, ATC, LAT, SCS, is a dual-credentialed physical therapist and athletic trainer. Her role in athletics is as an Assistant Athletic Trainer for Women’s Tennis and as a physical therapist for several of our Olympic Sports. Rapicavoli was in the inaugural cohort of the University of Miami Sports Physical Therapy Residency Program, which she graduated from in July 2018. She earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy from Northwestern University in 2015. Julia graduated from Miami in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training. Rapicavoli is core faculty for the University of Miami Sports Physical Therapy Residency Program and a teaching assistant in Human Gross Anatomy for the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at the University.
Rivera, PT, ATC, LAT, SCS, CSCS, is also a dual-credentialed physical therapist and athletic trainer. Like Rapicavoli, Rivera was in the inaugural cohort of the University of Miami Sports Physical Therapy Residency Program, which he graduated from in July 2018. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training (2013) and his Doctor of Physical Therapy (2015) from Ithaca College. Rivera is also core faculty for the University of Miami Sports Physical Therapy Residency Program and primarily works with our baseball program.
Ruiz, PT, SCS, OCS, CSCS, USAW-L1, is now a double Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Sports (SCS) and Orthopaedics (OCS). He completed the University of Miami Orthopaedic Residency program in 2016 and successfully completed his Orthopaedic boards in 2018, after earning his Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) in 2015, also at the University of Miami. Ruiz is also the Associate Director for the University of Miami Sports Physical Therapy Residency Program and faculty with the Orthopaedic Residency. Ruiz primarily works with our football and Olympic sports programs.
Rapicavoli, Rivera and Ruiz are all products of residency programs at the University of Miami, with Rapicavoli and Rivera working under Feigenbaum in the Sports Physical Therapy program.
The purpose of a residency in Sports Physical Therapy is to provide the physical therapist with an opportunity to develop advanced competencies in sports. This includes the development of a theoretical rationale for evaluation and treatment skills as well as the attainment of clinical reasoning processes necessary to prevent, treat and rehabilitate injuries in an active population. The sports physical therapy residency program provides the resident with clinical experience under the mentorship of a recognized clinical expert.
“The University of Miami’s Sports Physical Therapy Residency Program, only in its third year, has been blessed to have the highest-quality mentors, faculty, and residents,” Feigenbaum said. “In our short time, we have delivered top-notch care for our student-athletes and have made an impact at the international, national, and University levels.”
Ruiz, Rapicavoli and Rivera will be recognized at the Opening Ceremony of APTA Combined Sections Meeting in February 2020. Feigenbaum, PT, DPT, ATC, LAT, SCS, CSCS will also be recognized for his successful re-certification as a Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Sports (SCS). He also serves as the Program Director for the University of Miami Sports Physical Therapy Residency Program.
