ATSU-ASHS students participate in first global Twitter conference
Posted: May 27, 2020
A.T. Still University-Arizona School of Health Sciences (ATSU-ASHS) physical therapy students presented in the first Global Student Physiotherapy Twitter Conference on May 1. There were almost 1,000 tweets from 182 participants, which had over 1.5 million impressions on Twitter.
This conference was designed from its inception to be delivered virtually, despite the current events unfolding with the coronavirus pandemic, which has left many conferences canceled, postponed, or adapted to a virtual setting. The virtual format allowed for 14 physiotherapy students from four continents to present their research through a series of 10 tweets each.
“This is a scientific conference designed with the intent to reduce the carbon footprint of traditional conferences and to increase accessibility of conferences and research to students, clinicians, and researchers around the world,” said Virginia Little, PhD, MS, assistant professor at ATSU-ASHS.
All research presented was developed by students and also peer-reviewed by students. ATSU-ASHS students Kevin Freeman, DPT, ’20; Andre Porterfield, DPT, ’20; and Curtis Winter, DPT, ’20, presented their work titled, “Feasibility and effects of whole-body drumming to music in people with Parkinson’s Disease: A case series.”
“We each have our own personal connection to Parkinson’s disease, so this was a way for us to become more involved in improving treatment options available to these individuals,” Freeman said.
This was the first opportunity that Freeman, Porterfield, and Winter have had to present research at a conference, though they hope to have more opportunities in the future.
“We were a bit surprised to hear we were selected to participate in a global conference. It was an honor to be selected to present our research to those interested on a global scale,” Freeman said.
The 10-tweet presentation is available on Twitter.