APTA Academy retention event Sept 23

The APTA Academy of Education has put two September events in front of physical therapy educators: a Sept. 23 virtual program on retention in doctor of physical therapy programs and a Sept. 8 residency journal club tied to continuing education credit. The retention event is listed as a combined program with the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy’s Admissions and Retention Task Force, while the journal club is hosted through the academy’s Residency/Fellowship Education Special Interest Group. Both items are aimed at people working inside the education pipeline rather than prospective students. The academy’s events page places the Sept. 23 session in its webinar lineup, and the journal club page describes a live, interactive discussion for residency and fellowship educators and clinicians. ### What exactly is happening on Sept. 23? Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, is the date listed for the “Admissions Network combined event with the ACAPT Admissions and Retention Task Force.” The academy’s event page says the virtual session runs from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (aptaeducation.org) EDT and requires RSVP registration. (aptaeducation.org) ACAPT is the academy’s named partner on that event. ACAPT says it supports academic institutions in physical therapist education and maintains resources for DPT programs, which places the Sept. 23 session squarely in the policy-and-operations side of PT education rather than in consumer-facing recruitment. ### Why is retention, not admissions alone, the focus here? The event listing names ACAPT’s “Admissions and Retention Task Force,” signaling that schools are treating student persistence as part of the same workflow as recruitment. (aptaeducation.org) The academy’s posting does not publish a detailed agenda in the search excerpt, but the pairing of an Admissions Network event with a retention task force indicates the discussion is meant for program leaders working on enrollment and student continuation together. (acapt.org) The academy’s broader calendar shows a steady emphasis on faculty development and PT education operations. Its fall and spring webinar series, faculty workshops and Education Leadership Conference are all framed as professional-development offerings for educators. ### What is the separate journal club the academy opened for registration? Sept. 8, 2026, is the date listed for the Residency/Fellowship Education Special Interest Group journal club. (aptaeducation.org) The academy’s journal club page says the session is live and interactive and centers on research linking residents’ personality traits with live patient exam scores and clinical productivity in a physical therapy residency. (aptaeducation.org) The same academy section says the RFESIG has journal club sessions scheduled for Sept. 8 and Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. The APTA Learning Center listing identifies the product as an Academy of Education RFESIG journal club, confirming it sits inside the organization’s continuing education system. ### Who is this built for inside PT education? (aptaeducation.org) The journal club description points to residency faculty and clinicians by focusing on residency performance, productivity and educational best practices. The retention event, by contrast, is built around the Admissions Network and ACAPT’s task force structure, which suggests an audience of program directors, admissions leaders and faculty involved in student support. (learningcenter.apta.org) APTA’s continuing-competence framework also helps explain the journal club’s CEU angle. APTA defines continuing competence as the ongoing use of current knowledge and abilities tied to professional roles, and its Learning Center is the main distribution channel for those offerings. ### Where do these events fit in the larger PT education calendar? (aptaeducation.org) The academy’s events page places both items inside a larger 2026-27 schedule that includes the Education Leadership Conference in October and the Combined Sections Meeting in February 2027. That makes the September programs look like targeted, online touchpoints ahead of larger in-person education meetings. (apta.org) Sept. 23 remains the next dated milestone tied to the retention discussion, and the academy’s event page says registration is handled through its RSVP listing. The RFESIG journal club is scheduled earlier, on Sept. 8, with registration routed through the academy’s learning and events system. (aptaeducation.org 1) (aptaeducation.org 2)