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Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy Podcast · Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy

ANPT Inspirational Conversation with Dr. Rupal Patel, PT, PhD

·56 min·3 clips
Dr. Patel chose a PhD over a transitional DPT because she wanted “more.”
Dr. Keith Ann Halley interviews Dr. Rupa Patel in an Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy Historical Archive Committee conversation recorded in October 2025. The episode opens with Patel's clinical and academic work in concussion and brain injury rehabilitation, vestibular rehabilitation, health promotion and wellness, and research on social and structural determinants of health. It starts in practice, then widens into the prevention work she did in elementary schools, community settings, and bike-safety education, where the aim was to lower the risk and severity of brain and spinal cord injury before it happened. That prevention mindset leads into her decision to pursue public health training so she could think more broadly about health behavior and health promotion. She describes the strain of finishing the doctorate while working full time and managing family life. The shift mattered: after the PhD, she began to see herself first as a health promoter and also as a physical therapist. The interview then connects that identity shift to her dissertation work on lifestyle modification in populations facing disparities, including Asian Indians and diabetes risk. The research stays grounded in practical outcomes. She also speaks about reducing risk factors for diabetes among at-risk populations, studying how social and structural determinants shape rehab outcomes, and examining the factors that influence health behaviors. The episode keeps returning to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion work. Patel describes her publications on a physical therapy social determinants of health scale, disparities in outcomes by race and ethnicity, and a model for teaching social determinants of health in DPT programs. Keith Ann Halley keeps the structure practical. Questions lead to layered answers that move from definition to mechanism to clinical implication and then to the real-world barriers or resources that follow. This is a clinician-facing conversation about prevention, equity, and the profession's wider responsibilities.

As heard by us

A neurologic PT interview that connects prevention, public health, and equity to rehabilitation.

The interview places neurologic physical therapy in a wider frame of health promotion, prevention, and public health. Dr. Patel moves from concussion and brain injury rehab into school outreach, bike-safety rodeos, helmet education, and public health training, then lands on a…

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Why you'd press play

If you want a neurologic PT interview that ties concussion and brain injury rehab to prevention, health promotion, and clinical responsibility.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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