Faculty and Staff | Doctor of Physical Therapy

Dr. Wise has been a faculty member in the physical therapy program since 1992. Her primary areas of teaching include ethics, administration, psychosocial issues, and management of patients with multiple system involvement, with ethics being a primary area for research/scholarly activity. She has served as the program director since 2001. The various academic roles Dr. Wise has held helped cultivate her teaching philosophy. Courses she teaches integrate various media and assignments. Students are expected to be active learners through discussion and demonstration. Writing is a critical element in the profession; many of her assignments focus on professional writing whether it is in a patient's chart or a scholarly paper. Infusing humor and fun into class sessions is an important component of Dr. Wise's approach to learning. Dr. Wise has traveled extensively in Asia to learn more about physical therapy education and service provision. Dr. Wise is also dedicated to community service both locally and globally. She is a past member of a local charter school board and volunteered in Bhutan as a physical therapy educator and clinician in summer 2008. Current professional involvement includes Chair of the Ethics and Judicial Committee for the MN Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and member of the Diversity Task Force for the Academic Council of the APTA. She has presented on professional development of students at the 2010 and 2013 Combined Sections Meeting of the APTA. Upcoming publications include a monograph on ethical considerations for physical therapists involved with end of life care and a journal article on the oath for physical therapists.

Mr. Kittelson is an assistant professor in the DPT program. Current teaching responsibilities include PTH 5520 and 5521: Physical Therapy Examination and Evaluation I & II; PTH 6540: Musculoskeletal Management; PTH 6912 and 6913: Patient Client Management III and IV. Scholarly activity has included  investigation of student development of professional behaviors in DPT education. Areas of interest include: lower extremity biomechanics, manual therapy techniques including manipulation, shoulder rehabilitation and spinal therapy with emphasis on the pelvic girdle.

Mr. Kittelson  is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists (AAOMPT) and an orthopaedic section member of the APTA. He is an orthopedic certified specialist (OCS) as certified by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties.

Prior clinical experiences include: outpatient orthopedics and neurological, home health care, inpatient/acute care, skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehabilitation, and industry in South Dakota. Current clinical practice is in outpatient orthopaedics at Essentia Fitness and Therapy Center in the Essentia Health System in Duluth, MN. 

M.A., Physical Therapy - The College of St. Scholastica, 2001

Dalerie is new to the physical therapy program with a full time appointment in 2010. She provides students with a fresh clinical perspective from her practice in both acute care and outpatient physical therapy services. She currently practices at Essentia Polinsky providing vestibular rehabilitation in the balance and dizziness clinic.

Areas of clinical expertise include vestibular rehabilitation and integration of Pilates based exercise with rehabilitation. She completed competency based training in vestibular rehabilitation through APTA sponsored coursework at Emory University. Additionally, Ms. Lieberz has completed over 100 hours of training in Pilates exercise methods including completion of Stott mat and reformer coursework. Ms. Lieberz is an active member of the APTA and recognized as a Geriatric Clinical Specialist (GCS).

Her primary teaching responsibilities within the DPT program are coordinating the four course Patient Client Management Series (PCM I-IV). The PCM series is offered across the 1st and 2nd years of the DPT program, emphasizing integration of didactic course work and application of clinical skills to patients, which provides students with opportunities to develop competency prior to clinical internships. Dalerie is also the assistant clinical education coordinator, managing clinical internships for DPT students. Other teaching responsibilities include content in Physical Therapy Interventions I, Multiple Systems Evaluation and Management, and Neuroscience.

Dr. Marden-Lokken, an experienced clinician and academician, is an assistant professor in the DPT program. Her teaching responsibilities include PTH 5405 Professionalism in Physical Therapy, PTH 5513 Lifespan Motor Development, PTH 5910 and 6911 Patient/Client Management I and II, PTH 6545 and 6546 Neuromuscular Evaluation and Management I and II, PTH 5410 PT Administration I, and content in PTH 5521 Physical Therapy Examination and Evaluation II. She is co-lead for the program’s four-course series on professional behavior development. Dr. Marden-Lokken’s scholarly agenda focuses on questions related to rehabilitation of individuals with neuromuscular dysfunction, and more recently on assessment of students’ development of professional behaviors.

Dr. Marden-Lokken has served the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) on a state and national level, having been on the MNAPTA Board of Directors, a MN delegate to the APTA House of Delegates (HOD), chief delegate to the APTA HOD, and most recently is Vice-President of the MN Board of Physical Therapy. In that capacity, Dr. Marden-Lokken has served as a delegate and alternate delegate to the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSPBT), is a member of the Licensure and Administration Committees, and Chair of the Continuing Education Committee and Continued Competency Task Force. 

Ms. Marden-Lokken has 37 years of experience focusing on neurorehabilitation. She has presented numerous workshops on topics related to evaluation and treatment of individuals with neurologic dysfunction and practices in neurorehabilitation areas.

Teaching responsibilities:  Neuroscience, Functional Anatomy, Biomechanics, Patient Client management I, II, III, and Critical Inquiry III.
Research interests:  Neurophysiology of eye movement, head movement and balance control.

Dr. Jena Ogston received her Master s of Physical Therapy degree from Mayo Medical Center s School of Health Related Sciences in 1996.  She then worked as a clinician in a sports medicine setting for 7 years prior to accepting a full-time position in the College of St. Scholastica s Physical Therapy program in 2002.  She completed her PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Minnesota with a focus in shoulder biomechanics and quantitative research methods.  Her focus of teaching within the program is in Biomechanics, Interventions, Musculoskeletal and Critical Inquiry consistently incorporating active learning and open-discussion methods.   She is currently practicing clinically through the campus student health service.  Off-campus, Jena is active in the MN APTA presenting occasionally at state conferences and serving as a member on the Research Committee.  In 2007, Jena was inducted into the Academy of Advanced Item Writers through the FSBPT (Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy).

An experienced academician, Ms Sheehan is an assistant professor in the entry-level DPT program.  She served as curriculum coordinator for the program and is currently designated as the chair of the DPT Admissions Committee.  Teaching responsibilities include PTH 5100 and PTH 6102: Professional Development I & III; PTH 5520: Physical Therapy Examination and Evaluation I; PTH 6567: Lifespan Applications I-Pediatrics; and pediatric content in PTH 5513: Lifespan Motor Development and PTH 6518: Systems Screening and Management II.  She is a course coordinator and lead faculty for the program’s four-course series on professional behavior development.  The focus of her scholarly activity is on research in the area of pediatric physical therapy regarding effects of strength training programs on skill acquisition, as well as investigation of topics relating to student development of professional behaviors in DPT education.

Ms Sheehan is an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) on a state and national level. She is a past director on the MN APTA Board of Directors, and a MN APTA peer reviewer.  She is serving a four year appointment as a commissioner and current PTA Panel Chair on the APTA Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). Previously, she was a CAPTE on-site visit team leader for Physical Therapist Assistant programs on a national level.  She is a member of the APTA Section on Pediatrics and completed work on a task force charged with developing recommended pediatric curriculum content in DPT education.

Ms Sheehan is an ABPTS pediatric certified specialist in physical therapy and has practiced in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Washington states.   
 

Ms. Spangler has a Bachelor's degree in Psychobiology and a Masters degree in Physical Therapy.  She has extensive clinical experience in multiple areas, having worked in a number of different clinical settings including out patient therapy, in patient  rehabilitation, and as a travelling therapist. Her main area of teaching and of clinical expertise is in neurological rehabilitation, with a special interest in the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury.

In the Department of Physical Therapy Ms. Spangler serves as the Director of Clinical Education.  In this roll she coordinates the integral and terminal internship experiences for the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, and over-sees the placement of students in clinical sites.  She follows the students while on internship and works with Clinical Instructors to evaluate the performance of the students on internship and their readiness for pressional clinical practice.  Ms. Spangler also teaches in the neurological evaluation and treatment series, and participates in the Patient Client Management series (a course series of progressive clinical application situations where students are evaluated on the application of didactic materials in simulated and controlled clinical conditions).

Ms. Spangler serves as the representative for the Physical Therapy Department in the development of the college's propiratary electronic medical record system.  She has helped to integrate the use of the system within the department and as an intradisciplinary teaching tool.  Beyond campus Lynda enjoys volunteering with Courage Duluth, a regional program supporting sports and recreation for people with disabilities.

Dr. Swanson joined the DPT faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2008. Her current teaching responsibilities include PTH  5521: Physical Therapy Examination and Evaluation  2; PTH 5530 and 5531: Interventions I and II; PTH 6482: Critical Inquiry III;  PTH 6518:Systems Screening & Management II; PTH 6540: Cardiopulmonary Evaluation & Management I; PTH 6911,6913: Patient Client Management II & IV. She is also a member of the adjunct faculty in the Department of Athletic Training. The focus of her research activities includes the investigation of clinical and biomechanical profiles of female athletes with and without patellofemoral pain, biomechanics of the lower extremity, functional assessment of ACL reconstructed knees, and force and pressure measurements and distribution patterns of LE during running. Areas of clinical interest include patellofemoral pain, pelvifemoral instability, biomechanical evaluation of the pelvis and lower extremity, shoulder rehabilitation, and Sports Medicine for the elite level athlete.

Dr. Swanson is an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), the Minnesota chapter of the APTA, and is a  member of the Sports and Research sections of the  APTA. She is also an active member of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA), the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers Association (GLATA), the Minnesota Athletic Trainers Association (MATA.).Her area of clinical expertise is in the areas of Sports Medicine and Orthopaedics. Prior clinical experiences include: clinical supervisor and clinical specialist at University Orthopaedics (University of Minnesota); clinical specialist at PDR-Midway, St. Paul, MN; Head Athletic Trainer at the University of Minnesota and Florida State University and has had athletic training experiences at the Division I College level as well as National, International and Olympic levels of competition.