For as long as she can remember, Jenny Resetar, PT RESD ’19, has felt a calling to help children. Once she decided to pursue a career in physical therapy, working as a pediatric physical therapist gave her the opportunity to engage with kids while also helping them achieve some of their biggest milestones.
Resetar earned her Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2016. She worked for two years before pursuing the pediatric residency offered by the George Washington University (GW) and Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH). During her residency, Resetar worked full-time at JHH, participated in journal clubs and research projects, and collaborated with her mentors on complex cases. She also served as an adjunct faculty member for the GW DPT program in the Management of the Pediatric Client course. While it was a challenging year, Resetar states it was also an incredibly rewarding experience. “I came out of it with a deeper understanding of pediatric physical therapy, valuable clinical experience, and lifelong mentors,” she said.
“There are two aspects of the GW/JHH residency that set it apart from other residency programs: the focus on acute care and teaching. This residency is rooted in pediatric acute care and so the resident gains a lot of experience in all different areas of acute management at a top tier research hospital,” said Erin Wentzell, DPT, PCS, assistant clinical professor in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) Department of Health, Human Function and Rehabilitation Sciences (HHFRS) and Academic Director of the residency program.
“We focus on teaching the residents the principles of teaching and adult learning and allow them to develop materials, present, and teach in a variety of mechanisms as an adjunct professor,” Wentzell added.
Resetar completed her pediatric residency in 2019 and is currently practicing in Richmond, VA. She focuses on Early Intervention, a setting where home-based care is provided for infants and toddlers with developmental delays and disabilities. Resetar co-authored with Wentzell and Margaret Plack, EdD, DPT, professor in the GW SMHS Department of HHFRS, a chapter on pediatric physical therapy in the textbook, Introduction to Physical Therapy. She seized the opportunity to collaborate with Wentzell and Plack, and together they compiled complex information into a digestible chapter targeted at pre-DPT students.
When asked about the biggest impact GW has had on her career, Resetar noted the variety of learning opportunities she received, the increased confidence in her clinical reasoning skills, and the access to valuable mentorship. Additionally, the residency sparked her passion for teaching. “Because of the residency and connections at GW, I was able to get a position as an adjunct faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University’s DPT program,” she said. Resetar credits the GW residency with shaping her career as a clinician and teacher. “I hope to be a part of academia for the rest of my career, and I’m grateful GW gave me the start I needed.”