Get up, out and on the move: YSU PT launches "Walk with a Doc" program
Youngstown State University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program launches “Walk with a Doc” at Southern Park Mall this month to help encourage healthy physical activity in people of all ages across the region.
The free program, funded by a grant from Area Health Education Center, begins 9 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, at the mall’s center concourse in Boardman and will continue the last Thursday of the month at 9 a.m. for the remainder of 2018. A doctor will be on hand to provide a brief educational session on a relevant health topic and then will lead the group on a walk at each participant’s own pace.
“We are thrilled to offer the ‘Walk with a Doc’ program here in the Mahoning Valley,” said Cara A. Berg-Carramusa, instructor and director of Clinical Education in the Department of Physical Therapy at YSU. “This program is all about improving the health and well-being of the region by getting people up, out and on the move.”
Each session will also include light refreshments, blood pressure and heart rate checks, and the opportunity to talk with students in the YSU DPT program about embracing an active and healthy lifestyle.
“Walking is one of the simplest activities that anyone of any age can do to help maintain their physical and their mental health,” Berg-Carramusa said. “We’re hopeful that this program will help reverse the dire consequences that come with a sedentary lifestyle.”
The program is free. For more information, contact Berg-Carramusa at cacarramusa@ysu.edu, 330-941-1963 or 412-417-8598.
“Walk with a Doc” was started in 2005 by David Sabgir, a cardiologist in Columbus. Today, the program includes more than 320 chapters in 46 states and 16 countries with more than 100,000 walkers. Walks are held regularly across the world, from Homer, Alaska, and Savannah, Ga., to Lucca, Italy, and Geelong, Australia.
YSU’s DPT is the world’s first Doctor of Physical Therapy program to launch the “Walk with a Doc” model.
Sessions will be 9 a.m. at the Southern Park Mall, 7401 Market St., Youngstown, on the following Thursdays:
- January 25, 2018
- February 22, 2018*
- March 29, 2018
- April 26, 2018
- May 31, 2018
- June 28, 2018
- July 26, 2018*
- August 30, 2018
- September 27, 2018
- October 25, 2018
- November 29, 2018
- December 27, 2018
For more information on the “Walk with a Doc” program, including top 100 reasons to walk, visit https://walkwithadoc.org/join-a-walk/why-walk/.
The YSU DPT is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. One hundred percent of graduates pass the PT certification exam. Graduates have go on to work at healthcare facilities and providers across the nation, including Texas Physical Therapy Specialists, University Hospitals of Cleveland and Valleycare/Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital. For more information, visit /academics/bitonte-college-health-and-human-services/physical-therapy-dpt.