College of Health Sciences Award Recipients
Professional Achievement Award
Dr. Paul F. Reuteman, PT '91
La Crosse, Wis.
Since grade school, Paul has known his calling was to teach. But rather than instructing a classroom from behind a desk, he found parallels between his love of education and his passion for physical therapy.
As a clinical professor in the Physical Therapy Program at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, Paul enjoys the unique opportunity to witness the development of physical therapy students throughout their time in the program.
“I teach a course each semester they are on campus, including the introductory course during their first semester and the advanced courses in orthopedics during their last two semesters,” he says. “Throughout this process, I get to see how the students progress in their professional behavior and their clinical thought processes. It gives me a lot of joy to see that development and then to see them excel in clinical practice after they graduate.”
He says he uses a lot of the things he learned at Marquette when instructing his students.
“In the physical therapy program at Marquette, I really got to know the entire faculty,” he says. “They had such an impact on my life and my professional career.”
Other than his work at UW–La Crosse, Paul continues to practice physical therapy and is also working with a clinical colleague to extend educational opportunities beyond the classroom. The pair has developed a residency curriculum for practicing orthopedic physical therapists that combines online and on-site educational elements.
