Faculty - Physical Therapy

Cheryl received her physical therapy education at Florida International University, Miami, Florida and recently completed a post-professional M.H.S. in Orthopedic Physical Therapy from the University of Indianapolis. She is certified as an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. She has practiced for over 17 years in the Bangor area and was a co-owner and co-founder of SPORT, Inc.; a private practice specializing in sports medicine and orthopedic therapy. Her areas of teaching are Physical Agents and Musculoskeletal courses.

As a member of the Admissions Committee for the Physical Therapy Program, I may be one of the first physical therapy faculty members to view your application file, especially if you are considering transferring into our program after completing a degree elsewhere. I believe what sets us apart from other programs are two major issues: the open door availability of faculty members for question clarification, and the emphasis on hands-on learning that begins with anatomy lab and extends through the curriculum to the beyond entry-level skills of advanced electives.

Cheryl Adams

Cheryl is establishing a research record in the area of examination of the psychometric properties of the Clinical Performance Instrument, an outcome tool used to assess physical therapist student performance while working with patients in the clinical environment. She is also currently interested in examining the use of physical agents in today's physical therapy practice.


Recent Publication
• Adams, C.L., Glavin, K., Hutchins, K., Lee, T., & Zimmermann, C. (Fall 2008). An evaluation of the internal reliability, construct validity, and predictive validity of the Physical Therapist Clinical Performance Instrument (PT CPI). Journal of Physical Therapy Education: 22(2), 42-50.
Recent Presentations
• Adams, C., Hollins, S., Dyer, J., & Young, G. Interrater reliability of the physical therapist clinical performance instrument. Presented at the APTA's Combined Sections Meeting, San Diego, CA, February, 2006.
• Adams, C., Hilt, J., Stinson, T., & Smalley, N. A reliability study of the physical therapist clinical performance instrument utilizing videotaped student performance. Presented at the APTA's Combined Sections Meeting, New Orleans, LA, February, 2005.
• Adams, C. An evaluation of the reliability and validity of the physical therapist clinical performance instrument. Presented at the APTA's National Clinical Education Conference, Philadelphia, PA, April, 2003.
• Adams, C. A Descriptive study evaluating the reliability and validity of the APTA clinical performance instrument. Presented at the APTA's Combined Sections Meeting,Boston, MA, February 2002.