Trinidadian-American, Dr. Ron Peterson Receives Lifetime Achievement Award For Brain Injury Treatment
WEST PALM BEACH – The 3rd annual Santa Clara Valley Brain Injury Conference: Building on the Legacy of Coma to Community, was held on February 28 – March 2, 2013 at the historic Dolce Hayes Mansion in San José, California.
The 2013 Awards Ceremony took place at the end of the first day of the main conference. This year, the lifetime achievement award was given to local Physical Therapist and Educator, Dr. Ron Peterson, Program Director of the Physical Therapist Assisting Program at South University, Royal Palm Beach, Florida. Requests for nominations went out nationally to more than 50,000 individuals and the nominations were rated by a panel of four individuals, representing clinical, community, and research interests.
In introducing Dr. Peterson, Dr. Jeffrey Englander, MD, for whom the Lifetime Achievement Award is named, informed the attendees that Dr. Peterson had over 40 years of experience as a physical therapist. He treated brain-injured patients in England, Belfast, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Louisiana and Florida. As an officer in the British Army, Dr. Peterson had the opportunity to impact the lives of an international patient population, adding to the body of learning and expertise of neurological impairments. The award went to an individual who had a national impact on the treatment and management of brain injuries.
In accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award, Dr. Ron Peterson confessed that he was both honored and humbled to be chosen from among such a distinguished lineup of eminent nominees. He reflected upon his past experiences with brain-injured patients, both civilian and military, while working at the Joint Services Medical Rehabilitation Unit at Chessington in England, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and at the Neurological Rehabilitation Department at King’s College Hospital, London. He had the privilege of working with two of the world’s leading luminaries in Neurological Rehabilitation and in Physical Rehabilitation Medicine while living in London – Dr. Bertha Bobath and Dr. James Cyriax.
As the Program Director of the Physical Therapist Assisting program at South University in West Palm Beach, Florida, Dr. Peterson mentioned that he has the opportunity to impress upon his students the importance of neurological rehabilitation and, in particular, the value of working with the brain-injured population. Peterson is certified in the Neurologic Developmental Treatment of Adult Hemiplegia, in Manual Therapy and other areas in Physical Therapy. As an educator, he is a former Principal of the School of Physical Therapy at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. He has a doctorate in Physical Therapy from Boston University and is a Board Certified Geriatric Clinical Specialist.
This conference is the updated continuation of the Coma to Community Conference hosted by Santa Clara Valley Medical Center from 1977 through 1995. The conference had an audience of over 500 rehabilitation professionals representing a variety of researchers and disciplines as well as individuals with brain injuries, family members, and caregivers. The 2013 conference was endorsed by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, the Brain Injury Association of America, and the International Brain Injury Association.
Continuing with his professional activities, Dr. Peterson attended an Item Writing Workshop in Alexandria, Virginia, last weekend, at the offices of the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy. He is now an item writer for the National Physical Therapy Examinations (NPTE).
