Meet the Professor
Sue E. Curfman
PT, DHSc, OCS, MTC
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Associate Professor
Belmont University
School of Physical Therapy
College of Health Sciences
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Dr. Sue Curfman is an Physical Therapist, certified as an Orthopedic Certified Specialist through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. She earned her BS in PT from the University of Pittsburgh, a MS in Applied Anatomy and Physiology from Boston University, and her DHSc with an emphasis on manual therapy, anatomy and teaching from the University of St. Augustine, where she also received her certification as a manual therapist. Dr. Curfman has more than 30 years of teaching experience primarily in the areas of anatomy, kinesiology and orthopedics with PT, OT and PA students. She continues to practice clinically and has a special clinical interest in working with those with chronic pain, especially women who have orthopedic conditions and pain related to breast cancer. She has experience and passion for working overseas providing physical therapy services in developing countries such as Haiti, India, Guatemala, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. Her research interests focus primarily in the areas of teaching and learning, pain neuroscience education and physical therapy care of women with breast cancer.
Education
DHSc in Health Sciences
University of St. Augustine
Focus: Manual Orthopedic PT, Anatomy, Teaching/Learning
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MS in Applied Anatomy and Physiology
Boston University
BS in Physical Therapy
University of Pittsburgh
Certifications
ABPTS Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist
American Board of Physical Therapy Specialists
Certified Instructor Empowered Relief™
Stanford University
Certified in Principles of Chronic Pain Rehabilitation
Retrain Pain Foundation
Certified in Manual Therapy
University of St. Augustine
Certified in Trigger Point Dry Needling
KinetaCore
Certified FMS Professional, Level 1
Functional Movement Systems
Certified as a Provider of Augmented Soft Tissue Manipulation (ASTYM™)
Performance Dynamics
My Teaching Philosophy:
Teaching is about providing a safe environment that rewards risk and fosters curiosity to help students actively navigate vulnerability, mistakes and expectations in order to promote exploration and mastery of information and skills.
Teaching vs Learning
​I am foremost not a teacher but one who helps students learn. I don’t hold power over them, but I share my passion for the content and my love of the human body. I am not the sage on the stage but a fellow learner in the trenches learning more each day how to better reach students and connect with them in deeper ways.
Vulnerability is required for real learning
Learning is fundamentally a vulnerable proposition. When we touch the edge of not knowing vulnerability is inescapable. Hence, real learning is often uncomfortable. However, uncomfortable doesn’t mean unsafe. One of the chief aims of my teaching is to build a learning environment that embraces all contributions and questions, rewards risk-taking, and promotes the courage necessary to learn. Deeply caring for the students as people first forms the foundation upon which this environment is built.
Invest in the person and the content will become
I find that when students start believing in how much I care for them, they are more willing and able to wrestle in the messy process of learning and develop the confidence to be able to deeply learn difficult content. I sincerely and deeply care for the students who are entrusted to my care. Hence, my teaching is far less about being the gatekeeper of knowledge and far more about relationships and hope. Teaching is not merely setting high expectations of students and myself but instead about offering hope, confidence and a gentle invitation to learn. In my early years as an academician, I was more like an editor, usually looking for something to correct. Now I attempt to engage in a gracious, authentic, caring alliance with students, a process in which I can be attuned to their individual needs and work with them to support their best learning. I invest in my students, not because of the expectations I have set for them, but because I see in them the potential to learn and grow and impact the world in deeply meaningful ways. I feel like I can see in them things that they cannot see in themselves. That gives them confidence to risk and really learn. That fuels my tank!
Not knowing is normal
My classroom doesn’t come with an expectation that a student already understands something, but an invitation to be open, curious, and wrestle with new ideas and information. The goal is to move students beyond memorization to deep learning so that in the future they are able to impact patients in meaningful, transformative, and redemptive ways. Making the classroom about helping patients instead of classroom performance is a necessary shift in mindset. Failure is expected and once reframed is simply a mistake and, with that, an opportunity for reflection, self-examination, evaluation, and course correction. This is not to suggest this is an easy process. Thus, I believe learning is a messy, non-linear process that includes stumbling and righting oneself over and over.
Active learning is Paramount
My “lectures” are more like conversations with the students and less about strictly delivering content. This is evidenced by a peer’s comments after observing me in the classroom. “...you expanded upon in your lecture. I actually use the term “lecture” too loosely, as “guided instruction” more accurately captures your method: Your presentation was much more like a discussion with every student in the classroom.” I endeavor to engage with the students during class more than I talk at them. Also, during most class interactions, I rarely dialogue with students longer than 15-20 minutes without employing an active learning strategy. I believe that unless students are given the opportunity to actively engage with new information, learning is superficial and usually will only “live” until the next assessment.
A Teacher is a Tree...
Provides shade
Provides a way to see into the distance
Provides safety
Produces fruit/food in season
Provides fuel
Responds differently in different seasons
Grows best when pruned
Provides a growth guide
Continually grows
Dies when it rots from the inside
Is healthiest with deep roots
Needs water and nutrition
Responds to the surrounding environment
Provide seeds that will grow if given sunlight
Can tolerate wind and storms if sturdy
Weathers different seasons
Searches for the sun
Grows in community
Steadies the soil in which it is planted
Provides coolness
Provides a launchpad
Enriches the environment
Provide a buffer to harsh weather
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Sue Curfman 2001