Dr. Barbara Ritchie completed her Bachelor of Science degree in physical therapy at Indiana University in 1997. In 2015, she obtained her master’s degree in education from Argosy University. In 2022 she completed her doctorate in business administration (organizational leadership) from South University. Dr. Ritchie spent the first half of her career in Level I and II trauma centers working with ortho/neuro/trauma patients, where her passion for early mobilization of acute care patients developed. She spent five years as a Program Director and faculty member of the PTA program at Brown Mackie College in Fort Wayne, IN. Dr. Ritchie also has several years of experience in pediatrics, as well as acute care, home and outpatient settings. Dr. Ritchie is an APTA Advanced Credentialed Clinical Instructor and has developed and expanded clinical education sites and supervised many PT and PTA students over the course of her career. Areas of interest for future research include efficacy of physical therapy interventions in the pediatric population, early mobilization of the trauma patient and integration of APTA core values and standards in clinical practice and ethics and physical therapy.