Dr. Michael Voight, Professor of Physical Therapy at Belmont University, has been selected as a 2011 Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), the most prestigious recognition granted by the organization. Voight was officially bestowed the honor at a ceremony in National Harbor, Maryland on June 9 as part of the association’s annual conference.
Fewer than 150 of the association’s 77,000 members serve as Worthingham fellows. The fellowship recognizes those who have made lasting and significant advances in the science, education and practice of the profession of physical therapy, sustained over a period of at least 15 years. It honors practitioners who have attained the highest level of professional excellence and impact in terms of advancing the profession.
The fellowship is named for Catherine Worthingham, who served on the APTA’s board intermittently from 1932 to 1965, was APTA president from 1940 to ’44, and was the first physical therapist to earn a doctoral degree. Worthingham passed away in 1997.
“Dr. Voight’s election as a Catherine Worthingham Fellow speaks volumes about the recognized contributions that he has made as an expert clinician, and nationally and internationally recognized educator,” said Associate Dean of the School of Physical Therapy, Dr. John Halle. “Belmont University is fortunate to have faculty with the talent and energy demonstrated by Dr. Voight. This is a high honor and it is well deserved.”
Voight has had a distinguished career as both an educator and clinical physical therapist for over 25 years. Throughout his career he has become one of the leading authorities in the rehabilitation of orthopedic and sports injuries and he has worked to advance the knowledge of others as a clinician and educator.
Voight has worked or consulted with a number of professional sports organizations, including the Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL), the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and various teams in Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Soccer (MLS). Early in his career he became active within the United States Olympic Committee’s Sports Medicine Division. He has worked at the Olympic Training Center, Olympic Festivals, Pan Am Games, Olympic Games and has had the opportunity to travel to almost all continents with both Olympic and national teams. Most recently, Voight has worked with the Medical Commission for FIFA (the International governing body for soccer) and the Professional Golf Association (PGA). His role with the advisory board of the Titleist Performance Institute allows him to consult on the prevention, evaluation and treatment of golf injuries with many noted golf professionals.
In addition to academic and clinical practice, Voight has also been extremely active within the field of sports physical therapy. Throughout his career, Voight has been appointed to a variety of committees and has served four elected terms on the executive board of the Sports Physical Therapy Section (SPTS) of APTA. In his last elected position, he served as president of the SPTS. In 1997, he was presented the SPTS distinguished service award for his dedication to service. In 2008, he was presented the President’s award for his career of service to the SPTS and was also presented the prestigious Ron Peyton award for career achievement. In 2010, Voight was elected into the SPTS Hall of Fame for a lifetime of excellence in sports physical therapy.
Internationally, Voight was elected to the executive board of the International Federation of Sports Physiotherapy-WCPT in 2000 and in 2004 was re-elected to the IFSP executive board for a second term. He is also member of the National Athletic Training Association; the American College of Sports Medicine; the National Strength Coaches Association; the United States Olympic Sports Medicine Society; the International Federation of Sports Medicine; the International Society for Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery, and Orthopedic Sports Medicine; the European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy; and the prestigious American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine.
Dr. Voight has lectured extensively at various conferences, symposiums and congresses both nationally and internationally having given over 600 professional presentations on a variety of orthopedic and sports medicine topics. Voight is a principle reviewer for the prestigious American Journal of Sports Medicine and actively resides on the editorial boards of several different journals. He played an instrumental role in the development of the North American Journal of Sports Physical Therapy and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. He has authored over 70 papers, textbook chapters on various topics and three textbooks on functional exercise. In 1996, 2000, and 2009 he received the Distinguished Educator Award from the Sports Physical Therapy Section making him the only person to have received this award multiple times. Voight was honored again in 2010, when he was presented the inaugural SPTS “Lifetime Excellence in Education” award.
Dr. Voight earned a DHSc from the University of St Augustine, certificate of proficiency in physical therapy from Hahnemann University, MEd from the University of Virginia and BS from Portland State University. In 1987, he became one of the nation’s first board certified clinical specialists in sports physical therapy, and in 1994 he received his board certification of advanced clinical competence in orthopedic physical therapy. This makes him one of only a few clinicians nationwide possessing the same advanced competency credentials.
