Sharon Kimble, PT, DPT, Highlights Her Career in Physical Therapy, Geriatrics, and Family Medicine
Sharon Kimble, PT, DPT, is a board-certified physical therapist with dual specialization in geriatrics and neurology—credentials held by fewer than 100 clinicians nationwide. She serves as director of the Geriatric Physical Therapy Residency at the University of Minnesota, a one-year postgraduate clinical training program for licensed physical therapists. She also teaches in the university's Doctor of Physical Therapy program, leading coursework focused on caring for older adults. Our interview discusses her path into physical therapy education, the value of dual clinical expertise, and the evolving relationship between physical therapy and family medicine.
What initially drew you into physical therapy and inspired your path into clinical care and teaching?
If we go back that far, my mother had very severe rheumatoid arthritis, and she had a physical therapist who let me watch and ask questions. I just thought it was cool that she could help my mom relearn how to walk after she had hip surgery. So that was the very beginning of it.
As for my recent transition, I was a full-time clinician until December 2022. The residency program has been here since 2010, and I have been involved as clinical faculty. When the previous director was getting ready to retire, she asked if I was interested in the position.
She knew I was because I had a habit of taking people out to dinner who were doing interesting jobs. About eight years ago I had taken her out to dinner and voiced my interest in her work. Years later, she remembered that and reached out to me.
Where do you see an overlap between your clinician and instructor work?
As an instructor, this job pays me to read the literature. As a clinician, you're paid to treat patients, not to read. And it's hard to go home after a long day and spend one or two hours looking things up. Not that we don't do that, but being in this role where I'm expected to stay current with literature benefits my clinical work, too.
The overlap lies in needing to stay on top of the most current literature so I can teach students about contemporary physical therapy practice. That puts new research right in front of me, and when I return to the clinic, I often think, "Oh, I just read an article that applies to this situation." It has made me a different clinician.
How have you integrated your dual specialties in geriatrics and neurology into your clinical and academic roles?
In the neurology world, there are people a lot smarter than I am doing amazing things, and that's not my path. But if you look at who has strokes, who has Parkinson's, who has ALS, it's older adults. So, bringing that older adult perspective into neurologic care has served me well.
The dual certification is from the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. They track the number of people who hold more than one certification, and there are only 97 people in the country with the same dual certification in geriatrics and neurology. It's a fairly unique specialization. I was first certified in 2004, then recertified in 2014, and again in 2025.
What does the process of maintaining your specialty certifications involve?
The initial certification is a 200-question exam. For recertification, you submit a portfolio of education classes you’ve taken and of what you've taught or written every three years, including a small case report about a patient. You do this in years three, six, and nine. Then, in year 10, you take a 100-question open-book exam.
It's not just about cramming for a test at the end. You're building a body of work and expertise throughout the decade, which better serves the profession because it keeps us all engaged and informed.
What advice would you offer to clinicians considering transitioning into academic or hybrid roles like yours?
I recommend getting your feet wet. For example, we hire clinicians as lab assistants, which helps people see what academic work looks like. The American Academy of Physical Therapy Educators offers continuing education classes, which can help.
Designing and running a class is a lot of work. When I started, I had no mentor or guide—just a syllabus from the previous year and instructions on what to teach. So, if someone's interested in this path, I'd say they need a mentor. There are a lot of parts to it, like writing exams and delivering lectures, and clinicians don't always know how to do that.
Also, being courageous enough to email someone and say, "I'm interested in your work. Can I take you to dinner?" served me well. I encourage people early in their careers to do that. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. A simple meal within your budget is enough to start a conversation. Most people will say yes.
What are some goals or accomplishments you're currently working toward?
The University of Minnesota's Geriatric Residency program's accreditation through the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education expires in September 2026. That's the top item on my list right now. There will be a site visit between March and May 2026, so I'm working on readiness for that daily between now and the end of the year.
I also want to leave the program better than I found it; it was already in good shape. I want to raise the bar on how we train residents and how they affect their patients. We're developing expert clinicians, and that's what matters most.
How do you envision the role of physical therapy evolving within family medicine in the coming years?
There are many opportunities for collaboration and education. Physical therapy can be a first-line approach to helping people live full, healthy lives. There's a lot of space for that within family medicine, but we haven't clearly defined it yet.
