Ann Putnam Kaleckas was born in Chicago. She was awarded a bachelor's degree in physical therapy from Northwestern University in 1982 and a master's in health science from the University of Indianapolis in 1990. Mrs. Kaleckas pursued her passion and worked as a physical therapist at Gottlieb Hospital, Baxter Healthcare, and a Naperville clinic before co-founding DuPage Physical Therapy in 1996. Her practice in orthopedic and spine rehabilitation brought her much pride.
Devoted to her family, friends, coworkers, patients, and community, Mrs. Kaleckas's generous and kind spirit enabled her to help improve the lives of countless individuals. Her dedication to her practice allowed her to freely open her heart to others and give of herself in significant ways. She is remembered as one that went the extra mile in all her endeavors. After a challenging battle, Mrs. Kaleckas succumbed to multiple myeloma in 2004. Upon her passing, her husband, Mr. Rich Kaleckas, along with many family and friends, chose to memorialize her life within the Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences. This year marks the inaugural Ann Putnam Kaleckas Lecture in the Department. The Feinberg School of Medicine is grateful to those who have helped make this extraordinary commitment to honor Mrs. Kaleckas's legacy of giving. Dr. Sahrmann is a professor of physical therapy and neurology at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis Missouri. She received her doctorate in neurobiology from Washington University School of Medicine. She is a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association and is a recipient of the Association's Lucy Blair Service Award and teh Marian Williams Research Award. She has served on the APTA's Board of Directors, many committees, task forces, and as President of the Missouri Physical Therapy Association. Several dilemmas have confronted the profession as we have sought to define our body of knowledge and our role in health care. As suggested by the name, physical therapy has its roots in providing treatment for individuals with a lesion in a system of the body, resulting in a focus on rehabilitation or restoration of function of both body segments and of the whole body in performance of activities. Yet there is growing recognition that the profession should have an active role in guiding the health of individuals without frank lesions. These dilemmas stem from a question debated for many years. What is our body of knowledge and what is our relationship to other medical professions? During the 1970’s and 80’s the primary focus was the patient with central nervous system dysfunction. The research that most physical therapists pursued was directed at the aberrations in motor behavior in patients with central nervous system dysfunction or in the mechanisms of the nervous system. The debate about what constituted the defining body of knowledge of physical therapy finally resulted in identifying movement as the focus of both the practice and the science of the profession. A publication in 1987 related movement science to the rehabilitation of individuals with central nervous system lesions. Now 20 years later there is ample evidence that movement science is just as important to conditions of the musculoskeletal, cardiopulmonary, and metabolic systems as to the nervous system. Furthermore, what has not been addressed is the important role the physical therapist should have in guiding the optimal generation of tissues as well as minimizing the effects of degeneration and lesions of body systems. This role grows out of the fact that MOVEMENT IS A SYSTEM of the body similar to the metabolic system or endocrine system. Such a role calls for a paradigm shift from practitioners with a short time intense period of patient contact to a birth to death practitioner. In addition there should be an amalgamation in research and practice of considering all the components of the movement system to avoid an overfocus on just the nervous system or just the musculoskeletal system. A paradigm shift is in order for the delivery of services, for research, and for recognition that movement science covers all components of the movement system, musculoskeletal, neuromotor, cardiopulmonary, and metabolic. Musculoskeletal conditions have their roots in motor control and neuromotor lesions have major manifestations in musculoskeletal dysfunction. Physical therapy has a unique role in health care, because we can address the CAUSE of problems not just the manifestation and we can use movement as a treatment and not just as a form of diagnosis. As doctors of Physical Therapy we must move confidently and swiftly to define our expertise and practice patterns so that they parallel those of others with responsibility for the care of a system of the body. This lecture will discuss the reasons and directions for a paradigm shift and discuss the evidence to support the rationale. | 
