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IARP Texas Pays Attention to Grads’ Expectations and Nets Results

By IARP Headquarters posted 07-31-2014 12:26

  
THE WORD ON THE STREET
Building IARP’s Student Path
By Judith Iacuzzi

In the wide open spaces of Texas burns a hearty enthusiasm for private rehabilitation and IARP, especially in Dallas thanks to the dedication of one man in particular. Tom Selman has led the Texas chapter for 16 of the last 20 years and became a member of IARP in 1989 when its initials were NARPPS, which stood for the National Association of Rehabilitation Professionals in the Private Sector.
           
“In IARP I can talk to any member and learn what’s going on throughout the practice – life care planning, expert witness, case management, etc.,” said the flag-carrying member who began his 44+-year career as a professor of government and political science and has never taught rehabilitation courses per se. “Through IARP I am exposed to the breadth of the field, and I can keep up.”

Selman entered private rehab “through the back door.” A panelist with other psychologists discussing educational programing at community colleges very early in his career, Selman, who has earned advanced degrees in psychology and counseling and political science, was offered a job by a member of the audience who liked the teacher’s "common-sense approach." Selman accepted the offer and started down the private rehab path with Goodwill Industries, a leading international organization helping people with barriers find gainful employment. All the while he continued teaching so that for the vast majority of his professional life he held two careers, one as college professor, the other as private rehab consultant.
            
“I love the flexibility of the field,” said the enthusiast and entrepreneur. Today as the president and chief consultant of HRH Health & Rehabilitation in Dallas, he is more-or-less retired, doing some program development and accreditation work and considerable stoking of the IARP Texas fires. He is in the throes of planning another IARP Texas conference, which in two years has brought nearly 50 students into the ranks along with nearly 100 more professional members.
            
“Building the student membership through conferences that talk to their interests and expectations is my focus,” said Selman. “ I also enjoy making presentations to university classes in the field of rehabilitation.” Building an IARP mentorship program to expose recent grads to the value of private rehabilitation as a career is important but challenging, he added.
    
He notes the obstacles. “Many of today’s students aren’t joiners to begin with, and building mentorship programs has its challenges of geography that puts hundreds of miles between communities, practices and members; time constraints of busy practitioners; and creating viable matches between mentors and mentees.”
            
Not one to say no to a challenge, Selman aims to bring an additional 100 student members into IARP Texas next year as well as keep current members engaged. “The only way to do that is to provide programming and services that meet the needs of the students,” he said. Another primary goal is to foster at least 25 thriving mentoring relationships. Some universities will help in this effort, according to Selman, despite the fact that professors in the Texas system typically recommend a public rehab career path. This is changing, however, at several of the six Texas universities that provide rehabilitation education curricula.
    
At the University of North Texas (UNT) at least five professors have experience in private rehab, according to Selman, who adds that they have been very supportive of both the field and IARP, recommending membership to students.
    
Marvin Bellows is one of those students. The UNT graduate student who was influenced by his teachers to consider private rehab, Bellows’ interest in IARP came from an enthusiastic Selman who extolled the association at a class Bellows was taking. In fact, he was so inspired he assumed a leadership role quickly after joining.
    
“I find the IARP community engaging. Members have been approachable, and it’s easy to send messages through IARP Connect,” said the new member of IARP’s social media task force, a national position.
    
Also influenced by Selman in his career direction, Bellows said, “I chose private rehab because it seemed like a better fit for me. In private rehab I can devote as much time as needed to a case. I like that environment and the greater opportunities to work within the community. And (I enjoy) the entrepreneurial spirit that comes with private rehab and the opportunities to develop multiple areas of expertise.”
    
Bellows knows his mind and professional goals, indicating he’d eventually like to develop a “one-stop shopping experience” where customers can receive a full range of services in one location. “A family services concept where medical care and mental health and other services are provided in one place, only serving rehabilitative needs.”
    
Still in his first year of graduate school, Bellows was recruited by Quest Employment Services as a job placement and supported employment specialist. A professor was instrumental in helping the student secure the position. Bellows says he plans on completing the internship and moving into a full-time capacity with Quest after graduation in December 2015.
    
A development in IARP Bellows looks forward to is the coaching program. “There are other members I could reach out to, but I am waiting for a more developed program to make that happen.”
    
Another of the dedicated, hard-working, and experienced IARP Texas members, Evelyn Hartman of E. Hartman & Associates, Inc., is brimming with energy, enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit focused on private rehab and the company she owns. Like Selman, she came into the industry “through the back door,” starting work in a state agency and moving quickly into the private sector.
    
“The private sector welcomes innovation and efficiency and allows for a more entrepreneurial work experience,” said the tireless professional who started down the rehab educational path in her 30s as a mother of four young children. She has never looked back.
    
Hartman is another long-time supporter of IARP, joining when it was called the NARPPS and in its second year of existence. She was a charter member of IARP Texas (originally called TARPPS), and still today she finds the camaraderie of the group compelling.     “Making friends and enlarging my scope of knowledge, especially learning what is going on in the field nationally are great benefits.”
    
Like some newer initiates, Hartman finds the IARP list serve and Internet communication particularly helpful. “They remove the isolation of the career. They breed ideas and fellowship.
    
“There is an invaluable amount to know and experience within the collective body of IARP, not to mention options for employment. It’s a fairly small and elusive career that the general population doesn’t know about. IARP keeps us ahead of the curve.”
    
A neighbor of Hartman’s who admittedly is influenced by her enthusiasm and frank talk on the value of the private sector, John Camacho will graduate from UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas later this year, and hopes to land a post in the private sector.
    
“There is lots more going on, more opportunity for personal growth and flexibility in the private world versus public,” says the married father who is admittedly eager to earn a good wage.
    
“I learned about private rehab through Evelyn Hartman. She came to a continuing education class for workman comp adjusters, which I was doing at the time, and gave a passionate presentation.
    
“It was all new to me but I decided I wanted to go back to school and learn about the employers’ side of rehab, things like ergonomics and code issues. Now I ultimately hope to get into forensics.”
    
That Hartman’s influence was profound is an understatement. “Evelyn is my mentor,” admits Camacho. “I went up to her after her presentation and told her how she’d changed my mind and what did I have to do to work for her? She advised getting a master’s degree, and that’s what I did.”
Camacho will graduate in December.
    
Selman also pushed the IARP button for Camacho who became involved in IARP in his first year of grad school after attending an IARP Texas conference.
    
“Another attendee told me about his work, and that conversation sparked my interest in forensics. Also the diversity of the profession, all ages and walks of life and limitless opportunities are aspects I like.”
    
Camacho also appreciates the IARP communications tools and advanced knowledge base. He found recent questions about the job demands of a helicopter pilot, for example, interesting if unusual.
    
Whatever the questions and no matter the path, professional opportunities are growing for graduate members in Texas…with the help of IARP and some of its more committed and experienced professional members.

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