Grant Burleson and his wife, Rachel Strom Burleson, aspire to become Certified Hand Therapists, both having graduated from Pfeiffer University’s Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (MSOT) program in 2023. It’s a daunting task.

They each need to have practiced as OTs for at least three years and logged a minimum of 4,000 hours treating patients with hand and upper extremity disorders. After that, they must pass a comprehensive exam. What’s more, the material they need to master for certification isn’t learned in formal classroom settings, but largely via on-the-job experience and by staying up to date with the latest research and treatment innovations.

Fortunately, one unusual resource for the Burlesons (and other OT alumni at Pfeiffer who want to become hand therapists) has emerged in the free assistance provided to them by one of their former professors at Pfeiffer, Dr. Marc Bartholdi, an Assistant OT Professor at Pfeiffer since 2021.

For about a year, Bartholdi, a Certified Hand Therapist since 2003, has been leading his former students through several online and in-person meetings of a “journal club.” He goes over the latest research in publications devoted to hand therapy. He also helps surmount challenges of the more difficult cases that the club’s participants are working on, and he reviews the latest treatment techniques. He acquaints or reacquaints the club’s participants with best practices.

“In a lot of clinics where these students work, they may be the only hand therapist on staff,” said Bartholdi, explaining why he formed the club. “So, they really don’t have a lot of mentorship out there to help them through some of these cases. I have become a resource for them.”

Grant Burleson said he has found the sessions “very beneficial.”

“If we have difficulty treating a patient, are stuck somewhere, or we want some help, it’s good to bounce ideas off of each other as fellow clinicians to be able to help treat patients. It’s also good to study analysis tools like risk kinematics or less commonly treated elbow structures, or to consider how the body works here or how I can help this person there.”

Bartholdi described a myriad of topics covered in the club sessions. Recently, for example, he illuminated different “provocative testing techniques and strengthening and treatment techniques revolving around the wrist and injuries associated with the wrist.” He’s also having his group explore “how we can use casting to improve mobility and function with (patients’) hands.” He’s planning to share ways to discern the source of pain and injury in undiagnosed conditions in the upper extremities, which he learned about at a recent conference.

Word about the club has gotten around — to the point where grads from other OT programs have begun joining it as well.

Bartholdi said the kind of mentorship he’s offering through the club “doesn’t traditionally happen” with professors at other programs, and Rachel Burleson praised her former professor for making it happen.

“It just shows his character and how much he really does care for his students,” she said. “A lot of professors could easily just let us graduate, let us go on our way, but you can tell he honestly cares about his students and wants them to be successful.”