Assistant Clinical Professor — Shana Carter

This week’s spotlight is on Shana Carter, PT, DPT, OCS, EdD, a non-clinical physical therapist who is now Assistant Clinical Professor for Auburn University’s DPT Program!

What is your full name, title, and company name for your current, primary role?

Shana Carter, PT, DPT, OCS, EdD — Assistant Clinical Professor for Auburn University’s DPT Program

What additional roles do you currently have?

Adjunct Professor for South College DPT Program.

Course Developer and Instructor for Summit Education and for Allied Health Education.

Where are you located?

Auburn, Alabama.

Where did you go to PT school, and what year did you graduate?

University of St. Augustine, December 2017.

What did you do when you first finished school, and for how long?

I worked as a traveling physical therapist for eight years and also opened my own orthopedic cash-based practice.

In what setting(s) did you work, and what types of patients did you treat?

As a traveler, I had the unique opportunity to work in all settings! I primarily completed travel contracts in rural and/or underserved areas.

I often worked in acute care and home health. I treated patients with a variety of conditions, including:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Traumatic injuries
• Infectious disease
• Orthopedic conditions
• Women’s health conditions

Due to the rural nature of many of my contracts, I also had the opportunity to work in several emergency departments as well!

What did you enjoy about your early roles? What didn’t you enjoy?

I enjoyed working with a very large, diverse patient population, which helped me grow my clinical knowledge base quickly.

I did not enjoy the stress levels that can be inherent to travel therapy due to the nature of searching for a new position every 90 days.

Travel therapy was an amazing experience, but travel also comes with its own unique set of challenges.

What else have you done since then, prior to your current role?

I started teaching continuing education in 2020, and I continue to teach with Allied Health Education and Summit Education now.

I thoroughly enjoy teaching continuing education and learning from the clinicians that take my courses!

I teach courses on various topics, including orthopedics, rural health, business and ergonomics.

When and why did you decide to do something non-clinical?

I actually knew before I went to PT school that I wanted to work as a traveling physical therapist and then transition to teaching at a DPT program. However, I can say that I did not fully understand what that path would entail.

What are you doing these days?

I currently serve as Assistant Clinical Professor for Auburn University’s DPT Program and as an adjunct professor at South College’s DPT Program. I am very excited to be involved in developing anatomy, biomechanics and orthopedics courses for Auburn University!

I also teach continuing education content that I develop each month for either Summit Education or Allied Health Education.

Are you still treating patients, or are you solely non-clinical?

I still treat patients weekly and plan to remain clinical for four to six hours per week. I am also currently completing my pelvic floor training, so I can work with rural and underserved communities who need access to these services.

What percentage of your time is spent clinically vs. non-clinically?

Currently, I am clinical for 5% of my week and non-clinical for 95% of my week.

How long have you been in your current assistant clinical professor role?

I have been in my current role with the Auburn University DPT program since January 1, 2025.

What do you wish you would’ve known before going into this role?

I have been very pleased in my transition to a non-clinical role.

One thing I did not realize, that has been a pleasant surprise, is how much upward growth potential there is in the academic world versus the limited growth potential I experienced in the clinical world.

Did you get any special certifications or training along the way to help you get into your current role?

In order to have a better chance of landing a DPT faculty role, I completed my Doctorate in Education through Southeastern University, as well as my board certification in orthopedics.

I also spent quite a bit of time on The Non-Clinical PT website reviewing all the content and learning lots of tips and tricks to make the transition to non-clinical!

How did you find your job? Did you apply or find it through a connection?

I joined HigherEd jobs and signed up for email updates anytime a position that matched my search criteria was posted. The position I currently hold was emailed to me via the job search I created on HigherEd jobs.

Did you do anything special to your resume and cover letter to land the job?

I hired a resume company to help me rebuild my resume and CV in order to target a faculty position with a DPT program. This same company also assisted me in developing a teaching philosophy statement as well.

What was the interview like for the assistant clinical professor role?

The interview process for Auburn University was quite lengthy. I completed the initial interview remotely via Zoom and then was invited to an onsite interview that was three days long.

During the onsite interview, I spoke with numerous faculty members in one-on-one and group interviews. I also developed and presented a presentation to the faculty and students.

When did you start your businesses?

I started my businesses in April 2018 and in May 2021.

Where did you get the idea for your business?

The first business, Emerald Coast Medical Housing, arose from the difficulty that I experienced in finding affordable housing while I was on contract in Destin, FL.

I wanted to offer affordable furnished housing to medical providers who were in the area on short-term contracts. The business then branched out to serve military and DOD contractors in the area, based on my husband’s military connections.

Home Safe Mobility Solutions arose from the need for people in my community to access physical therapy services in the home once their insurance had deemed that physical therapy was no longer “medically necessary.”

The patients treated by my company had deficits which continued to affect their daily lives and needs even though insurance had deemed their deficits not severe enough to require treatment.

How have people reacted to you leaving patient care?

The local clinics I worked with were sad to see me leave the clinical field but very excited for me to transition into a role that would allow me to assist the next wave of clinicians entering the field of physical therapy!

What’s a typical day or week in the life like for you? What types of tasks and responsibilities fill your time?

An average day for me may involve:

• Curriculum and admission meetings
• Putting together clinic equipment
• Interviewing potential DPT students
• Faculty meetings to discuss our lecture and classroom setup

I also spend quite a bit of time developing lectures and content for my courses and attending continuing education courses on anatomy, rural health and pelvic floor to ensure I keep up to date on current clinical practice standards.

What are some of the rewards of your role? What are the biggest challenges?

I work with an amazing, talented team, in both the School of Kinesiology and the Auburn DPT program. They make the days much more enjoyable as we all strive to build a gold standard DPT program.

The primary challenge I have experienced personally is learning to develop courses for an entire term, not just for a single continuing education presentation. Ensuring content is aligned and seamless across 27 lectures is very different from ensuring your content is aligned and seamless across 60 PowerPoint slides.

How did your clinical background prepare you for this role? Which skills transferred?

My clinical skills have proven very helpful in creating course content that not only checks the academic content boxes needed to pass boards but also ensures the content is clinically relevant and applicable in the clinical setting.

Ready to start your non-clinical career?

Roughly speaking, how are the hours and pay compared to patient care?

Compared to my role as a traveling physical therapist, my hours and pay have remained roughly the same.

The one main difference is that, when traveling, you are taxed at a considerably lower rate than when you work a permanent position. However, my benefits have improved dramatically since making the transition to academia!

What type of person do you think would do well in your assistant clinical professor role?

In order to succeed in my specific position, you would need to be able to work well independently and manage multiple deadlines with minimal direction and oversight.

I thrive in this kind of setting, but I can see how this position would be challenging if you prefer a lot of guidance on how to develop course content or what tasks to complete daily.

Do you work remotely or onsite?

My position is fully onsite.

Does your organization hire PT, OT, or SLP professionals into non-clinical roles? If so, what type of roles?

We currently hire DPT faculty into adjunct, core faculty and tenure-track roles.

Did you read any books, take any courses, or do anything special overall to get you where you are today?

I have read on several online sites that you can attain a faculty position without a terminal doctorate or board certification. However, in my specific case, I did not find that to be accurate.

The core faculty roles in DPT programs are highly competitive, so to ensure I could land my ideal position, I completed my EdD and OCS.

One additional thing I learned while navigating this process is: If you are looking to transition to academia in a DPT program, you need to be involved in APTA and actively serving the profession.

I joined the Geriatric SIG in my state, volunteered to be a Key Contact with APTA and outcome measure reviewer. I also presented at several health fairs on falls prevention and offered Fall Risk Bingo courses at my local community centers.

What is a typical career path for someone in your assistant clinical professor role?

The typical career path for Assistant Clinical Professor is to be promoted to Associate Clinical Professor, followed by promotion to Clinical Professor. My position is not a tenure-track position.

What is next for you? What are your high-level career aspirations?

I truly believe that rural health and pelvic floor physical therapy are such underserved areas of our profession with such a huge need. So, our faculty members are working to develop Rural Health and Pelvic Floor Residencies for the Auburn DPT Program to ensure students recognize the need to serve in these high need areas of physical therapy.

What would you recommend to someone who is considering going into a role like yours? Do you have any special words of wisdom for the readers?

I would recommend completing your terminal doctorate, but not just any terminal doctorate. I would suggest making sure that you know how each type of terminal doctorate translates to the academic world. For example, there is a huge difference in the academic role of a professor with an EdD and a professor with a PhD.

Additionally, I would say to complete a board certification that aligns with your interests in academia. If you are interested in teaching anatomy and orthopedics, an OCS would align well with that board certification. If you are interested in teaching neurology and being involved in neurological research, completing your NCS board certification would more closely relate to that goal.

What would you like to change most in your profession, and why? How would you propose doing so?

There are several things I want to change in our profession. Most importantly, I want to decrease burnout in students and clinicians and improve job satisfaction for our profession.

What career advice would you give yourself that you wish you had during school?

The biggest piece of advice I would give myself is:

You have many options for settings, locations and experiences as a physical therapist. Do not feel like you have to determine the entire course of your career as soon as you graduate. You have time! Enjoy the experiences, and you will know when you find your perfect role.

What would you teach to today’s graduate students in your profession, if you had the opportunity?

I truly think that graduate students need to understand the business basics of entering the physical therapy profession. I would teach graduate students how to negotiate your salary and benefits as well as what questions to ask to ensure that the company’s productivity requirements are ethical and reasonable.

Do you have any special advice for others who want to follow in your footsteps?

I would recommend completing continuing education on entering the field of academia from the clinical side. The APTA has an education section that has several continuing education offerings.

I would also recommend working as a clinical instructor and being involved in teaching continuing education courses in your specialty area.