Jeff Houck Leads School of Nursing's Upcoming Doctor of Physical Therapy Program

After joining the Navy at age 18 and achieving the rank of 2nd class petty officer as a quartermaster, Professor Jeff Houck, PT, PhD, was wondering what he’d do next. While on deployment on the Indian Ocean, he went to the ship’s library, a closet-sized room filled with macho westerns and murder mysteries, and found a book on career choices. Houck remembers narrowing his options down to three professions that “combined science, people, and a balanced life.”

“The winner was physical therapy.”

That choice led Houck on a remarkable bi-coastal career, which has included teaching and conducting research at nearby Ithaca College for 13 years, serving as program director for a new physical therapy program at George Fox University in Oregon, publishing more than 90 peer-reviewed articles, and leading NIH-funded studies to improve care for hip fractures and tibial tendon problems.

Houck’s leadership, teaching, and research in physical therapy eventually led him back to New York for a new opportunity: helping the University of Rochester School of Nursing develop and seek accreditation for a Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, with plans to welcome its first cohort in 2028.

“Part of the reason I came to Rochester is its innovative approach to practice, education, and research,” Houck said. “Being able to evolve new treatments from an idea to a reality in patient care is the golden opportunity for physical therapy as a profession, and it’s rare to be part of a place where that process is so seamless.”

Paving the way for new PTs

The DPT program would arrive at a crucial time for healthcare. The demand for physical therapists is expected to grow over the next decade, driven by an aging population and increased survival rates for people with chronic conditions and injuries. Nationally, it’s the fifth largest healthcare profession, and employment for physical therapists expected to grow by more than 11% over the next decade, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

UR Medicine performs more than 200,000 physical therapy encounters each year. Over 1,500 licensed physical therapists serve the Finger Lakes region, but most are based in Monroe County. The upcoming DPT program aims to address the high demand for care, especially in rural areas where physical therapy care is harder to access.

Future physical therapy students will benefit from access to the University’s wide range of clinical specialties, interdisciplinary research, educational expertise, and growing employment in the profession. For example, the Saunders Center for Orthopaedics and Physical Performance became the largest and most comprehensive facility of its kind in the Northeast when it opened in 2023, expanding work opportunities and access to care. The DPT program will partner with UR Medicine to expand access to PT care at the Saunders Center, and in cardiology and geriatrics.

"As Upstate New York’s largest academic health system, we are committed to training the healthcare workforce of the future, which includes meeting the growing demand for physical therapy services in our region and across the nation,” said University of Rochester Medical Center CEO David Linehan, MD. “Dr. Houck’s experience as a program leader, clinician, and scientist make him an ideal choice to create a strong Doctor of Physical Therapy program that will help us meet that demand.”

School of Nursing Dean Lisa Kitko, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, and Director of URMC Enterprise Rehabilitation Services Kostantinos Vasalos, PT, CSCS, MSBA, championed the DPT program and laid the foundation for establishing a new program before recruiting Houck to join the faculty.

"The addition of a DPT program helps us address our region’s evolving health needs and ensure that our community can access high-quality therapeutic care," Kitko said. "As our School grows across disciplines, we are eager to make the most of our strengths in research, education, and practice to improve lives. We look forward to welcoming future physical therapists to pursue their career goals in an environment where collaboration and interprofessional education truly thrive."

Vasalos, who first proposed a DPT program more than a decade ago, helped the University develop post-professional residency and fellowship programs for PTs, create pathways for clinical teams to pursue terminal degrees, and generate enthusiasm for education and research in the field.

"It has been a long-time vision of mine to have an academic program here, and I’m confident that we have all the right ingredients to be a nationally leading program," Vasalos said. "The scale and size of our clinical programs, combined with the research we’ll be able to do, will give us an advantage that will instantly put us in the top caliber of DPT programs."

Vasalos looks forward to having Houck at the helm of the new program.

"Jeff exceeded all of the credentials you would expect in a program director," Vasalos said. "He’s extremely intelligent, knowledgeable, and easy to get along with. Not only does he have the academic, research, and professional credentials, but he has the charisma and engaging personality to lead this new program."

Returning to Rochester

Houck’s new role is also a return to his career’s Rochester roots. Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery Judith Baumhauer, MD, MPH, recruited him for his first faculty position at Ithaca College Rochester following his doctoral studies in biomechanics at the University of Iowa.

"From the moment I met Jeff, it was clear he had a rare combination of scientific rigor, curiosity, and genuine commitment to improving patient care. Watching his career come full circle in Rochester is incredibly gratifying," Baumhauer said.

Houck spent his early years studying applied three-dimensional motion analysis techniques to advance care for patients with ACL injuries, tendinopathies, and hip fractures with collaborators from Ithaca and Rochester. Several students from his lab went on to earn doctorates in Health Services Research — now known as the PhD in Nursing and Health Science program — at the School of Nursing.

As a program director, he’s confident that the University is the perfect place for a DPT program to thrive.

"I am excited about building a DPT program at a Tier 1 research institution that embraces the challenges we face in delivering and improving medical care," he said.

Houck is especially excited to develop collaborations both within the School of Nursing and across the University. He looks forward to teaming with nurse practitioner students and faculty, and exploring where NP and PT models of care and training overlap. Beyond nursing, he is championing future faculty collaborations across several clinical specialties and the Biomedical Engineering department.

"I’ve always thought of interprofessional experiences as trading superpowers," he said. "We all benefit from it, and the community benefits from it."

Getting to know Jeff

In addition to his roles at the School of Nursing and UR Medicine, Houck is active in leadership and research. His passion for leadership emerged when he volunteered to lead medical trips to Ghana and Uganda. He now serves as president of the PROMIS Health Organization (patient-reported outcomes measurement information system), and is part of the Institute for Scholarly Inquiry Task Force for the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy. His work with the NIH-supported PROMIS program, has led to collaborative retrospective studies with providers across several specialties. Most recently he helped develop the Motion Analytics Laboratory at UR Medicine, and led falls prevention seminars for older adults.

Outside of work, Houck and his wife, real estate broker Jamie Columbus, enjoy an active lifestyle and love spending time and adventuring with their children, Cosmo, Mercedes, Max, and Lily. Both are artists, creating pieces and sculptures using a variety of mediums. They participate in team sprint-triathlons, traveling, and outdoor activities. Houck is a through hiker, having completed backpacking trips in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with his family.