Roberta Barkworth Shepherd (born 1934) is an Australian physiotherapist. She is known for her work on physiotherapy education and research.

Early life

Shepherd was born in 1934 in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. She studied anatomy, physiotherapy, histology, chemistry and physics at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

, graduating in 1956 with a Diploma of Physiotherapy. After winning a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

for doctoral study, she went to

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

, studying under Ann Gentile. There she received degrees, Master of Arts in 1986 and Doctor of Education in 1991.

Career

After teaching in paediatrics at the School of Physiotherapy, Shepherd published her first textbook on physiotherapy in paediatrics in 1974 and began a scholarly collaboration with her friend,

Janet Carr Janet Howard Carr (22 May 1933 – 4 November 2014) was an Australian physiotherapist and academic whose research focused on stroke rehabilitation. She was a professor at the University of Sydney and published numerous textbooks. Childhood J ...

. They introduced the term "applied movement scientists" for

physical therapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, pat ...

s. Together they recognised that motor learning/skill acquisition and motor control mechanisms gave information relevant to rehabilitation practice. During their collaboration they published many textbooks together including: * ''Neurological Rehabilitation: Optimizing Motor Performance'' * ''Stroke Rehabilitation: Guidelines for Exercise and Training to Optimize Motor Skill'' * ''Physiotherapy in Disorders of the Brain'' * ''Motor Relearning Programme for Stroke'' * ''Movement Science: Foundations for Physical Therapy in Rehabilitation'' *Neurological Strokes: Rehabilitation Along with the textbooks written with Carr, Shepherd also wrote ''Physiotherapy in Paediatrics'', and ''Cerebral Palsy in Infancy: targeted activity to optimize early growth and development''. These textbooks have been translated into many different languages. As well as textbooks, Shepherd has published numerous scholarly articles around the topic of physiotherapy. In 1991 Shepherd was appointed Professor and Foundation Chair of Physiotherapy at the University of Sydney and in 2014 she and Carr were named as Honoured Members of the Australian Physiotherapy Association. She has taught many students and in 2014 the University of Sydney honoured her with an Alumni Award. Shepherd was made an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

in the

2018 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

for ''distinguished service to education, specifically to paediatric physiotherapy and stroke rehabilitation, as an academic and author, and to professional medical bodies".

References

External links

* https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/272059.Roberta_B_Shepherd {{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Roberta Barkworth 1934 births Living people Australian physiotherapists Officers of the Order of Australia University of Sydney alumni Columbia University alumni