By Jody Genessy
Highlighting health professions research from faculty, students, and employees from several universities, the 2026 Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMU) University Showcase in Provo, Utah, enjoyed a record-breaking response.
The annual showcase, which took place on campus the day before RMU’s 2026 Commencement Ceremony in August, featured 98 unique presenters who gave 42 platform presentations and created 41 poster presentations.
The demand required the number of platform presentation rooms to be increased to accommodate presenters from RMU, Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the Baylor University Keller Army Community Hospital Division I Sports Physical Therapy Fellowship.
“What a wonderful event,” said Maria Sager, RMU Financial Aid Services Associate Vice President. “The schedule flowed beautifully, every session I attended was engaging and thoughtfully presented, and I walked away having learned something new from each one. The quality was exceptional from beginning to end.”
This year’s Showcase included two tracks:
- Track 1: Innovation, Practice, & Impact
Highlighted applied, creative, and community-engaged work that might not fit neatly into a traditional research framework but represented meaningful inquiry and impact. - Track 2: Research & Discovery
Closely mirrored RMU’s current model with traditional faculty and student research projects, including poster sessions, oral presentations, and studies grounded in established research methodologies.
Topics of platform presentations ranged from aphasia and quantitative data analysis to artificial intelligence and nurses’ confidence while bottle-feeding in a Level IV NICU.
There were also a wide variety of poster presentations, including subjects like movement and cognition, therapy for resolving clogged ducts, and factors that influence participation/nonparticipation in high-intensity interval training (popularly known as HIIT).
DPT Students Present Case Study: Therapeutic Ultrasound Treats Inflammatory Mastitis and Restores Breastfeeding
RMU Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students Samuel Williams and Brielle Sweeten presented the findings of their case study, “Use of Therapeutic Ultrasound for the Treatment for Inflammatory Mastitis,” at the Showcase.
They collaborated with three RMU faculty members—Dr. Angela Thomas, Dr. Crystal Miskin, and Dr. Elizabeth Willison.
It was the first poster the doctoral students had worked on in graduate school. Both volunteered to assist DPT faculty members who share research ideas with students. The collaboration lets students explore subjects of interest while gaining hands-on experience under faculty supervision.
“Posters are a great way to introduce ideas of what you think are really emerging in the area that you’re studying,” Dr. Thomas said.
The group worked with a new mother who had severe inflammatory mastitis that kept her from breastfeeding her newborn during the first week and a half of the baby’s life.
“She wasn’t able to nurse her newborn, so this was very distressing to her,” Dr. Thomas said. “She was seeking treatment so she could initiate breastfeeding. She was so open and willing to share her story.”
Therapeutic ultrasound treatments began near the end of the newborn’s first week. One to three sessions often help mothers start breastfeeding successfully. Because this mother’s mastitis affected both sides, she needed more care. After five days with a lactation specialist, she completed nearly a full week of daily ultrasound sessions.
“As physical therapists, we use therapeutic ultrasound for a lot of other things, but it is not used frequently for this. We’re just trying to bring more evidence to show that this can have an impact on a nursing mom who’s having difficulty with nursing or is completely unable to nurse at all.”
— Dr. Angela Thomas
The team was eager to share the case at the University Showcase because it provided interesting results and had a good ending.
“It wasn’t until six days later that she was actually able to start breastfeeding,” Sweeten said. “But then there was full resolution.”
