“Listen to your patient, a textbook only makes you so smart,” Lexi Nieves relayed advice from one her of patients to her classmates at the Department of Physical Therapy Awards and Graduation Celebration last Friday in 1 CW.
 
“He is right,” Nieves continued during her student address. “Some of the best sessions have come from simply listening to the patient … actually hearing their story, goals, fears, and hope. For the patients who have difficulty speaking it’s observing their restlessness, the small details, and non-verbal cues. We are the voice that they need when there is none.” 

That was just some of the advice imparted to the 56 members of the DPT Class of 2026. Chair of the Department of Physical Therapy and the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the School Keshrie Naidoo, PT, DPT, EdD, shared a quote from noted anthropologist Margaret Mead, telling the graduates, family and friends in attendance, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Nieves was one of several award winners recognized during the ceremony. The president of the PT Club and Health Equity and Leadership (HEAL) Fellow was one of two students recognized with the Adams Fellow Award, given to students who show evidence of leadership abilities, service to the profession, and the potential to make a significant contribution as a clinical scholar.

She shared the award with Elizabeth Pham, a member of the PT Club’s executive board and the student representative to the American Physical Therapy Association. Phan volunteered as a translator at the IMPACT Practice Center and with Tedy’s Team of Excellence in Stroke Recovery to spread stroke awareness.

Assistant Professor and Chair of the PT Department’s Awards Committee Lesley Smith, PT, DPT, MS, GCS, also presented the Marjorie L. Ionta Awards for Clinical Excellence to two winners. This award is named in honor of Professor Emerita Marjorie K. Ionta, who was chief physical therapist in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1958 to 1981 and a founding member of the Institute faculty. The award is presented to individuals who have demonstrated growth and a consistent, excellent performance coupled with outstanding humanistic qualities. 

Parand Jalili was recognized for her compassion, leadership, empathy, and infectious positive spirit in the classroom, clinic, and activities such as attending local and national conferences, volunteering at open house events, sharing her expertise in Pilates at student-led wellness events, and mentoring first-year students both formally and informally.

Fellow Ionta Award recipient Abigail Kroll was a graduate assistant for the Tedy’s Team Center of Excellence, planning and leading the 2025 Waterfront Wellness Walk, among other contributions to the Center. As part of the curriculum on social determinants, Kroll presented and created a user-friendly resource on public transportation and accessibility in Washington, D.C. and helped lead a community-based exercise class for people with Parkinson’s disease during her clinical experience.

The final student award, the Mary Mankin Endowment Fund, was given to Melisa Erdal. This prize is awarded to a Doctor of Physical Therapy student who demonstrates significant potential as a clinical scholar and the ability to make a contribution to the physical therapy evidence that supports optimal patient care. Erdal worked with Associate Professor Dev Tiwari, PhD, DPT, MPT, NCS, and his team on a systematic review of the effectiveness of vestibular rehabilitation in pediatric concussion that was recently published by the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. She is currently working with Dr. Tiwari on a meta-analysis comparing the effectiveness of transcranial magnetic stimulation on balance in individuals with stroke. She has already presented preliminary results at the Annual Conference of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association and will be presenting another platform presentation at the National Combined Sections Meeting in California in February. 

Eleven exemplary students were inducted into the National Physical Therapy Honor Society, including Hannah Antonellis, Josephine Daab, Gabrielle Diodati, Melissa Erdal, Michelle Goldstein, Elijah Harris, Katherine Klesat, Emily Mitko, Lexie Nieves, Gabriela Sandoval, and Kayla Wong.
 
Faculty were also recognized during the ceremony. The Outstanding Associated Faculty Award, which honors a MGH Institute associated faculty member (guest lecturer, seminar facilitator, or lab instructor) in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program who demonstrates teaching excellence and is committed to enhancing the educational experience of physical therapist students, both inside and outside the classroom, was presented to Instructor Bridget McGovern, PT, DPT, ATC.