Jeff Houck joins School of Nursing to lead 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 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," Houck said. 

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.”

This is an excerpt from a feature on Houck that appeared in Rochester Nursing magazine. Read the full story on the URMC Newsroom.