Mahlon Stewart, PT, DPT, GCS

  • Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine (Physical Therapy) at CUMC
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Overview

Dr. Stewart is the Director of Clinical Education at the Columbia University Programs in Physical Therapy. In that role, he is responsible for placing students in their clinical rotations and organizing clinical experiences that challenge students to translate their didactic knowledge into real-world solutions to improve patient/client care throughout the United States and select countries in the world.

Dr. Stewart is a licensed physical therapist in the state of New York and an Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation & Regenerative Medicine (Physical Therapy) Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons. His early clinical training at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, New Jersey, focused on the rehabilitation of older adults recovering from cerebrovascular accident, multitrauma, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, lower extremity joint replacement, and hip fracture. That experience facilitated his pursuit of board-certification as a geriatric clinical specialist and led him to investigate the needs of older adults and their caregivers transitioning from inpatient rehabilitation back to living in the community. In 2013, he entered into private practice delivering outpatient physical therapy services to older adults in their own homes, and at the same time took leadership of a grass-roots, all volunteer non-profit organization (Neighbor2Neighbor in Greenwich Village Inc.) with the mission of support older adults to age with dignity in their own homes and neighborhood.

Dr. Stewart's work with Neighbor2Neighbor (N2N) involves considering the social, economic, cognitive, physical, and environmental factors that contribute to successful aging-in-community, and those considerations are the subject of his PhD research at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in Provo, Utah. As part of his work with N2N, he oversees multiple programs, including: participant-generated social groups (e.g. Dining Group, Book Group, Movie Group, etc.); a semi-monthly lecture series featuring experts on aging from the many cultural and educational institutions in New York City; and a peer-to-peer health network where participants volunteer to accompany others to medical visits and share common experiences with aging and disease processes.

Dr. Stewart also acts as a scientific advisor for community-based research projects. His research interests include: evaluating the financial well-being, physical activity, cognition, and social networks of the oldest-old aging community in the city; creating partnerships between academic programs and hospital training sites to improve patient care; and investigating innovative models for the future of clinical education in physical therapy.

Academic Appointments

  • Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine (Physical Therapy) at CUMC

Administrative Titles

  • Co-Director, Clinical Education, Programs in Physical Therapy

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • DPT, Physical Therapy, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
  • BA, Art History, Trinity College

Committees, Societies, Councils

American Physical Therapy Association

The Gerontological Society of America

Honors & Awards

Geriatric Certified Specialist, American Board of Physical Therapy Specialities

Physical Therapy Learning Institute Education Innovator Award

APTA Mary McMillan Scholarship Award

Joseph C. Reily Award for Distinguished Service, Screen Actors Guild, New York Branch

Columbia University Program in Physical Therapy Mary E. Callahan Award

American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure "Top Team" Fundraising Award (2012 & 2013)

Research

Research Interests

Aging in cities; Sustainable solutions for aging in place; Prevention & wellness programs for older adults; Physical Therapy cinical education

Selected Publications

Stewart MK., Wong CK, Mielenz TJ, Gravano TN. Health-related quality of life and the oldest-old: aging-in-community during COVID-19 [abstract]. J Geriatric Phys Ther. 2022;45(1):E45

Stewart MK., Curren T, Platt I, Xue SC. (2021). Pivot, Don't Panic: A Serendipitous Transition of a Student-Run Elective to an Online Platform. Platform presentation at AC, APTA CSM. Online.

Stewart, MK., De Mattos, TC., Vargas, SD. (2020). A Model for a Student-Created, Student-Led Elective in the DPT Curriculum. Poster Session presentation at AC, APTA CSM, Denver, CO. ( Physical Therapy Learning Institute Education Innovator Award - Outstanding Poster Presentation)

Stewart MK., Adler, E., Cohane, Z., Sinodinos, J. (2019). The evolution of a student-created, student-led elective and its place in the DPT curriculum. Poster Session presentation at AC, APTA CSM, New Orleans, LA.

Stewart, MK., Lipsky, J., Whited, S. (2018). 'Perspectives on Practice': a student-created, student-led elective and its place in the DPT curriculum. Poster session presentation at AC, APTA CSM, New Orleans, LA.

Stewart, MK., & Unger, I. (2013). Expanding the horizons of brain tumor rehabilitation. Brain Tumour, 4, 26-27.

Krasinski, D., Frey, R., Stewart, MK., Carotenuto, J., Vorst, L. V., Dunaway, S., . . . Vitale, M. (2008). Short-term Activity Outcomes following Orthopaedic Surgery in Children with Neurological Impairment. Poster presentation at the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting, Nashville, TN.

Stewart, MK. (2005). Reclaiming our Hearts. In P. C. Hoy, D. A. Forrest, & A. McKenzie (Eds.), Mercer Street 2004-2005: a collection of essays from the expository writing program (pp. 79-81). New York, NY: New York University.

Podcasts:

Stewart, MK. Interprofessional Education with Dr. Laurel Abbruzzese (Featuring Dr. Laurel Daniels Abbruzzese). Health Education Transformation Podcast [Internet]; 2022 August 15.

Stewart, MK. Who is teaching whom? Graduate students directing their own education (Featuring Dr. Iris Platt). Health Education Transformation Podcast [Internet]; 2022 May 28.

Poen B, Feil FS, Weyrauch S. New York/ New Jersey PT Clinical Education Consortia (Featuring Drs. Nicki Silberman, Vicki LaFay, Lonnie Stewart, Angela Stolfi, & Kelly Meyers) Part 1. Health Education Transformation Podcast [Internet]; 2020 February 5. Podcast 00:31:49. Available from: https://healthcareeducationtransformationpodcast.libsyn.com/clinical-education-consortia-overview-part-1-featuring-drs-nicki-silberman-vicky-lafay-lonnie-stewart-angela-stolfi-kelly-meyers

Poen B, Feil FS, Weyrauch S. New York/ New Jersey PT Clinical Education Consortia (Featuring Drs. Nicki Silberman, Vicki LaFay, Lonnie Stewart, Angela Stolfi, & Kelly Meyers) Part 2. Health Education Transformation Podcast [Internet]; 2020 February 5. Podcast 00:25:24. Available from: https://healthcareeducationtransformationpodcast.libsyn.com/part-2-new-yorknew-jersey-pt-clinical-education-consortia-featuring-drs-nicki-silberman-vicky-lafay-lonnie-stewart-angela-stolfi-kelly-meyers

McKay J. Looking to the future of clinical education in physical therapy. FOXcast PT Podcast [Internet]; 2019 December 4. Podcast 00:17:32. Available from: https://www.foxrehab.org/podcast/foxcast-pt-looking-future-clinical-education-physical-therapy/

Poen B, Feil FS, Weyrauch S. Student-led elective in the DPT curriculum. Health Education Transformation Podcast [Internet]; 2018 August 25. Podcast: 00:48:15. Available from: https://healthcareeducationtransformationpodcast.libsyn.com/student-led-elective-in-dpt-curriculum