Faculty

Teaching Faculty
The Physical Therapy Internship Program draws its faculty from Mayo’s clinical, scientific and technical staffs. They are chosen for their commitment to teaching as well as clinical practice and/or research. Many have published and lectured extensively and are highly regarded in their field.

You will have access to these individuals throughout your training – with the opportunity to learn directly from some of today’s best practitioners in physical therapy.

Visiting Professors/Lecturers
A hallmark of higher education excellence is the breadth and depth of information and experience provided students by the faculty and visiting experts. Many prominent professors visit Mayo Clinic to lecture on their areas of medical and scientific expertise each year. As a student of Mayo School of Health Sciences, you are encouraged to attend all conferences, lectures and seminars prepared for students, residents, fellows and consulting staff.

Heidi Dunfee, PT, DScPT
Dr. Heidi Dunfee is the Center Coordinator of Clinical Education with the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. She received her DScPT degree from University of Maryland. Dr. Dunfee has been a physical therapist for 25 years and has been a clinical education coordinator on an acute rehabilitation unit for over 18 years having worked with over 650 students on their clinical experiences. Dr. Dunfee has been a recipient of the Signe Brunnstrom Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching through the APTA. She has served two roles with the Education Section of the APTA - the Clinical Education Co-Chair of the Clinical Education Special Interest Group and the Secretary for the Education Section. She is an APTA Clinical Instructor Trainer for both the Basic and the Advanced Clinical Instructor and Credentialing Program and a member of the Clinical Instructor Education Board. Dr. Dunfee is an instructor in physical therapy with the Mayo School of Health Sciences Physical Therapy Program and a volunteer faculty with the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Darren Calley, PT, OCS
Darren is a 1996 graduate of the Mayo School of Health Sciences Physical Therapy Program. He joined Mayo Clinic in 1996 as a staff physical therapist, with clinical responsibilities in outpatient orthopedics, acute care, neuro rehab and wound care. In 2005, he stepped into the role of outpatient clinical education coordinator at Mayo E10, and became an instructor in physical therapy in 2008.  His teaching interests are yellow flags in low back pain, differential diagnosis, screening for medical referral, and manual therapy.  In 2007, the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialists awarded him a board certification as an Orthopedic Specialist. He is currently working on obtaining a Doctor of Science degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Maryland. His primary clinical and research interests are manual therapy, clinical education, use of real time ultrasound with musculoskeletal conditions, and psychosocial influences of low back pain. 

Staci Eischen, PT, NCS
Staci received a Certificate in Physical Therapy from the Mayo School of Health Related Sciences in 1987 as well as a Bachelor of Science Degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University that same year.  She joined the clinical instructor staff at the Acute Rehabilitation Unit in 2006 and has assisted in the student clinical education program since 1989.  She has received academic appointment as an Instructor at the Mayo School of Health Sciences in 2002 where she has served as an instructor since 1989.  Her areas of interest, both in the clinic and classroom, are the rehabilitation of the neurologically impaired patients, particularly with pediatric and adult patients with brain injury.  Ms Eischen has received credentialing through the APTA for the Clinical Instructor Basic Course and Advanced Course.  In 2007, the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialists awarded her a board certification as a Neurological Clinical Specialist.

Jean C. Weland
Jean received her Certificate degree in Physical Therapy from the Mayo Clinic in 1974. She has worked in a variety of inpatient and outpatient departments within the Mayo Rochester system. She has been a member of the APTA and its Geriatrics and Education sections. She was formerly active in the Orthopedic section of the APTA. She has studied manual therapy for many years, passing her Membership Examination of the Society of Orthopaedic Medicine (Cyriax approach) in Canada in 1988. Jean received the outstanding lecturer award in manual therapy from the Mayo Program in Physical Therapy in 1991. She passed her Canadian Physiotherapy clinical orthopedic examinations in 1992.  She obtained her APTA Geriatrics specialty in 2006. Her primary clinical interests now include clinical teaching, geriatrics, pathology, pharmacology, liver transplant, and temperament. She is an active adjunct faculty member of the Mayo Clinic Physical Therapy DPT program.