What is a SIG?

The AOPT's Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are communities each having shared interests in advancing a specific areas of knowledge or learning. There is no additional fee to join any-or-all of the AOPT's 7 SIGs; as long as you are an AOPT member, you are welcome to be a SIG member as well!

The Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy currently has seven Special Interest Groups (SIGs):

• Occupational Health
• Animal Physical Therapy
• Pain 
• Performing Arts
• Foot & Ankle
• Imaging
• Residency/Fellowship

A benefit of being a member of the Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy is being able to join any or all of our SIGs. The purposes of our SIGs are to provide educational programming to Academy membership, serve the Academy as an educational and practice resource for members, develop and recommend practice standards and terminology, identify changes in legislation, regulation, and reimbursement issues at state and national levels, identify and provide resource contacts and materials to accurately share practice information and address areas of concern related to the SIG domain, foster credible research within the SIG domain in conjunction with the Academy's Research Committee, and to promote both scientific foundation and interdisciplinary study within the SIG domain.

The SIG Policy contains a great deal of information including:

• SIG Purposes
• Qualifications and Admission for Membership
• SIG Meetings
• Officers, Governing Board, Committees
• Elections
• Budgets and Encumbered Funds
• Required Activities of SIG Officers

View the Special Interest Group orientation slideshow for more details regarding:

• How a SIG communicates with their membership
• How a SIG governing board is structured
• Responsibilities and required activities of SIG leadership, to include CSM program submission and Orthopaedic PT Practice  submission
• The SIG election process
• How a SIG is budgeted through the Academy, and an explanation of encumbered funds