Demystifying SCI Medical Challenges for Community Care Providers

Friday, February 20, 2026

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM AST

Location: 209 ABC

Course Director(s)

Christine A. Cleveland, MD (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor and SCI Medical Director
UNC Chapel Hill

Speaker(s)

Kaitlyn DeHority, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Amanda L. Harrington, MD (she/her/hers)

Director of Spinal Cord Injury Services and Assistant Professor
UPMC

Brief Session Description : Patients with spinal cord injuries (SCI) have unique challenges that require collaboration along the continuum of care. However, little formal training is provided for primary care providers (PCPs) regarding SCI despite the expectation that they provide comprehensive healthcare. The goal of this session is to describe different approaches from academic physiatry to build capacity, knowledge and skills of PCPs to manage the SCI population and how to develop a collaborative relationship in caring for them. These strategies are applicable to other populations often cared for by Physiatrists such as traumatic brain injury, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, and neuro rehabilitation patients.