Melissa Hodgins, MSPT, SCS, ATC

Director of Physical Therapy

(650) 723-1213

mhodgins@stanford.edu

   Melissa arrived at Stanford University as a physical therapist in 2003, when she immediately began positively influencing the overall direction of the sports medicine organization.  Displaying tremendous clinical and administrative leadership, Melissa was appointed Director of Physical Therapy in 2010.  While she continues to maintain typical patient care responsibilities, Melissa is responsible for overseeing the daily operations within the physical therapy clinic and heading program development.

   Melissa remains committed to the integration of best practices and collaboration with the rest of the health care team to provide excellent care to the student-athletes.  She continues to serve as the center coodinator of clinical education for physical therapy students, and places great emphasis on providing educational opportunities for Stanford students and other health care providers.  

Experience: 

Melissa is a California-licensed physical therapist and a board-certified specialist in sports physical therapy (SCS).  She also maintains her certification as an athletic trainer by the National Athletic Trainers' Association Board of Certification (NATABOC). 

• Director of Physical Therapy, Stanford University (2010-present)
• staff physical therapist, Stanford University (2003-2010)
• staff physical therapist, Emerald Bay Physical Therapy (2001-2003)

During her time at Emerald Bay Physical Therapy, Melissa lectured on "ACL Awareness and Prevention In Skiing and Snowboarding" at both the South Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Resorts. She has continued to pursue lecturing on topics such as "Patellofemoral Pain in Tennis" at the Society for Tennis Medical Science Conference, "Advanced Taping Techniques" at the UCSF Annual Sports Medicine Conference, as well as other topics like "Foot Anatomy and Biomechanics", "Pathological Gait", and "Physical Therapy's Role in Sports Medicine" to various groups within the sports medicine community and the Stanford undergraduate Human Biology program.

Education:

Melissa earned her bachelor of science degree in physiology from the University of California, Davis, where she also obtained her athletic training certification.  She was awarded her master of science degree in physical therapy from the University of California, San Francisco/San Francisco State University, where she developed clinical tools for assessing body mechanics with lifting and keyboarding in elementary school children.

Research Interests:

Melissa is especially interested in the pursuit of new knowledge and evidence that supports return to play decisions, while concentrating her interest within the Human Performance Lab on the development of a baseline functional test for athletes following  a lower extremity injury. Current research includes reliability and content validity of this test.

• Reliability and Accuracy of a Video Analysis Protocol to Assess Core Ability. McDonald, Delgadillo, Fredericson, McConnell, Hodgins, Besier. PMR Journal 2011 Mar;3(3):204-11.