Biography
Robin Zappin, PT, EdD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Alvernia University. A licensed physical therapist since 1989, she brings extensive clinical experience in burn rehabilitation and home care to her teaching and mentorship. Her academic interests focus on communication, social determinants of health, health literacy, cultural humility, global citizenship, and community-based global learning. Dr. Zappin encourages students to view each patient as a whole person, understanding their unique perspectives on health and wellness and working collaboratively toward shared goals.
Since 2020, Dr. Zappin has led the Alvernia University Allied Health Interdisciplinary Team (AU AHIT), an interprofessional initiative involving faculty, clinicians, and students in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology from multiple universities. Under her leadership, AU AHIT has expanded its partnerships and programming in Belize, delivering sustainable, equitable rehabilitation and education in collaboration with local communities through community-based global learning (CBGL) principles.
At Alvernia, she teaches courses in acute care physical therapy and patient-centered care, with a focus on health literacy, effective communication, and cultural humility. Her research explores student development in cultural humility and global citizenship, as well as the sustainability and ethics of fair-trade learning within international service-learning contexts.
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at Alvernia University is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy (CAPTE), 1111 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone: 703-706-3245; email: accreditation@apta.org; website: http://www.capteonline.org. If needing to contact the program/institution directly, please call 610-568-1546 or email christopher.wise@alvernia.edu.
For more information regarding the process of accreditation, please contact the:
Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education
1111 North Fairfax Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 703-706-3245
Email: accreditation@apta.org