Bloom-Wahbeh-Foster Scholarship in Physical Therapy and Rehab Science

The Bloom-Wahbeh-Foster Scholarship was established in 2002 by Carolyn Bloom and Elena Wahbeh-Foster. Carolyn received a Certificate of Physical Therapy from KU in 1973. She owns Bloom & Associates Therapy, PA, with locations in Topeka and Eudora, Kansas. Carolyn has received five national leadership and service awards since 1985 from the American Physical Therapy Association, as well as the Outstanding Practice Award of APTA’s Private Practice Section. She is a founding member of the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy, and the Kansas Physical Therapy Association honored her years of leadership by establishing the KPTA Carolyn Bloom Lifetime Service Award. Elena came to the US in 1960 and became a naturalized citizen, attended school and became a successful business owner. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Therapy from KU in 1973. In 1982 she earned a master’s degree from the KU School of Education specializing in Perceptual-Motor Development. In 1982, Elena founded American Rehabilitation Center, a Certified Rehabilitation Agency employing 75 or more professionals in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. American Rehabilitation Center provided outpatient services from three privately owned locations in Kansas City and also staffed two hospitals, six nursing homes and five schools for children with special needs. Elena later merged her clinics and business with a national firm that now operates on the Wall Street stock market, and remained on staff following the merger in the capacity of Regional Operations Director. She also assisted eleven other outpatient locations with their mergers. Elena now serves as a consultant to attorneys providing professional expert witness services in medical-legal cases involving therapy and rehabilitation services. In past years, she has served as one of the APTA delegates to Russia and Poland.

This scholarship is for students in the Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science who have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, with an interest in professional leadership and an understanding of the responsibility of being a lifelong professional physical therapist.