APTA-WV 2026 Annual Conference

Embassy Suites by Hilton, Charleston, WV

August 22-23, 2026



Get ready for an engaging and thought-provoking session at the 2026 APTA-WV Annual Conference on Sunday, August 23, 2026, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Charleston, West Virginia.

Join nationally and internationally recognized educator and clinician Dr. Sujoy Bose for a dynamic 90-minute course, When the Patient Doesn't Behave: Medications as Hidden Drivers of Impairment in Physical Therapy Practice, that challenges clinicians to rethink how medications influence movement, function, and patient outcomes. With over a decade of experience teaching pharmacology, physiology, pathology, and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, Dr. Bose brings a powerful systems-based approach to clinical reasoning in medically complex patients. His expertise as a board-certified Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Clinical Specialist makes this session especially relevant for clinicians seeking to elevate their diagnostic thinking and physical therapy practice. 

Through clinical cases and real-world patient scenarios, attendees will explore how medications may be the hidden driver behind unexplained weakness, falls, fatigue, poor exercise response, or presentations that simply “don’t fit.” Dr. Bose will guide participants through high-yield pattern recognition strategies that integrate pharmacology into examination, movement analysis, and plan of care development. This is more than a pharmacology lecture—it is an invitation to sharpen clinical reasoning, improve diagnostic accuracy, and better serve today’s increasingly complex patient population. Whether you practice in acute care, outpatient, neurologic, geriatric, or orthopedic settings, this session will transform the way you think about medications and movement. 

Join colleagues and students for an unforgettable weekend of learning, connection, and professional growth. 

Sunday Presenter

Sunday, August 23, 2026

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM 

(1.5 Contact Hours)

When the Patient Doesn't Behave: Medications as Hidden Drivers of Impairment in Physical Therapy Practice 

Sujoy Bose, PT, DPT, MHS, BSPT, Board Certified Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Clinical Specialist

Course Description:

Physical therapists frequently encounter patients whose presentation does not align with the expected diagnosis—manifesting as unexplained weakness, dizziness, imbalance, exercise intolerance, or failure to progress. While these findings are often attributed to musculoskeletal or neurologic pathology, medications are increasingly a primary or contributing driver of these impairments.

This 90-minute session reframes pharmacology as an essential component of physical therapy clinical reasoning. Rather than reviewing medications in isolation, the session is organized around common clinical failure patterns: patients who do not respond to exercise as expected, patients with unexplained balance or fall risk, patients presenting with non-mechanical weakness, and patients whose overall presentation does not “add up.”

Through focused clinical vignettes, participants will examine the functional implications of commonly encountered medication classes, including cardiometabolic agents, incretin-based therapies, fall-risk–increasing drugs, and medications associated with neuromuscular impairment. Emphasis is placed on recognizing medication-related patterns that alter physiologic response, confound examination findings, and influence plan of care decisions.

The session concludes with a brief forward-looking discussion on emerging pharmacologic trends, including RNA-based therapeutics, to prepare clinicians for evolving practice considerations.

This course is designed to enhance the physical therapist’s ability to integrate pharmacologic context into differential assessment and clinical decision-making, improving diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes in everyday practice.

Course Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, attendees will:

1. Identify common clinical scenarios in which medications contribute to or mimic impairments encountered in physical therapy practice. 

2. Recognize the effects of cardiometabolic and rate-limiting medications on physiologic response to exercise and implications for exercise prescription. 

3. Describe medication-related contributors to fall risk, dizziness, and balance dysfunction, including the impact of polypharmacy. 

4. Differentiate pharmacologically induced weakness and fatigue from primary musculoskeletal or neurologic conditions. 

5. Integrate medication-related considerations into clinical reasoning, examination, and plan of care development for improved patient outcomes.