James Crick, Jr., PT, DPT, PhD
Assistant Professor
Division Physical Therapy
Learning Health Systems Collaborative
Faculty Advisor Status: P
516R Atwell Hall
453 W. 10th Ave.
Columbus, Ohio 43210
My Links
Professional Areas of Interest
- Acute care rehabilitation delivery, clinical decision-making, and care transitions
- Functional independence and mobility among older adults across the hospital-to-home continuum
- Fall prevention in hospital and community settings
- Health services research and learning health systems
- Healthcare quality improvement
Overview
I am a health services researcher and physical therapist whose work focuses on protecting functional independence for older adults across the hospital-to-home continuum. I study how health systems can better prevent, recognize, and respond to mobility-related harms, including falls, hospital-associated functional decline, and gaps during transitions of care. My research examines routine care, identifies patient, clinician, and system factors that influence outcomes, and develops practical care models that can be implemented within real clinical environments.
My current work includes acute care rehabilitation delivery, hospital mobility promotion, physical therapist decision-making, and emergency medical services-initiated fall prevention for older adults. Across these areas, I use quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods, pragmatic study designs, quality improvement, and implementation approaches. I also contribute expertise in stakeholder engagement and mixed-methods research to multidisciplinary teams studying trauma recovery, primary care, and other healthcare delivery questions.
Before joining the faculty at Ohio State, I practiced as an acute care physical therapist including significant experience practicing and mentoring students and PT residents in critical care. My clinical background continues to shape the questions I ask and my emphasis on solutions that are meaningful to patients, clinicians, and health systems.
Teaching and mentoring are also central to my work. At Ohio State, I co-developed and lead the CARESTREAM course, an undergraduate experiential learning program that connects health systems science education with patient-facing clinical experiences at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. Across my research and teaching, my goal is to improve care delivery while preparing learners and clinicians to participate in sustained health system improvement.
Major Awards
- 2026 – Butler-Williams Scholars Program, National Institute on Aging
- 2025 – Beeson Meeting Travel Award, Paul B. Beeson Career Development Awards in Aging Research Program / American Federation for Aging Research
- 2025 – Distinguished Research Staff Award, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University
- 2022 – Mary Sinnott Award for Clinical Excellence, Academy of Acute Care Physical Therapy, American Physical Therapy Association
- 2015 – Gary L. Soderberg Doctor of Physical Therapy Award, DPT Visionary Foundation
Education
- PhD, Health and Rehabilitation Science, The Ohio State University
- DPT, Physical Therapy, Bellarmine University
- BS, Exercise Science, University of Louisville