Gold Standard Seminars | Continuing Education

William Finley, MS, OTR/L, CSCS, CHT, MBA is an occupational therapist, certified strength and conditioning specialist, and certified hand therapist. He is Faculty at NYU Langone Health, and a Program Manager within Rusk Rehabilitation. He has over a decade of experience in the evaluation and treatment of upper extremity disorders in orthopedics, rheumatology and sports medicine. In addition to specialized clinical practice, he is a Certified Physical Agents Modalities Practitioner (CPAM), Certified ASTYM Practitioner, Graston Technique Provider, Certified Kinesio–taping Practitioner (CKTP), Certified Field Work Educator and certified with the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI). William has presented at various national conferences and has been featured on Sirius XM Doctors Radio discussing current concepts in rehabilitation of the upper extremity. He was recently published as the lead author in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT) in 2018 (Volume 72, Issue 3), and had a chapter published in “Introduction to Orthotics: A Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Approach”, both focusing on the shoulder. William has provided continuing education to health care professionals throughout the United States for the past 5 years.

April O’Connell, OTR/L, CHT, ACSM is the Clinical Specialist in the Hand and Upper Extremity Therapy Department at NYU Langone Health and has been practicing for 15 years. She earned her Occupational Therapy degree at Boston University, is a Certified Hand Therapist and is certified by the American Council of Sports Medicine (ACSM) as a Clinical Exercise Specialist. She has lectured nationally and internationally in current concepts of orthopedic rehabilitation of the upper extremity. Some of her most recent lectures include being a guest speaker for Dr. Radio on Sirius Satellite on topics for rehabilitation of the hand and upper extremity as well as injuries to the overhead athlete. She has presented on Flexor Tendon Repair Advancement at AAOS in 2015 and at ASSH national conference in 2016, 2017 and 2019. She also lectures at Touro College in NY on various topics including tendon injuries, splinting, and research. April is a founding member of the NYU Langone Golf and Pitching Labs.

Elizabeth Martori, OTL is a licensed occupational therapist working at NYU Rusk Rehabilitation and has served as clinical specialist in the areas of vision and neurological rehabilitation. She has over 10 years of experience in adult neurological rehabilitation across the spectrum including acute inpatient and outpatient settings. Elizabeth graduated from the University of Scranton in 2007 with a Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy. She holds advanced certifications in Vestibular Rehabilitation, The Arnadottir OT-ADL Neurobehavioral Evaluation (A-ONE), and as a Certified Stroke Rehabilitation Specialist (CSRS). She has additional experience as an adjunct professor at City University of New York (CUNY), York College and experience teaching professionally as a speaker at various continuing education courses, including “Vestibular Evaluation and the Dizzy Patient” and “Concussion across the Spectrum of Injury Conference.” She has lectured nationally on topics related to vision and neurological rehabilitation in the areas of concussion, vestibular, and neurological vision screening.

Megan Meringolo, OTL has been a practicing Occupational Therapist within the acute care setting for the last 15 years. Megan specializes in program development for rehabilitation of the medically complex and critical care patient populations. She developed and implemented an OT-specific ICU Competency model within the NYU Langone healthcare system. Her specialty areas of practice include Disorders of Consciousness, Delirium, and Face Transplant. In 2020, she helped lead a team of Occupational Therapists through the COVID-19 pandemic. Megan is an author and continuing education speaker. Notably, she is the primary author of the Transplantation chapter in AOTA’s text, Occupational Therapy in Acute Care, as well as numerous OT Practice and AOTA Specialist Interest Section articles. Most recently, she was published in Neurocritical Care for her work with rehabilitation from Disorders of Consciousness after COVID-19.

Jennifer Dodson OTD, OTR/L, CHT graduated from Florida International University Occupational Therapy program in 1998. In 2002 she was honored to be chosen as a fellow for the Evelyn Mackin Hand Therapy Fellowship at the Philadelphia Hand Center. She became a Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) in 2004. Jennifer is an active member of the American Society of Hand Therapy and has served on the Education Council. She has been an invited lecturer at state and national conferences around the US and Canada on various upper extremity topics. She has spent most of her career at a level one academic trauma center, serving those that have sustained complex traumatic injuries of the upper extremity. She also enjoys treating athletes of all levels. Her dedication to optimizing care for those that have sustained complex traumatic injuries lead her to devote her doctoral work to this population. She received her Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate from Thomas Jefferson University along with an Advanced Practice Certificate in “Teaching in the Digital Age”. Her capstone/fellowship project was research on practice patterns of CHTs when rehabilitating this population to serve as a foundation to future studies. She is currently employed at OrthoCarolina in Charlotte, North Carolina and serves as Clinical Specialist I.

Dr. Boris Gilzon PT, DPT, OCS, CHT received his BS/PT from Hunter College, CUNY and his DPT from LIU Brooklyn. Dr. Gilzon is a board certified Orthopedic Specialist and a Certified Hand Therapist. He started his career at the Hospital for Joint Diseases/NYU Langone Health. Following years of specialized training and manual certifications, Dr. Gilzon develop the Spine Clinic through NY Methodist. After launching a successful Outpatient Private Practice, Boris’ continued interest in Orthopedics led him to develop expertise in the treatment of the hand. He has been a Certified Hand Therapist for over 20 years specializing in the fabrication of custom Orthotics as well as the treatment of surgical and non-surgical conditions of the hand. Education has always been a focal point of Dr. Gilzon’s career. He has presented at numerous continuing education events, held a position of adjunct professor at CUNY/CSI health science graduate school and was instrumental in contributing to NYU and Touro College’s Physical Therapy post-graduate Residency program. Currently Dr. Gilzon is a clinical director of Park Sports Physical Therapy, a Brooklyn-based Physical Therapy Company. He is also an adjunct professor at Touro College’s Physical Therapy Program.