Jacki Klaczak Kopack, PT, DPT, EDD Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy

Jacki Klaczak Kopack, PT, DPT, EdD joined Harrisburg University in 2023 as an Assistant Professor in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. Dr. Kopack has 23 years of experience as a professor and program director in physical therapy higher education. Her teaching responsibilities have included pathophysiology, kinesiology, functional anatomy, therapeutic exercise, rehabilitation, and evidence-based practice. She completed a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in physical therapy from the University of the Sciences (now St. Joseph’s University; Philadelphia, PA) and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Temple University. She earned a Doctor of Education (EdD) degree (Executive Leadership specialization) from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. She is a 2005 recipient of the Philip Klein Memorial Award for outstanding service (Harcum College), a 2013 Recipient of the Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching, and she was inducted into the Federation of the State Board of Physical Therapy Academy of Advanced Item Writers in 2015.

Dr. Kopack has served the profession of physical therapy in numerous volunteer and board-appointed positions. She was an item writer for the Federation of the State Board of PT and the PEAT exam (2011-2018), a board-appointed member of the FSBPT PTA Exam Development Committee (2019-2022), and a PTA-EDC Co-Chair. She is a CAPTE-appointed Physical Therapy Education On-Site Reviewer and Team leader and serves as a Commissioner on the PTA Reaffirmation Panel (2024-2025). Dr. Kopack is an elected PA delegate to the APTA House of Delegates. 

Dr. Kopack is the primary author of Principles of Therapeutic Exercise for the Physical Therapist Assistant (Routledge, 2023).She has presented regionally and nationally on topics related to evidence-based practice, PTA education, and the development of the faculty team.

Dr. Kopack’s clinical practice spans thirty years across the inpatient continuum of care, including ICU, acute care, acute rehabilitation, and subacute rehabilitation settings. Dr. Kopack served as a clinical instructor, a center coordinator of clinical education, and a director of rehabilitation in the clinical setting prior to transitioning to academia.

Research Interests:

• Scholarship of teaching / learning within DPT education
• Interprofessional and intraprofessional education
• DISC behavioral styles and professionalism and student outcomes