Talia Pollok

Talia completed her Master’s Degree in Health Sciences at The George Washington University in 2004 and a transitional DPT from the University of Michigan-Flint in 2014. She is also a Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary physical therapy through the American Physical Therapy Association.

After 2 years working in a rural MSK clinic, Talia discovered hospital-based physical therapy/academic medicine. She became heavily involved in the care of patients with severe heart failure requiring mechanical circulatory support devices often collaborating with the patient, medical team and other therapists to create a more robust pre and post operative rehabilitation approach.

Talia taught students in a graduate physical therapy program but then found her way back to clinical practice with good friends and co-conspirators in the intensive care unit.

During the pandemic, Talia stayed home to care for her son but remained heavily involved in the Academy of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physical Therapy’s initiative to support front-line clinicians working in hospitals around the country and the world through the Post -Acute COVID Rehabilitation (PACER) Project educational series and co-authoring two chapters in a new edition of The Essentials of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physical Therapy (Hillegass 2022, 5th edition).

Most recently, Talia re-opened an outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation program. Within that program she also sees patients referred from UVA Health Post COVID Clinic with lingering, post-viral symptoms and post exertional symptom exacerbation (PESE). The concepts presented in the Bradcliff Breathing Level 1 and 2 courses have been integral in the assessment and treatment of all patients, from the intensive care unit to the outpatient rehab environment.